A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Source Credibility Theory Applied to Logo and Website Design for Heightened Credibility and Consumer Trust

Abstract

Websites are often the first or only interaction a consumer has with a firm in modern commerce. Because consumers tend to make decisions within the first few seconds of online interaction, the first impression given to users can greatly determine a website's success. Leveraging source credibility theory, a strategy is presented for building credibility derived from a user's initial impressions of a website, in online environments. The study demonstrates that logos designed to communicate traits of credibility (i.e., expertise and trustworthiness) can trigger positive credibility judgments about the firm's website and that this increase in perceived credibility results in greater trust and willingness to transact with the firm. In addition, the study demonstrates distinct effects on consumers' distrusting beliefs. The positive trust effects are magnified when the design of a website extends and complements the credibility-based logo design. This practice-supporting model further indicates how website designers can methodically design logos and websites that nonverbally communicate credibility information within the first few moments of a website interaction.

Website Credibility Assessment: An Empirical - Investigation of Prominence-interpretation Theory

“…For example, in instances when a user first visits a website for a firm about which the user has no pre-existing knowledge, the user will, by necessity, use the visual and operational characteristics presented on the website to evaluate the website and the vender. Extant research shows that what people see can strongly influence how they interpret websites (Lowry et al, 2014) and that the antecedents that influence the prominence of website features can influence credibility (George et al, 2014). Our results add to this research by showing that the factors that influence how a user interprets the characteristics of the website are also critical in predicting the way that a user evaluates whether or not the user will buy something from the website.…”

“…More recently, Lowry, Wilson, and Haig (2014) investigated the effect of website design and logos on how individuals assessed credibility and found a strong interaction effect of the logo and website design on credibility assessments.…”

Crisis Communication in Sport Celebrity Scandals: Effects of Openness, Directness, and Credibility of Response to Scandals on the Behavioral Intentions of MLB Fans

“…Many researchers (Berlo, Lemert & Mertz, 1969;Dholakia, 1987;Eisend, 2006;Hovland et al, 1953;Hovland & Weiss, 1951;McCroskey, Hamilton & Weiner, 1974;Umeogu, 2012) have studied source credibility and found the fact that message receivers tend to accept a message when the message source or a communicator has high credibility. SCT has been applied to many contexts, including online website credibility (e.g., Lowry, Wilson & Haig, 2014), consumer behavior in marketing (e.g., Simpson & Kahler, 1980), and organizational behavior (e.g., Widgery & Stackpole, 1972). In particular, SCT has been adopted to explain reputation management research (e.g., Chaiken & Maheswaran, 1994;Herbig & Milewicz, 1995).…”

In MOOCs we Trust: Learner Perceptions of MOOC Quality via Trust and Credibility

“…Dynamism describes the extent to which a source is "fast, energetic, bold, colourful and confident". It references the way in which a message is delivered [9]. These three components of credibility can be used to examine how a person determines their trust in an entity.…”

“…In general, this research aims to model the user's beliefs in some way, usually based on how their pre-existing beliefs are changed through their online interactions and how this may affect their future beliefs and ultimately actions [7][8] [9].…”