456 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO.
4, JULY 2000
Effective Design of Electronic Commerce
Environments: A Proposed Theory of Congruence
and an Illustration
Jungjoo Jahng, Hemant Jain, and K. Ramamurthy
Abstract—The advent of the Internet/World Wide Web
(WWW) and its related technologies has created a new format
of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C)
commerce; for instance, virtual shopping on the Internet within
the B2C domain. Such a concept of shopping requires a new
paradigm of commerce environments. Forecasts suggest that a
major portion of total commerce in the U.S. during the early part
of the next decade will be via the Net/WWW. While the concerns
of lack of security and privacy associated with the Net still prevail
these may have more to do with users perceptions than with
inadequate technological capabilities. Concurrently, however, we
posit that the current electronic commerce (EC) systems are not
user-oriented leading to less than dramatic growth in B2C. In a
physical environment, consumers can touch and feel the products
and freely communicate with sellers or their representatives about
the products they want to buy. On the contrary, consumers in an
EC environment find it difficult to deal with the inherent nature
of virtuality in their interaction. This is especially true in a poorly
designed EC environment where users might be uncomfortable
with the uncertainty and ambiguity caused by lack of interaction
with products and sellers. For simple products this may not be a
barrier whereas for complex products this may create a significant
barrier. Very few theoretical frameworks exist in the EC literature
that can effectively address the issue of design of Web-based
EC application systems for this new form of cyber commerce
environment and make provisions to deal with the heterogeneous
nature of both products and consumers. In this study, we propose
a conceptual framework to address such an issue by drawing on
insights from contingency research in information systems design
and media choice behavior. The basic theme of this model, called
the congruence model, is that for an EC systems environment to
have favorable impact on a consumer, the system must have a good
fit with both the products/services that are sold/provided and the
users it supports. An initial validity of this conceptual framework
is demonstrated by working with a few product and user types. A
detailed evaluation of eight different commercial web sites dealing
with four different product categories provides additional support
to the proposed theory. We expect our conceptual model to spur
significant future research on this important phenomenon.
Index Terms—Complexity, interactivity, product presence,
product types, social presence, tolerance for ambiguity, tolerance
for uncertainty, user attitude, user behavior, visualization.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE world of American shopping has continually evolved.
In the early nineteenth century, shopping was dominated
by small mom and pop stores providing personalized service
Manuscript received October 26, 1999; revised March 31, 2000. All authors
have contributed equally. This paper was recommended by Associate Editor C.
Hsu.
The authors are with the School of Business Administration, University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA (e-mail: jahng@uwn.edu;
jain@uwm.edu; ramurthy@uwm.edu).
Publisher Item Identifier S 1083-4427(00)05144-4.
1083–4427/00$10.00 © 2000 IEEE
to customers. These small neighborhood shops evolved into
large departmental stores and, chain stores and shopping malls
providing mass-produced items and limited service [47]. Over
the past few years, the Internet/WWW have emerged as a
mechanism enabling business transactions between buyers and
sellers on a global scale. Conducting business on the Internet
has gained considerable attention from researchers as well
as practitioners due to its vast potential for and impact on
businesses and users. However, the advent of the WWW and its
related technologies has created a new format of shopping (i.e.,
virtual shopping on the Internet). This concept of shopping
requires a new paradigm of commerce environments [28], [76].
It removes the physical constraints (such as time and place)
of traditional shopping by creating a virtual world in which
businesses and consumers can operate. It also has a potential
of offering personalized service to customers at relatively low
cost.
Recent literature suggests that the Internet and WWW as a
business transaction tool provides both firms and consumers
with various benefits including but not limited to lower transac-
tion cost, lower search cost, and greater selection of goods [5],
[6], [34]. These advantages may motivate them to participate
in conducting electronic commerce (EC) over the Web. Fore-
casts indicating extraordinary growth rates continue to emerge.
For example, a study by New York-based market researcher
EMarketer estimates that business-to-consumer (B2C) e-com-
merce will increase from $4.5 billion in 1998 to $26 billion by
2002, and that business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce would
increase from about $16 billion to $268 billion during the same
period [19]. According to a survey by Virginia-based PC Data
Online, of 2137 of online shoppers over 48% plan to purchase
more this holiday season compared to 1998 [44] with software,
music, and books topping the list as the main products. It is true
that some companies, such as Federal Express and Dell Corpo-
ration, have made successful transition to online web-business;
Dell claims that over 50% of its business is expected to be con-
ducted over their web sites in a few years. Yet, while there is an
expectation of over 19% growth in overall consumer shopping
in 1999, less than 8% overall growth in online B2C seems to be
emerging as the reality [50]. Despite large investments and pro-
liferation of EC applications and a growing number of users of
the Internet, the observation made by Jarvenpaa and Todd [34]
that serious conduct of EC on the WWW by individual con-
sumers does not appear to have taken root may still be true.
Information security and privacy concerns continue to pre-
vail and have been pointed to as the key factors inhibiting the
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
rate of growth of online shopping [37]. While these concerns do
exist, they may have more to do with consumer perceptions than
to inadequacy of technology, and may fade away as consumers
become accustomed to online shopping [51]. At the same time,
however, it appears that the current EC systems do not satisfy
varying levels of user needs and requirements [34]. Most cur-
rent systems appear to share certain common characteristics
such as lack of sufficient product descriptions in an easy-to-un-
derstand format, extreme difficulty in navigating, lack of inter-
active communication functions, lack of reliable on-line func-
tions, inefficient search, limited payment options, and ill-de-
signed help functions [22], [42], [46], [51], [63]. This suggests
that the current design of EC systems is not user-oriented in
terms of providing appropriate information and supporting user
decision making.
