WEBSITE INTERACTIVITY

e-Commerce Usability Perspectives in Indonesia

Vincent Didiek Wiet Aryanto

Graduate School of Business Management Soegijapranata Catholic University, Semarang, Indonesia

Keywords: Website, interactivity, usability.

Abstract: Usability is a key factor of website that is commercially successful. Interactivity has been linked to website

usability. This research confirms that improving website interactivity promotes website usability. In

addition, the extension of previous research such as usability sub construct such as learn ability,

memorability, efficiency, user error and self-efficacy are validated to improve the body of knowledge

particularly on e-commerce research.

1 INTRODUCTION

The use of e-commerce alleviates Indonesian textile

industries nowadays that are beset by economic

crisis. As a matter of fact, using e-commerce

increases firm’s revenue up to twenty percent.

Consequently, it increases firm’s efficiencies in

production and marketing as well (Kompas, 2004).

The impact of internet on marketing and/or

advertising has been very important in current years,

and it continues to proliferate (Ha, 2003; Macias

2003). The internet exposes to advertising, giving

consumers the discretion to participate to particular

messages within the medium (Klein, 2003).

Marketing has changed dramatically due to the

development of the internet (Strauss and Frost,

1999) and since its inception; online marketing

including e-commerce has seen rapid change

(Rowley, 2001). Growing online competition and

maturation of internet technology have underpinned

the expansion of website factors, beyond extensive

product offerings, customer convenience, ease of

navigation, and security, that affect online marketing

success (Choate, 2000; Liu et al, 2000; Lohse et al;

2000).

Unfortunately, this is not true for most formats of

internet advertising, advertising formats such as

buttons, spams, banners, hypertexts, pop-ups; bars

are not requested by the receiver of the messages.

These advertisements are commonly incorporated in

portals, search engines, or media websites, reach

large audiences (Ha, 2003).

When the consumers is interested, he or she

clicks on one of these advertisings and begin to

control the communication process, hence,

advertising exposure is able to active (Chaterjee et

al, 2003). Websites, therefore, represent the most

important form of interactive advertising. Websites

are based on information and communication

technologies enable easy and quick interaction

between consumers and marketers (Coyle &

Thorson, 2001). In a website, individuals can

interact with the medium itself, which is called

“machine interactivity”. The machine interactivity

allows consumers to control what information will

be presented, in what order, and for how long.

(Ariely, 2000).

Website interactivity is a design factor that has

been indirectly linked to website usability.

Furthermore, interactivity is defined as mutual

communication between at least two entities, with

website interactivity generally involving

communication between a user and the website (Liu

& Shrum, 2002). Research on website interactivity

is still in its preliminary stages, and there is a

theoretical gap exists in describing and foreseeing

the linkage between usability and interactivity.

Seemingly, it may be intuitive that websites with a

high extent of interactivity are more usable than less

extent of interactivity, there is little theoretical and

empirical proof to support this notion. So far,

research indicates that interactivity can be useful,

value-neutral, or detrimental to a website, depending

on the situations. So, understanding how

interactivity affects usability is essential to the

464

Didiek Wiet Aryanto V. (2008).

WEBSITE INTERACTIVITY - e-Commerce Usability Perspectives in Indonesia.

In Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Business, pages 464-469

DOI: 10.5220/0001910604640469

 SciTePress

progress of research on usability in e-commerce

websites. (Liu, 2003).

Usability literature provides guidelines for

improving website usability; however, many of

these guidelines are not supported by theoretical and

empirical evidence causing them incorrect, and

inapplicable in some contexts. Accordingly, many

usability guidelines largely ignore interactivity

aspects of user engagement. Thus, practitioner-based

usability guidelines will not necessarily provide

appropriate levels of website interactivity. (Chen &

Yen, 2004).

In response to the increasing demand for e-

commerce, it becomes more important to promote

recent usability literature with research based on

validated theory and empirical data. This research is

based on the improvement of the previous research

undertaken by Lowry et al; 2006. That suggested to

take into account on usability sub construct such as

learn ability, memorability, efficiency, error

prevention and self efficacy as suggested by Liu and

Shrum (2002), aside from satisfaction, this research.

