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.

[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of the International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction to view the free supplemental file: Online Appendix A.]

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support from the City University of Hong Kong, China, Grant #7200256. We also acknowledge the credibility-based logo designs created for this project by Ricardo Pereira (Powerlogos Design), Aloisio Frazao Jr. (Powerlogos Design), and Julian Lissiman (Powerlogos Design). We appreciate manuscript feedback from Mary Frances Luce, Marrissa Nielsen, and Nate Eborn.

Notes

¹ Presumed credibility deals with the notion that we believe something is credible because of general assumptions we hold. For example, we might believe that a known brand is better than an unknown brand, or an organized website is more credibility than an unorganized one. Reputed credibility is credibility that comes from referencing a third party. For example, a friend says a website is excellent or a website has won an award. Earned credibility is credibility that occurs from past experiences with an object or person. For example, a person has past positive experience purchasing goods on a website.