We argue that a number of existing EC systems, especially for
certain types of complex products (e.g., digital camera), fail to
provide the type of rich commerce environment that users typ-
ically experience in a physical world; such deficiency fails to
arouse motivation or interest in carrying out “real transactions.”
For instance, in a physical commerce environment, consumers
can touch and feel the products and freely communicate with
sellers or their representatives about the products they want to
buy. On the contrary, consumers in an EC environment often
find it difficult to deal with the inherent nature of virtuality in
their interaction. This would be especially true in a poorly de-
signed EC environment where users would be uncomfortable
with the uncertainty and ambiguity caused by lack of interac-
tion with products and sellers. EC environments need to be rich
enough to compensate for this deficiency to be successful.
It has been suggested that the Internet/WWW will be an in-
creasingly important mode of shopping in the future [2], [27].
However, there are very few theoretical frameworks in EC lit-
erature that can effectively address the issue of design of Web-
based EC application systems for this new form of cyber com-
merce environment and make provisions to deal with the hetero-
geneous nature of both products and consumers. In this study,
we propose a conceptual framework to address this issue by
drawing on insights from contingency research in information
systems design and media choice behavior. The basic theme of
our model, called the congruence model, is that for an EC ap-
plication system to have favorable impact on a consumer, the
system must have a good fit with both the products/services that
are sold/provided and the users it supports. This study is to de-
velop such a conceptual framework for EC environment design.
This article proceeds as follows. The next section provides
the research background by examining related studies in the EC
literature. In Section III, a conceptual model is first proposed
for EC environment design and each component of the model is
explained in some detail. The notion of fit or congruence is then
presented and theoretical support is provided. Next, using the
notion of congruence a specific conceptual model is proposed
for EC environment design and each component of the model
is explained in detail. Initial validity for this specific conceptual
model is then demonstrated by considering a few product-types
and E-Commerce environment richness. Eight popular commer-
cial web sites, two each dealing with four different product cat-
egories, are then evaluated by three independent experts to il-
457
lustrate the use of the proposed model and a detailed qualitative
assessment is provided. This article concludes with a discussion
of the potential implications for research and practice, limita-
tions, and future research directions.
II. BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Recently, a number of studies have addressed the design of
Web-based EC application systems and identified many dif-
ferent design features. Liu [42] identifies some of the key de-
sign factors of EC web sites to include information and service
quality, playfulness, system design quality, and system use. He
subsequently finds that a well-designed web site leads to better
customer recall and recognition, and a favorable attitude toward
the site and the products. A number of other studies have rec-
ognized the importance of contingent factors (e.g., users, prod-
ucts, etc.) that could potentially influence EC systems design
[3], [29], [38], [39], [55]. A recent study argues that successful
(or effective) EC systems are not the same across all customers
and all product categories [39].
Focusing on human heterogeneity in terms of information
needs, there have been suggestions that interactivity (e.g., user
control over information), an important EC systems feature, can
help support different types of users. This allows users to better
match their preferences, have better memory and knowledge
about the domain they are examining, and be more confident
in their judgement [3]. However, the appropriate level of inter-
activity would differ based on user characteristics such as ex-
perience and domain knowledge, and task characteristics such
as difficulty and novelty [3]. In describing interaction in hy-
permedia computer-mediated contexts, the concept of “flow”
has been emphasized as an important construct [29]. Flow has
been defined as “the process of optimal experience” or “a uni-
fied flowing from one moment to the next in which there is
little distinction between the self and environment” [14, p. 36],
[29, p. 57–58]. It has been suggested that “flow” results from
human and technology-related factors such as focused attention,
perceived congruence of skills and challenges, and interactivity.
Telepresence, defined as a sense of presence in a remote envi-
ronment or virtual experience, has been examined as another key
characteristic of EC systems. It has been proposed that telepres-
ence would enhance consumer learning and persuasion, but to a
different degree for each of two product-attributes such as search
and experience attributes [38]. Klein [38] posits that telepres-
ence, arguably enabled by the media interactivity and media
richness (sensory breadth and depth of stimuli), has more im-
pact on experience attributes than search attributes.
There have also been suggestions that EC web site design in
terms of technical features and marketing focus be driven by the
information intensity of the product and value chain supporting
the product. Information-intensive product offerings presum-
ably require more sophisticated technical support over a wider
range of activities of the value chain [55].
To summarize, the foregoing brief literature review suggests
that EC systems design and EC effectiveness are closely related
to contingent factors such as user-characteristics and product-
characteristics. However, previous work seems to focus on iso-
lated features of EC web site design and lacks strong supportive
458 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
Fig. 1. Conceptual model.
theories. There is a need for a comprehensive framework of EC
systems design that is grounded in theory and incorporates key
contingent factors. The following section presents such a theo-
retical framework.
III. THEORY AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT
It is clear from the above discussion that favorable user out-
comes in an EC environment depend on EC systems character-
istics, product characteristics, and user characteristics. In this
section, a number of dimensions in each of the above three char-
acteristics have been identified. While these are not claimed to
be exhaustive we believe that they constitute a fairly compre-
hensive and relevant set. Based on theoretical foundations we
argue that a fit between the EC system characteristics, product
characteristics and user characteristics leads to favorable user
outcomes. Fig. 1 shows the conceptual model proposed in this
article.
Before we discuss the three components of the model, it may
be noted that EC system users confront preferential choice prob-
lems which deal with “tasks where they choose one from among
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
a set of alternatives, each of which is described by a common set
of attributes” [68]. Within the task category, we would argue, a
specific product type would determine the (choice) task charac-
teristics (e.g., in terms of complexity, difficulty, etc.). For ex-
ample, complex products described by a large number of at-
tributes may require more cognitive effort and make the choice
task more complex than (simple) products described by a few
attributes. Thus, we view “product” (represents both product
and service) as a major determinant of task characteristics in
this product-choice context faced by users. From this perspec-
tive, rather than focusing on task characteristics, one of the key
drivers of traditional information systems design, we posit that
the “product type” would serve that role in EC systems design.