In response to the existing gaps in interactivity

literature we set forth some research questions:

• Should perceived measures of two way

communication, active control and

synchronicity highly correlated with each

other?

• Is there any positive correlation between

website interactivity and website usability?

• Is there any positive correlation between

website interactivity and website usability sub

construct satisfaction?

• Is there any positive correlation between

website interactivity and sub construct self

efficacy of user?

2 ITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Interactivity

Most of the definitions of interactivity particularly

refer to two-way communication and interchange in

which two or more parties send related message to

each other (Liu & Shrum, 2007). Pavlik (1996)

defines interactivity as a process of reciprocal

influence (p.135), while Alba et al; (1997) proposed

that two dimension of interactivity generally focuses

on face-to-face interpersonal communication,

however, Ha & James (1998) contended that the

definition of interactivity based on interpersonal

communication is too restrictive to fit technical

communication. This assertion is particularly

relevant when considering work that takes place

over the WWW (World Wide Web) and related

technologies. In the technology point of view,

interactivity concept includes both human beings

and computers as parties in an interaction.

2.2 Website Interactivity

Website interactivity is pondered to be a subset of

interactivity that focuses on the interaction between

websites and users. In this regard, website

interactivity is broadly defined as any action a user

or a website takes a time, while a user is

predetermined end-user goal with the website, such

as accessing information-whether users are seeking

specific information or just browsing. Other goals

may include business transactions or even

entertainment (Stomer & Galley, 2000).

Interactivity of a website offers facilitated

communications, customization of presented

information, image manipulation, and entertainment

for the customer. (Mathwick, 2002). The interactive

nature of websites has been credited with increasing

the desire to browse and purchase online (Li et al;

2001).

According to Liu and Shrum (2002) a two-way

communication, active control and synchronicity

mold the basis of a powerful, yet simple. Further

development in two way communication refers to

bi-directional flow of communication between

communicators. (Liu, 2003). Active control is

present when a user is given the ability to choose

information and guide the interaction.

Synchronicity indicates the timing of information

exchange; a more concurrent or simultaneous

exchange between two entities is a more

synchronous interaction than an exchange with a

longer time lag between responses. These three sub-

constructs of interactivity form the basis for

exploring the relationship between website

interactivity and website usability.

The effects of fulfilled and unfulfilled

expectations and desires of interactivity in websites

are preliminary supported by website interactivity

research. Wu (1999) found out a strong, positive

correlation between positive perceptions toward a

website and interactivity. Liu and Shrum (2002)

provide a literature review and theoretical

proposition to support the notion that two way

communication, active control and synchronicity

improve interactivity and communication with

websites. Lowry et al; (2006) research’s to students

taking Management Information System

WEBSITE INTERACTIVITY - e-Commerce Usability Perspectives in Indonesia

465

coursework, supported Liu and Shrum’s theoretical

proposition that two way communication, active

control and synchronicity have strong positive

correlation with website interactiveness.

2.3 Website Usability

The more usable websites, the more positive attitude

towards online marketing or e-commerce and

increase repeated visit rates, while websites with low

usability have the opposite effect. Nielsen (2003)

defines usability in terms of learn ability, efficiency,

memorability, user errors and satisfaction.

Concerning website usability, Lowry et al; (2006)

applied on his research, Nielsen’s theoretical

framework, but only for the satisfaction variable,

since the researcher believed that satisfaction

triggered website usability and ultimately, satisfied

users revisited designated websites. However,

Lowry et al (2006) suggested for future research to

explore usability in terms of learns ability,

efficiency, memorability, user errors. Lowry et al;

(2006) used modified measure of satisfaction as

developed by McKinney et al (2002) and found out

that there was strong positive correlation between

website interactivity and satisfaction. The attribute

of subjective satisfaction used by Lowry et al (2006)

refers to how pleasant a user finds it to use computer

application or websites.

