Facial images in website design boost customer trust and profits: SFU Business research

Award-winning research from Simon Fraser University into the crucial role of design in e-commerce websites shows that the representation of the human face can have a big impact on customer experience and loyalty — and ultimately, the bottom line. Since 2002, SFU Business professor Dianne Cyr has examined various elements of website design from the perspective of cultural and gender values, including the business implications of how websites are treated visually.

This past summer, her research entitled “Exploring Human Images in Website Design”, published in Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), was recognized by the publication as its Best Paper for the previous year. The article was co-authored with Milena Head (McMaster University), Hector Larios (SFU School of Interactive Arts and Technology) and Bing Pan (College of Charleston). The same article also garnered the Senior Scholars Best IS Publication Award, which recognizes the research of Cyr and colleagues as “one of the five best information systems papers published in 2009”.

The outcome from the paper is that websites presenting human and facial features create stronger customer perceptions of social presence, image appeal and trust – all of which can impact profitability.

Websites with no human images are less appealing to visitors. However, the least popular websites are those showing human images, but no facial features. Using eye tracking technology, Dr. Cyr found that website visitors fixated on such portrayals and found them to be jarring or distorting.

“The message for website designers is to avoid images that are unnatural or unexpected, because they will have a negative impact on the viewer,” said Cyr. “Based on our findings, people find websites less emotionally engaging when they don’t have human and facial features.”

Social presence – which  refers to the warmth and sociability of a website and may include emotive text, descriptive language and pictures of people — should be of particular interest to companies with an online presence, according to Cyr. “Both men and women like websites with social presence and this results in greater trust, satisfaction and loyalty. Web designers should take note that social presence is particularly important for women.”

Other recent research from Cyr has explored the role of cultural and national differences in the perception of e-commerce design – and how websites need to be selectively adapted to be culturally appropriate to users from different countries and cultures.

Cyr has received other honours for her investigations into the realm of website design, cultural messaging and social presence: She received the 2010 Most Cited Paper Award from the journal Interacting with Computers, and the Best Paper Award for “Exploring Website Design and Mobility for Culture, Age, and Gender” at the European Applied Research Conference.