As noted earlier, we emphasize that the underlying theme of our
conceptual framework is that EC systems should be designed to
be well suited to product-choice task requirements of users.
1) Product Characteristics: A number of product character-
ization schemes have been offered in the marketing literature.
Copeland [13] classifies products into three categories:
1) convenience goods, 2) shopping goods, and 3) specialty
goods. Krugman [40] differentiates products in terms of
consumers’ involvement (low versus high) in product-choice.
Another classification, based on information economics,
describes product as search versus experiential goods [52].
In search goods, the product attributes or features are known
prior to purchase while experience goods are those where
product attributes cannot be known until the product is used or
information on these attributes is more costly to obtain than
the product usage itself. Darby and Karni [17] add “credence
goods” to Nelson’s classification where product attributes are
not verifiable even after use. Norton and Norton [53] further
classify experience goods as durable and nondurable.
The EC literature has also addressed product characterization
frequently. Bakos [6] discusses implications (such as search
costs) of electronic markets comparing commodity products
with differentiated products. Malone et al. [45] and Benjamin
and Wigand [9] focus on asset specificity and description com-
plexity as product characteristics in relation to the discussion
of the relative desirability of electronic market and hierarchy.
Strader and Shaw [65] propose that digitizable, low-priced and
easily described products are well suited for electronic mar-
kets. Bakos [5] investigates features (such as aggregation) of
information goods that are appropriate for electronic markets.
Palmer and Griffith [55] suggest information intensity as a key
product characteristic for designing EC Web.
In sum, the traditional marketing literature has studied
product characterization in the context of marketing the product
to consumers. On the other hand, EC literature has addressed
product characterization to determine its suitability for EC. Few
studies in either discipline have discussed a product charac-
terization scheme from a consumer viewpoint in an electronic
shopping context specifically focusing on the complexity of the
decision to be made by the consumer. The notion of task com-
plexity has been widely discussed in traditional IS literature.
Proposals have been made that it is a function of four major
dimensions: 1) outcome multiplicity, 2) solution scheme/path
multiplicity, 3) conflicting interdependence solution schemes,
and 4) solution-outcome uncertainty [77]. As alluded to earlier,
459
extension of this concept to EC environment appears to be
logical since the buying-choice-task complexity would be
essentially driven by the product complexity.
2) User Characteristics: User characteristics have been
discussed as a major factor of information systems design
in IS literature [78]. The categories of user characteristics
discussed in the literature include cognitive style, personality,
demographics, and other user-specific attributes [1], [56].
These categories of individual differences have also been
used in marketing literature for segmenting consumers and
exploring the relationships between individual differences and
various marketing variables such as advertising (e.g., [41]).
Based on cognitive style, one of the more salient user factors,
different schemes have been developed to classify people into
different categories. For example, based on their approaches
to information acquisition, evaluation and use, people have
been classified as systematics/heuristics [31], [71]. Similarly,
based on such traits such as “extraversion-introversion,”
“judging-feeling,” “sensing-intuition,” and “thinking-feeling”
measured by Myers-Briggs Type Indicator—MBTI [49] people
have been classified as specific psychological types. People
have also been classified as simple/complex [60]; as field-de-
pendents/field-independents [75]; and as verbalizers/visualizers
[70].
A number of other individual difference variables have also
been investigated in IS and various other research disciplines.
Prior favorable beliefs and attitude of users toward systems has
been noted to influence their acceptance and subsequent use
[18]. Age has often been cited to be an important factor influ-
encing acceptance and use of information systems; older people
have been generally observed to be less accepting of (new)
technologies [43]. Notwithstanding empirical inconsistencies,
gender has been cited as an important factor; males have gen-
erally been noted to be more enthusiastic with computer-based
systems. Prior domain expertise and system experience has also
been found to influence acceptance, use and decision-making
performance within the context of decision support systems
[56]. Thus, individual difference variables can be grouped into
cognitive style, personality, demographics, and other specifics.
EC literature has also identified user (or consumer) character-
istics as a major factor in the design and use of EC systems [29],
[39], [65]. Strader and Shaw [65] classify consumers as impulse
or analytical buyers and assert that EC systems are likely to
have more impact on analytical buyers than on impulse buyers.
They argue that since EC systems require certain degree of ef-
fort on the part of consumers, these systems are more appro-
priate for analytical buyers due to their propensity to analyze
a wide range of information before decision-making. Hoffman
and Novak [29] focus on autotelic personality, the trait of a
person “who is able to enjoy what he/she is doing regardless
of whether he/she will get external rewards from it” [14, p. 22]
and optimal stimulation level (OSL)1 as individual differences
in a computer-mediated environment (CME). They propose that
1“The basic idea of OSL theories is that an intermediate level of stimula-
tion obtained from the environment corresponds to the most favorable affec-
tive reaction. There are individual differences in the OSL-with people having a
higher OSL exhibiting increased curiosity-motivated behavior, variety seeking,
risk taking, and exploratory behavior.” ([29, p. 61].
460 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
people with higher OSL’s are more likely to possess the autotelic
personality trait and experience “flow” in a CME. Klein [39] al-
ludes to individual differences such as experience level, product
category knowledge, opportunity cost of time, preferred deci-
sion style, and attitude toward shopping as factors that have in-
fluence on the effect of EC media use on information search
process and purchase behavior.
3) Systems Characteristics: IS literature has extensively
discussed various characteristics of systems. Ease of learning
and ease of use of computer applications has often been sug-
gested to lead to greater acceptance and use of the systems [18].
