Visual design's rhetorical appeal in B2C e-commerce consumer purchase behavior

Consumer Web Site Design: Purchase Intentions and Loyalty in a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Internet Commerce Environment

RHETORICAL DISSERTATION

Electronic commerce has experienced the meteoric rise and subsequent crash of any behemoth entity cast aloft without moorings or foundation. From a now short but historical vantage point, this profound economic failure during the dot-com heyday can likely be attributed to a few key factors. Many experts in the field of e-commerce have suggested remedial reconstruction with only a few companies experiencing success in the wake of entity-wide bankruptcies.

Visual design is the logical persuasive power when influencing online consumers to buy from virtual stores. Using the previously unapplied concepts of logos (appeal to the logic), pathos (appeal to the emotions), and ethos (appeal to the credibility) to electronic commerce as found in the research taxonomy of Winn and Beck's studies, this research will reveal an appropriate melding of the consumer's perception of a positive online experience with the biopsychology of a satisfying visual experience.