The Effect of E-Commerce Websites’ Colors on Customer Trust

Abstract

Establishing customer trust in an online vendor requires the provision of an environment in which customers can overcome their fear and reluctance about shopping transactions by forming trust and positive perceptions about the online vendor. This paper studies the impact of the colors of e-commerce websites, as an atmospheric variable of the interface, on customer trust. The effect of the colors of e-commerce websites on customer trust has only been indirectly examined in terms of website characteristics, such as website quality and usability, where color is viewed as a key interface attribute. Thus, the relationship between color itself and trust remains largely under investigated. To address this gap, this paper presents an exploratory qualitative study on how customers develop trust in an online vendor, as a result of the colors of the e-commerce website. The empirical findings provide theoretical and practical implications regarding the effect of web stores color on trust.