Systems quality, reliability and maintainability have often been
cited as factors contributing to user acceptance and satisfaction
with the technology [20]. Comprehensiveness of information,
order of information presentation (e.g., critical information first
versus last versus randomly ordered) and presentation style
(paper versus video screen display; screen display in color
versus monochrome; linear text, tables or graphs) and their in-
fluence on efficiency and effectiveness of user problem solving
and decision-making have been a significant area of research
[7], [68], [70]. Interactivity and control have been examined as
key variables influencing user learning in education research.
Security of systems has been an important aspect in the tra-
ditional IS research stream; but, it has become even more im-
portant in EC environments where it is not only the security of
the physical IT resources but, perhaps more importantly, the se-
curity of information that is almost freely flowing over public,
nonproprietary communication channels [36]. Integrity of infor-
mation and its availability without compromising privacy con-
cerns are compelling issues. Finally, unlike traditional informa-
tion systems that cater to user needs within the organization or
of few external trading partners, EC systems (in a B2C context
especially) are catering to the needs of millions of consumers
literally from all over the world. Companies are increasingly
under pressure to (re)examine the issue of customizability of
information, agility of response and service to survive in the en-
vironment of hyper-competition.
4) User Outcomes: User outcome is a multifaceted con-
struct that can be defined in different ways depending on
research purposes and contexts. Within the context of suc-
cessful EC environments, outcomes in general may be defined
from two perspectives: provider (or seller) and consumer. From
a provider/seller standpoint, outcomes of electronic business
transaction could be enhanced sales, profits, and market share.
From a consumer standpoint, outcomes could include user
attitude toward EC environments, user satisfaction and confi-
dence with product-choice and EC systems, ease of navigating,
obtaining and processing information, acceptability of EC
environments as a transaction mode, user intent to purchase,
and actual user purchase-behavior. These above outcomes
have been widely used as dependent variables in traditional IS
research and have been classified into affective, cognitive, and
behavioral variable categories [4], [18], [20], [32]. Surprising
as it may appear, it may be noted that the basic fundamentals
such as ease-of-use in obtaining information has been almost
ignored in contemporary web site designs [67]. It may further
be noted that this is a key factor that could easily demotivate a
potential consumer from making a purchase; more importantly,
even if a purchase were made it would deter any prospect of
developing customer loyalty, a key element in e-commerce
arena.
A. Theory Base for FIT or Congruence
EC applications can be clearly considered as another form of
information systems. How to best design information systems
for individual and organizational performance improvement has
been a long-standing issue in information systems research. A
commonly agreed principle is that information systems should
meet task requirements and consider user characteristics. We
discuss next the theoretical support for congruent relationships
among information systems (or technologies), tasks, and indi-
viduals/users in traditional information systems research.
Research on information presentation has demonstrated the
importance of matching information systems to the characteris-
tics of the task [24], [72]. Ghani [24] finds tabular representa-
tion of information to be better for simple retrieval of data and
graphical representation to be more suitable for perceiving rela-
tionships among the data. According to cognitive fit theory, im-
proved decision-making performance results from matching the
problem representation—graph versus table, to task type—spa-
tial versus symbolic tasks [72], [73].
The theory of task-technology fit [26], [77] asserts that
achieving a fit between task and technology is critical for
better performance. Goodhue and Thompson [26] find that
task-technology fit has a positive impact on the job performance
of IS users in firms. Zigurs and Buckland [77] state similar
types of hypotheses, although they did not test them. They
argue cogently that achieving a fit between task and technology
should be a key principle for effective group support systems
(GSS) use and provide ideal profiles of group task and GSS
technology.
Media choice theories provide substantial support for con-
gruence between task and media. For example, based on media
richness theory [15], it has been observed that high-performing
managers use rich communication media for ambiguous/equiv-
ocal tasks and less rich media for unequivocal task [16]. Simi-
larly, social presence theory [62] posits that individuals evaluate
the degree of social presence required by the task and match it
to the social presence of the medium.
Based on a comprehensive review of literature on individual
differences and MIS success available at the time, Zmud [78]
suggests that information system should be designed to fit with
individual characteristics. Benbasat et al. [8] show that user
characteristics (experience, cognitive style, and risk-taking pos-
ture) have impact on use of system options and requests for in-
formation in the problem-solving task. Benbasat and Dexter [7]
find interaction effects between individual differences (field de-
pendence/ independence—a locus of control measure) and in-
formation presentation. They show the decision-making quality
of field-dependents with color-enhanced reports to be better
than field-dependents who do not have access to such reports.
Literature also supports overall fit among information sys-
tems, tasks, and users. Benbasat and Dexter [7] imply that infor-
mation systems design that can match both task characteristics
and user characteristics leads to better performance. Goodhue
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
and Thompson [26], as pointed out earlier, propose a compre-
hensive theoretical model where fit among tasks, technologies
and individuals lead to higher performance. Goodhue [25] found
empirical support for a fit between task characteristics, tech-
nology characteristics, and individual characteristics, although
he did not empirically test the theorized link between fit and per-
formance. He shows that these three constructs influence user
evaluation of task-technology fit.
A generalized media-characteristics perspective of media use
behavior appears to be that media use behavior is determined
by an interaction among media characteristics, task characteris-
tics, and individual differences [23]. A recent study [12] finds
that individual differences play a critical role in media selec-
tion behavior. It finds that media choice behavior can be better
explained when media traits (access/quality and media rich-
ness/social presence) are combined with individual difference
variables (“self-oriented” versus “others-oriented” disposition).
Trevino et al. [69] also show that media use behavior is deter-
mined by the relationships among media, task, and individual
characteristics.