Self Efficacy influences people’s choice of

activities, how much effort they will expend, and

how long they will sustain effort in dealing with

stressful situations. Self efficacy expectations

toward the emerging traditional computer-based

learning systems are likely to influence how

participants use the systems (Bandura, 1996). Users

with high self-efficacy tend to be more persistent in

their learning and more confident in their ability to

use the systems. Disorientation is one of the

problems that novice explorers tend to have while

navigating within a cyberspace (Dias et al; 1999).

Lowry et al; (2006) suggested for future

empirical research the use of self-efficacy to

measure website usability. Previous empirical

research done by Liu and Shrum (2002) also

suggested exploring users’ self-efficacy. We now

operationalize hypotheses to test various elements of

our theoretical extension of website interactivity to

e-commerce website usability as follows:

H1 The perceived measures of two way

communication, active control and synchronicity

should highly correlate with each other.

H2 There is positive correlation between website

interactivity and website usability.

H3 There is positive correlation between website

interactivity and website usability sub construct

satisfaction.

H4 There is positive correlation between website

interactivity and sub construct self efficacy of user.

3 RESEARCH PURPOSE

This research entitled: Website interactivity: E-

commerce Usability Perspectives aim at exploring

the following:

• The perceived measures of two way

communication, active control and

synchronicity correlate with each other.

• The correlation between website interactivity

and website usability.

• The correlation between website interactivity

and website usability sub construct satisfaction.

• The correlation between website interactivity

and sub construct self-efficacy of user.

4 RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

This study contributes to the theoretical

understanding of how website interactivity relates e-

commerce usability and its sub construct such as

satisfaction and self-efficacy. Because user

satisfaction, learn ability, memorability, efficiency,

user error, and self-efficacy have been identified in

defining website usability. Poor website usability

may lead to the misgivings in e-commerce

(Schneiderman, 2000). Rising interactivity shows

potential method of promoting consumer trust in e-

commerce websites via improved usability. A

deeper understanding of the relationship between

website interactivity and website usability provides

several theoretical contributions by validating the

theoretical models of Khalifa and Liu (2003), Liu

and Shrum (2002), and extending research done by

Lowry et al; (2006).

5 RESEARCH METHOD

We tested the website interactivity and website

usability of website owned by Indonesian

Association of Textile and Apparel Industries

(A.P.I/Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) composed of

twenty nine company members. The website can be

found at http://www.textile.web.id, this association

is an open membership association, willing to

ICE-B 2008 - International Conference on e-Business

466

bolster joint e-commerce on one website. So far,

API website has been inviting new members to join.

Consumers are able to surf various products offered

by the association interactively. This website was

chosen for three reasons (1) Textile and Apparel

Industries is one of the backbone industries

employing workers and generating fifth biggest

income nationally (2) Website participants from

both parties (consumers and producers) require

interaction with the website to furnish the intended

task (3) This website is unique since it is a joint-

membership industries or industries association. The

experimental design attributed website usability as

dependent variable and website interactivity as the

independent variable.

The participants were 31 students from a

Management Information System class at

Soegijapranata Catholic University in Semarang

Indonesia. Participants were sophomore-level

economics and business majors; 80% were female

and 20% were male. All major protocols were

followed e.g., informed consent. They were not

asked to mention their name at the questionnaire in

order to fulfill objectivity.

The participants were assigned to surf and

explore the intended website at the campus

computer laboratory for three consecutive days (4

hours times 3 days = 12 hours). They were assigned

as “ghost shopper” or acting consumers that pretend

to transact with the companies. Participants were

asked to what they expected and decided from API

or Indonesian Textile website. Each question was

rated on 1 to 5 Likert-like scale.

6 RESEARCH FINDINGS

To test H1 - the perceived measures of two-way

communication, active control and synchronicity

should be highly correlated with each other-we used

Pearson’s correlations. These correlations provided

support for H1 that was positively correlated to each

other. However, two-way communication was

correlated with active control slightly (0.231),

whereas two-way communication correlated with

synchronicity (0.477) significant at the 0.01 level (2-

tailed). Active control correlated positively with

synchronicity 0.444 significant at the level 0.05

levels (2-tailed). The weak correlation between two-

way communication and synchronicity can be

described that users faced a major obstacle

particularly the degree of synchronicity with respect

to internet speed and the responsiveness of website

officers/masters to deal with the e-commerce users.

