Evaluating different e-commerce websites to investigate the effect of online adverts on usability

Abstract

In today’s business environment, companies strive to maintain and expand their customer base which results in numerous strategies to reach out to their clients. As a result, many companies utilize websites and social media to reach out and interact with their clientele. Such websites need to be considered by the users as high quality in order to showcase the professionalism of the business, consequently such websites need to have high usability where it will allow the user to efficiently and effectively use E-Commerce websites whilst also being satisfied with the experience. Moreover, businesses utilize several advertising strategies to such websites to showcase their products. As a result, this study will focus on the potential influence online banner and video adverts might have on the usability of such websites. By comparing two types of adverts and two different types of E-Commerce website designs to see if such influence exists, this study concluded that whilst the users are able to use such websites efficiently and effectively, users exposed to video ads are not satisfied with their experience effecting the overall usability of the website. Moreover, this influence stays relatively constant even with change of designs making video advertising detrimental to the usability of such websites.