Studies cited in this subsection provide support to the notion
of congruence in IS research. Our model maintains that, ide-
ally, every aspect of EC systems should be designed to obtain
a fit with one or more aspects of both product and user charac-
teristics. However, in a single study, it is almost impossible to
consider every feature of each component (of our model) and
discuss all congruent combinations that could lead to an effec-
tive EC environment. In this study, we consider one major fea-
ture of EC system (degree of interactivity) and apply the con-
gruence model to design of EC environments. The following
section provides detailed discussion of the model, grounded on
social presence and telepresence theories, based on consumers’
experience of “real-world presence” enabled by the EC environ-
ment.
B. Congruence in Electronic Commerce Environment Design
In order to understand EC environment characterization
presented in this study, a brief overview of two established
theories—social presence [62] and telepresence theory [59],
[64]—is in order.
1) Social Presence Theory: Social presence is defined as
“the extent to which an individual psychologically perceives
other people to be physically present when interacting with
them” [12]. According to social presence theory, communica-
tion media differ in the amount of social presence they afford
[23]. The degree of social presence for media is evaluated
by such criteria as personalness, sociability, warmth, and
sensitivity [62]. Face-to-face interaction is at the top in social
presence while written communication such as a letter or e-mail
message is low in social presence. As noted earlier, social pres-
ence theory posits that a medium is chosen which best meets
task requirements [62]. When a task involves interpersonal in-
teraction (e.g., negotiation, clarification, discussion), a medium
with high social presence such as face-to-face interaction is
considered the most appropriate choice. However, for tasks
such as straightforward information exchange, the medium’s
social presence is perhaps not as important as efficiency [66].
461
2) Telepresence Theory: Telepresence is defined as a sense
of presence in a remote environment. This remote environment
can be either a distant real one or a nonexistent virtual one cre-
ated by a computer/communication medium [59], [64]. Telep-
resence theory posits that the media can offer a feeling of pres-
ence by approximating real-world experiences. First-person ex-
periences in the real world are used as a standard for assessing
all mediated experiences [64]. Mediated environments are cre-
ated and then experienced through interaction with media tech-
nology. Two major dimensions have been discussed as determi-
nants of telepresence: vividness and interactivity [64]. Vividness
refers to representational richness of information, while interac-
tivity refers to user control over the form and content of infor-
mation in the mediated environment [64].
C. A Definition and Framework to Identify EC Environments
Electronic commerce has been defined in a variety of ways.
It is described as “the sharing of business information, main-
taining business relationships, and conducting business trans-
actions by means of telecommunication networks” [79]. It has
also been described as the use of network communications tech-
nology to undertake a wide range of activities throughout the
value chain [2]; and as the use of computer networks to ad-
dress the needs of organizations, merchants and customers, and
to search and retrieve information in support of human and or-
ganizational decision making [36].
As pointed out earlier, EC systems have been classified into
B2C, B2B, and intra-organizational systems [2], [61], [79]. Rig-
gins and Rhee [58] characterize EC applications in terms of
two dimensions such as location of application users and type
of relationship affected. In another study, Riggins [57] char-
acterizes EC applications in terms of five dimensions of com-
merce (interaction, time, distance, product, and relationships)
and three criteria of values created by EC (efficiency, effec-
tiveness, and strategic). Hoffman and Novak [29] also charac-
terize hypermedia computer-mediated environments using two
types of interactivity: “person interactivity” and “machine in-
teractivity.” They define person interactivity as the interactivity
between people through the medium and machine interactivity
as the interactivity between users and the medium or the medi-
ated environment.
While EC can be and has been characterized from many
different perspectives, one common view of EC is that it is a
communication/computer-mediated virtual environment which
(should) present product information to users across space or
time and also provide communicational interaction between
buyers and sellers to enable the users to make product choice
decision. From this view, we can derive two key notions:
information and communication. The first notion, information,
deals with interaction with products (i.e., between buyers
and products) whereas the second notion, communication,
addresses interaction with people (e.g., between buyers and
sellers). Thus, two types of interaction are involved in this
environment: interaction between buyers and products, and
interaction between buyers and sellers. Based upon these two
types of interactions and extending the social presence theory
[62], this study considers two dimensions to characterize EC
462 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
environments: social presence (SP) and product presence (PP).
The EC environment characterization scheme presented in
this study is an extension and refinement of earlier work of
Hoffman and Novak [29] and focuses on the central importance
of interactivity.
1) Social Presence of EC Environments: This dimension re-
lates to the capability of EC technology to provide and sup-
port communication between buyers and sellers. Following the
guidelines of social presence theory [62], social presence of EC
environment can be defined as the extent to which a buyer psy-
chologically perceives a seller to be physically present when in-
teracting with him/her. Users’ perception of social presence in
an EC environment could vary depending on communication
features of EC systems. For instance, EC environments where
users can feel an immediate presence of sellers and thus have
immediate interaction with sellers on a real-time basis provide
buyers more social presence than EC environments where users
have no contact or only e-mail contact with sellers. Examples
of communication support could range from a simple e-mail
system through on-line chatting, audio conferencing and video
conferencing. Based on the tenets of social presence theory, one
would expect audio/video conferencing to have a higher level of
social presence than e-mail.
2) Product Presence of EC environments: Product presence
dimension relates to the capability of EC technology to pro-
vide product representation and to support consumer interac-
tion with the product. It refers to the extent to which a buyer
psychologically perceives the products to be physically present
when interacting with them. Users may perceive different levels
of product presence in computer/communication-mediated EC
environments depending on how product information is repre-
sented. Based upon telepresence theory [64], we expect that as
media richness (sensory breadth and depth) and user control in-
crease, product presence would be higher. For example, textual
information with a static picture that we normally see in most
web sites is a lean format to represent products while interac-
tive three-dimensional (3-D) visualization, with other forms of
messaging (text, animation, audio, etc.) if necessary, will be a
richer format to represent products [55]. In a richly represented
virtual EC environment (e.g., enabled by interactive multimedia
technology) where all necessary product aspects are fully repre-
sented in a multi-faceted fashion, a buyer may psychologically
perceive higher level of physical presence of products when in-
teracting with them [38], [59].
