Impact of website information design factors on consumer ratings of web-based auction sites

Web-based auctions are now regarded as among the most successful business models on the Internet. Buyers who are invited to a web-based auction site make decisions based on a wealth of on-line information. In such circumstances, commercial transactions tend to be influenced not only by the information content of the website, but also by its design. However, little effort has been made to analyse the relationships between transaction behaviour and these design factors. The aim of this paper is to identify information design factors and to analyse how these factors influence intention to bid in web-based auction sites. Our empirical study shows that information design factors and the specific characteristics of products are significantly related to a buyer's evaluations of an auction website and intention to bid.