Maybe Waiting is Bad: A Replication Investigating Website Delay, Familiarity, and Breadth

Abstract

This study is an exact replication of an experiment investigating the impacts of website design on users’ ability to use a website and their opinion of the website (Galletta et al., 2006). The replication confirms the importance of website design features, specifically delay, breadth, and familiarity on users’ ability to use and form an opinion of a website. However, the replication did not confirm the main finding, that it is the interplay of these three variables, i.e., cognitive cost, that predict performance and attitude. The original study’s findings indicate that the relationship between website design features and intention to use is fully mediated by attitude toward the website. However, the replication indicates that behavioral intentions are partially mediated by attitude toward the website. That our findings are somewhat inconsistent with those of the original study provides further support for the importance of replications.