As noted above, EC environments are theorized to have dif-
ferent levels of these two types of sense of presence based on
both social presence and telepresence theory. Therefore, in this
study, we propose a new typology of EC environments, as shown
in Fig. 2, that can be used to classify most, if not all, of the vir-
tual EC environments.
This typology characterizes EC environments into four cate-
gories: 1) simple environments, 2) social environments, 3) ex-
periential environments, and 4) rich environments. Simple en-
vironments are characterized by low SP (e.g., either no inter-
action with seller or an e-mail interaction) and low PP (e.g.,
pictorial representation with accompanying text). Social envi-
ronments are characterized by high SP and low PP, experiential
environments by low SP and high PP, and rich environments by
Fig. 2. Environment characterization.
high SP and high PP. While in this framework we dichotomize
the social presence and the product presence for simplification
and explanation purpose, we could position all the existing EC
environments on different points along these two coordinates as
continuums.
D. Product Classification
Product characteristics have been frequently discussed as an
important factor in the EC literature [5], [6], [9], [39], [45],
[55], [65]. Product characteristics have been identified as a key
contingent factor influencing the design of EC systems [55],
[61]. It has been suggested that successful design of EC sys-
tems should embody the characteristics of products to be sold
over the WWW and provide the most effective user interface
based on such an analysis [61]. Even in a physical commerce
world, the “product” has been one of major factors of marketing
strategy and a number of research studies have been under-
taken to characterize the product. As already discussed, several
product characterization schemes have been laid down in mar-
keting as well as EC literature [5], [6], [9], [13], [17], [40], [45],
[52], [53], [55], [65]. However, few studies in either discipline
have discussed a product characterization scheme from a con-
sumer point of view in electronic shopping context. Thus, there
is need for a comprehensive classification scheme that is appro-
priate in virtual EC environments and offers implications and
insights for successful design of EC environments. Along the
lines of EC environment typology, we propose a new product ty-
pology based on social presence (SP) requirements and product
presence (PP) requirements of product choice tasks in an elec-
tronic shopping context, as shown in Fig. 3.
Social presence requirement indicates the extent, to which a
product choice decision requires a sense of presence of a seller,
whereas product presence requirement refers to the extent to
which a product choice requires a sense of presence of a target
product. Based on this characterization scheme, most, if not all,
products in EC environments can be classified into four cate-
gories: 1) simple products, 2) social products, 3) experiential
products, and 4) complex products. Simple products are charac-
terized by low SP requirement and low PP requirement, social
products by high SP requirement and low PP requirement, ex-
periential products by low SP requirement and high PP require-
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
Fig. 3. Product characterization.
ment, and complex products by high SP requirement and high
PP requirement.
An example of a social product could be a financial or in-
surance product that often requires expert advice of consultants
and may thus require higher level of social presence. However,
it does not require buyers to touch or feel the product thus re-
quiring low level of product presence. An example of experi-
ential products could be music (CD) where the potential con-
sumers want to be able to try out and evaluate product features
by themselves thus requiring greater level of product presence
(in this case, sensory presence of listening to music). However,
this product requires a low level of social presence. Complex
products could be software packages that might require high
levels of both social and product presence; a potential customer
may not only want to try out all features of software packages
but also be able to discuss with the software expert about spe-
cific questions and advice. Finally, simple products could be
typically commodity type daily-use, products (e.g., PC diskette
or battery cell) that may not need high levels of either presence.
The product typology described above incorporates many
previously noted product characteristics. One of the major
concepts behind the typology is product complexity that has
been directly or indirectly addressed in the EC literature
[6], [9], [45], [33], [55]. In making a choice decision of a
high-complexity product, greater social/product presence
requirements for EC environments are expected to be critical
to ensure effective consumer decision making. On the contrary,
in a low-complexity product choice context, social/product
presence requirements for EC environments are expected to
be low because social/product presence is not as important as
efficiency for consumer decision making. We would point out
that search/experience scheme [52], one of widely discussed
product characterizations in marketing literature, might not
be a viable scheme in EC environments. In EC environments,
experience goods can be transformed into search goods because
full information on critical product attributes can be obtained
prior to purchase at a lower cost than product usage [39]. For
instance, in the context of music CD purchase since music
can be sampled and experienced easily the concern may now
be one of search for availability and low prices before actual
purchase. Thus, most dominant product attributes may end up
463
as search attributes in EC environments. Therefore, the product
typology proposed in this study is well suited to electronic
shopping environments.
In an effort to validate the conceptual model presented in
Fig. 1, the next section provides detailed discussion (taking one
variable in each category—product, EC system, user—of the
conceptual model) of congruence in EC environment design and
its consequential impact on user behavior.
IV. DISCUSSION—VALIDATING E-COMMERCE CONGRUENCE
MODEL
The basic theme of this article is that EC environments should
be designed to meet product-choice task requirements of users
(i.e., consumers). We propose that there must be congruence
among EC environment, products and users to realize favorable
user outcomes. For illustration purposes, we will consider one
dimension in each of the model components and discuss why
congruence is desirable and should lead to better user outcomes.
Toward this end, we will consider product complexity (product
domain), degree of interactivity (EC systems), and tolerance for
uncertainty and ambiguity or uncertainty avoidance (user do-
main).
