Website Quality and Tasks to Be Performed: The Consumer Perspective

Abdelouahab Mekki Berrada¹, Jean Éthier^2
(1. Department of Marketing, Faculty of Administration,Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; 2. Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Management Methods, Faculty of Administration, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada)

Abstract: This article concerns consumer evaluations of website quality when they perform informational and transactional tasks. Overall, 304 consumers participated in assessments. The results demonstrate that consumers evaluate website quality differently depending on the task which they have to complete. Furthermore, this study identifies website quality elements preferred by consumers for each of the tasks studied. This article discusses these results in relation to previous studies of website usability, and highlights the main contributions and avenues for future research.

Key words: website quality; task performance; online consumer behaviour; website usability; electronic commerce

JEL code: M31