If I Can't See Well, I Don't Like the Website: Website Design for Both Young and Old

Abstract

The increased use of online shopping by older consumers means that online retailers need to consider older consumers when designing websites. We investigated the specific characteristics of commercial websites (i.e., perceptual fluency) through an online experiment. Guided by perceptual fluency and affect optimization literature, hypotheses highlighting older consumers' responses to websites were proposed and tested. Results confirmed that older consumers (in their 50s) are more generous in evaluating online retailers' websites than younger consumers (in their 20s) and that responses to websites are dependent on perceptual fluency. The findings are consistent with previous research and provide additional support for theories that deal with an online apparel shopping context. Practical implications and limitations are discussed.