1) Product Complexity: We extend the notion of task com-
plexity [11], [77] and posit product complexity to be a com-
posite of three aspects: 1) multiplicity, 2) variability, and 3) in-
terdependence of features or attributes of the product [33]. Mul-
tiplicity refers to the number or variety of product attributes or
features. Variability refers to the range of values each of these
product attributes can assume. Interdependence indicates the ex-
tent to which the (flexibility in) choice of one (or more) product
attribute is dependent on one or more of the remaining product
attributes and, thus, be facilitated or constrained by them. We
consider four products: 1) digital camera, 2) retirement invest-
ment plan, 3) music CD, and 4) PC disk to illustrate the various
levels of product complexity.
Case 1—Digital Camera: In the case of digital camera,
there are a large number (over 30) of features (multiplicity) to
be considered such as image resolution, CCD (charge control
display) resolution, image quality setting, image storage,
viewfinder, optical zoom (of the lens), digital enhancement (of
the zoom), lens focal length, focus range, exposure, shutter
speed, aperture range, scripting, file formats, user interface,
power requirements, weight, warranty, price, etc. Furthermore,
many of these features can take on a discrete range of values
(variability). For instance, image quality may be at four levels:
1) super, 2) best, 3) better, and 4) good; image resolution may
have three levels: 1) 1536 1024, 2) 1152 768, or 3) 768
512 pixels; shutter speed may range from 1/4 to 1/400 s; file
formats may be JPEG (EXIF), or FPX, and so on. Finally, there
may be supportive or conflicting interdependence among the
features; for instance, scripting may need to be overridden to
obtain “super” quality of image. Thus, digital camera can be
classified to have a very high level of complexity.
The product choice task in this case requires the consumer
to understand the meaning and significance of each of the over
thirty features. The consumer then needs to judge the impor-
tance of each feature to his or her situation and decide on the
464 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
desired and/or minimum acceptable value of each feature (vari-
ability). Finally, depending on the type of interdependence be-
tween the features the consumer needs to make a “tradeoff.” In
a traditional shopping environment, the above product choice
tasks are generally supported by a knowledgeable sales person
explaining and demonstrating each of the features and helping
the consumer make an appropriate choice by trying out each
feature themselves. Based on the product classification frame-
work presented in this paper a digital camera can be classified to
require a high level of social presence (interaction with a knowl-
edgeable salesperson) and a high level of product presence (need
to try out key features).
Case 2—Retirement/Financial Investment Plan: In the
case of retirement/financial investment planning, each type of
investment may have a number of features (multiplicity) such
as expected return, possible risk of losing capital, timeframe
(short-term versus long-term), expense ratios, etc. Each of
these may take on a discrete range of values. The features
may have high level of interdependence; for example, higher
level of expected return could be associated with high levels
of risk. The consumer choice in this case needs to consider
each person’s situation such as age, income level, ability (and
willingness) to take risk, etc. In a traditional environment, this
choice-task is supported by a financial advisor to help select
appropriate investment. Based on our product classification
scheme, this product can be classified to require a high level of
social presence and a low level of product presence.
Case 3—Music CD: In the case of music CD’s, there are
not many features that are involved nor are there issues of a wide
range of values each of the features can assume or the issue
of conflicting interdependencies of features. However, in this
type of product the requirement appears to be one of satisfying
some of the six primary senses (of hearing, seeing, smell, touch,
speech, and intrinsic assimilation of information/ knowledge
and a feeling of fulfillment/ satisfaction). The product choice
is generally based on personal preferences. In instances of this
nature, the best way to support the product choice is to (enable
the consumer to) listen to the music and make a judgement on
whether the person likes it or not.
Case 4—PC Diskette: A PC diskette has four primary fea-
tures: 1) density, 2) physical size, 3) data storage capacity, and
4) configuration format. The range of values these feature can
assume is also quite limited or narrow: density can be high or
double; physical size would be 3.5 or 5.25 in (for those who may
still be in old times!); configuration is either for IBM (compati-
bles) or Mac systems; and data storage is 1.44 or 0.72 (or 0.36)
MB. The extent of (conflicting) interdependence would be be-
tween density and data storage, and between physical size and
configuration (given that Mac systems were never designed to
accommodate 5.25 in floppy disks). The product choice in this
case is generally based on user needs and does not require high
levels of product or social presence.
2) Degree of Interactivity of the E-Commerce System: In
light of heterogeneity of humans in terms of their information
needs, interactivity is often equated to user control over type
of information and frequency of access. Interactivity has also
been defined as user control over the form and content of infor-
mation in a mediated environment [64]. Such controls over in-
formation help consumers better match their preferences, have
better memory and knowledge about the domain they are ex-
amining, and be more confident in their judgement [3]. The ty-
pology of EC system environment shown in Fig. 2 is based on
interaction with products (i.e., between buyers and products to
provide control on their product information access), and inter-
action with people (i.e. appropriate richness of communication
between buyers and sellers). This leads to two levels of product
presence (PP) and two levels of social presence (SP) that can
characterize an EC environment.
For a given product, consider the following two types of
EC environments. In the first environment, the system enables
the user to not only access all necessary information about the
product features but obtain the information at various levels of
detail via “drill down” capability (common in most executive
information systems such as Commander of Comshare, Inc.,
and Command Center of Pilot Software, Inc.). Furthermore,
suppose that the system offers the choice to the user to view the
product in its three dimensions (via interactive 3-D visualization
software capability) and try out the various product features
such as degree of zoom in a digital camera. In the second
environment, the system offers all necessary information about
the product features either as a sequential set of information or
even as a table. It may provide a two-dimensional (2-D) picture
of the product (e.g., digital camera). However, the user does not
have any specific control over the choice or the extent of detail
of information obtained or any additional feature enabling trial
of the product. The first EC environment is deemed to provide
a high level of product presence while the second environment
offers a low level of product presence. Let us further suppose
that the second environment has a built-in function that enables
the user to send e-mail to the provider’s (sales or customer ser-
vice) representative if s/he has questions or needs clarifications.