To test H2 - there is positive correlation between

website interactiveness and website usability. The

result was positively correlated between

interactiveness and usability (0.656). Correlation

was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) which

fully supported H2.

To test H3 - there is positive correlation between

website interactiveness and website usability sub

construct satisfaction. The result was positively

correlated (0.271) but in a less sturdy sense and less

statistically significant.

To test H4 - there is positive correlation between

website interactiveness and website usability subs

construct self-efficacy. The result was positively

correlated (0.466). Correlation was significant at the

level 0.01 (2-tailed), which fully support H4. We

performed Npar test, and the distribution was

normal.

6.1 Discussion

This research extended e-commerce website

interactivity theory by testing the relationships with

website usability. We found that perceived

interactivity sub constructs of two-way

communication, active control and synchronicity

were correlated with each other. This finding

bolstered the previous research done by Khalifa and

Liu (2003); Liu and Shrum (2002) and Lowry et al;

(2006). We also provided extension of usability sub-

constructs in terms of learn ability, memorability,

efficiency, user error and self-efficacy that was

recommended for further study by previous

researchers. We captured these ideas to carry out in

our research and eventually, the result was website

interactivity, significantly correlated with usability.

However, contrary to the previous research done by

Lowry et al; (2006), we found that website

interactivity was not correlated with usability sub

construct satisfactions.

These phenomena can be explained that

technically speaking, network performance was

lousy in the campus area and its surrounding; this

caused slower internet speed especially during office

hours. Users encountered with problems for wasting

time. Dissatisfaction also occurred when the images

appeared on textile website was not many and

attractive. Apparently, the website designer

purposely designed the minimum images and

pictures to be posted in the website to enable faster

download and upload time. Fiore and Jin (2003)

found out that fewer images appeared on textile and

apparel website e.g., 3 dimensions of virtual images,

images of apparel examples dissatisfied the users.

WEBSITE INTERACTIVITY - e-Commerce Usability Perspectives in Indonesia

467

Slow response from the webmaster or persons in

charge to serve and entertain the users in fact, has

dissatisfied them.

We came up in the study that website

interactivity was strongly correlated with website

usability sub construct self-efficacy. The

interactivity of this textile website was related to the

users confident to surf, obtain information and

transact business on the website.

7 RECOMMENDATIONS

& CONCLUSIONS

7.1 Limitations & Future Research

Limitation of this research is that although the

increased interactivity benefits in our sample

website, however, high interactivity is not

necessarily always good. Sundar et al (2003) have

suggested that there is point interactivity affects

users negatively; this point may be based on the

character of the individual. Future research shall

explore the effects of high levels of interactivity on

website users.

Another limitation is that our research only

focused on textile website, with respondents who

were college or university students. Future research

should incorporate travel agents, flight agents, blogs

and other types of websites etc and should also use

research samples from populations other than

university students.

Since we determined the designated purposely

textile website for the respondents or participants in

the interactivity research, for the future research we

recommend to open the participants in opting their

websites.

The shortcomings such as internet networks that

decelerate the internet speed, lack of attractive

images and pictures, unresponsive behavior of

officer in charge should be taken into account;

otherwise, user distrust will be prevalence to use e-

commerce.

Limited number of participants or respondents

was also the weakness of this research; therefore,

future research should involve various internet users.

7.2 Conclusions

This research confirms that improving website

interactivity promotes website usability. It extended

e-commerce website interactivity theory by testing

the relationships with website usability. We found

that perceived interactivity sub constructs of two-

way communication, active control and

synchronicity were correlated with each other.

Furthermore, result of the research was website

interactivity, significantly correlated with usability.

However, contrary to the previous research done by

Lowry et al; (2006), we found that website

interactivity was not correlated with usability sub

construct satisfactions.

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