TWO ESSAYS ON INTERFACE DESIGNS IN COLLABORATIVE AND SOCIAL E-COMMERCE

Abstract

INTERFACE DESIGN HAS BEEN WIDELY ACCEPTED AS ONE OF THE CRUCIAL FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS OF E-COMMERCE. WITH THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES, INCREASINGLY MORE E-COMMERCE WEBSITES ARE ATTEMPTING TO INCORPORATE COLLABORATION AND SOCIAL NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES IN INTERFACE DESIGN TO CREATE VALUES FOR BOTH CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES VIA ENHANCING SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AMONG USERS. IN THIS THESIS, TWO THEMES OF INTERFACE DESIGNS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT TO COLLABORATIVE AND SOCIAL ONLINE SHOPPING ARE INVESTIGATED. SPECIFICALLY, STUDY ONE PROPOSES TWO NEW TYPES OF NAVIGATION SUPPORT DESIGNS ON THE WEBSITE INTERFACE TO ADDRESS THE RESEARCH GAP IN COLLABORATIVE ONLINE SHOPPING. STUDY TWO EXPLORES THE EFFECTS OF MATRIX AND WATERFALL DISPLAY FORMAT ON CONSUMER APPROACH AND HERD BEHAVIOR ON SOCIAL COMMERCE WEBSITE. OVERALL, THIS THESIS ADVANCES THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS LITERATURE BY INVESTIGATING THE CRITICAL ROLE OF INTERFACE DESIGN IN