On the other hand, the first environment has the functionality
of two-way video conferencing (enabling the users to see the
picture of the provider’s representative in a window on the
screen and optionally allowing provider’s representative to see
the user on their video screen) or one-way video (provider
to user) and two-way audio. In the first environment, there is
potential for real-time communication to address any questions
or clarifications whereas the second environment enables
only asynchronous communication. The first EC environment
clearly provides high level of social presence while the second
offers low level of presence. Overall, the first EC environment
is capable of providing a rich information and communication
environment while the latter offers relatively lean information
and communication [15], [16].
3) Uncertainty Avoidance: An ambiguous situation is typi-
cally one that cannot be adequately structured or categorized by
an individual because of lack of appropriate cues due to either
novelty, complexity, contradictory nature, or insolubility of
the problem situation [10, p. 30]. This is somewhat analogous
to equivocality which denotes the existence of multiple and
contradictory interpretations of an issue [74]. Tolerance for
ambiguity is the tendency of people to perceive/interpret
ambiguous situations not as sources of threat but as situations
that are even desirable [10]. Uncertainty relates to the gap
between information that is needed and one that is available
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
Fig. 4. Suggested congruence model of product-type, EC environment richness and user-type.
to address a problem or issue [15]. We focus on uncertainty
avoidance, which has been defined as “the degree to which an
individual feels uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity”
[30], [66]. This variable has been found to have a bearing on
the preference for and use of communications media [66] and
has also been frequently examined as an important trait of
decision-makers [54]. Extending these arguments and observa-
tions of traditional information systems and decision support
systems research we expect that differences in individuals’
tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity (i.e., uncertainty
avoidance) would also be closely related to their EC media
use behavior for product choice tasks. Specifically, users
who are more uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
(i.e., high on uncertainty avoidance) are likely to choose
more socially-present/product-present media to deal with
product-choice tasks.
A. A Proposed Specific E-Commerce Model of Congruence
Based on the foregoing discussion we present a specific con-
gruence model for the three selected aspects in Fig. 4.
To provide a more insightful discussion, we classify “product
complexity” and “EC environment richness” into three levels:
1) low, 2) medium/moderate, and 3) high. Note that “EC en-
vironment richness” can be contributed from higher levels of
product presence (greater visualizability and experience of the
product) or higher levels of social presence (richer communica-
tion capabilities with human experts) or both. In our classifica-
tion, “high level of EC environment richness” is when both high
levels of PP and SP are provided; “medium level of EC environ-
ment richness” is when either (moderate to high levels of) PP or
SP is provided; and “low level of EC environment richness” is
when neither PP or SP is provided at a high level.
465
First, the amount of social presence and product presence pro-
vided in EC environments should be aligned with the amount of
social presence and product presence required in a particular
product-choice task context. For example, in a product choice
context that requires high social/product presence, buyers in
general are likely to feel more uncertainty and ambiguity in
the absence of product information or ability to experience the
product, and thus have a greater need for an EC environment
offering higher level of social/product presence. In such an en-
vironment, users need richer channels of communication with
sellers and interactive, multi-sensory product interaction that
can help to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity associated with
making their product choice decision [55]. To handle this first
level of congruence, we had proposed a product classification
scheme based on the concept of alignment between SP/PP of
EC environments and SP/PP requirements of products earlier
in Figs. 2 and 3. Thus, we had already explicitly defined the
link between EC environmental types and product types. Simple
products (e.g., PC diskette) correspond to simple EC environ-
ments (e.g., specifications of the product and e-mail communi-
cation). Social products (e.g., Retirement Investment Plan) cor-
respond to social EC environments. Experiential products (e.g.,
Music CD) correspond to experiential EC environments (e.g.,
sampling music). Complex products (e.g., Digital Camera) cor-
respond to rich EC environments (e.g., quality 3-D visualiza-
tion accompanied by rich communication capabilities of live
video/audio conferencing).
However, the discussion for uncertainty avoidance suggested
that consumers’ requirements for social/product presence for
product choice tasks in virtual EC environments would vary de-
pending upon the level of their uncertainty avoidance. In view of
this, individuals could be quite different in terms of the degree
of sense of presence they perceive for the same EC environment
or the comfortable (or appropriate) level of sense of presence
466 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
they require when making choice decision for the same product
in virtual EC environments. Generally speaking, users who are
more uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity (i.e. high
on uncertainty avoidance) need to be provided with additional
amount of SP or PP in EC environments aligned with products
[66]. Thus, in a simple product (PC Diskette) choice context,
users with low uncertainty avoidance might consider low SP/PP
of EC environments to be appropriate for their decision making
(cell L1 in Fig. 4). However, even in this context, users with
high uncertainty avoidance might want to have richer commu-
nication channel for any possible product inquiry; at least mod-
erate levels of SP (audio inquiry) would be preferred by these
consumers (cell L3). For these people, an EC environment as de-
picted in cell L2 will be a misfit since it does not appear to meet
their minimal preferred needs. However, for this simple product,
an EC system providing an environment of very high richness as
portrayed in cells L3 and L5 for low uncertainty avoidance users
and L6 for high uncertainty avoidance users will be a misfit (in
terms of providing more than what is optimally required/ desir-
able) and lead to waste of resources.
For a product that is highly complex (e.g., Digital Camera) all
types of users, both those with low as well as high uncertainty
avoidance, might consider low SP/PP of EC environments (de-
picted in cells H1 and H2 in Fig. 4) to be inadequate because
they are unable to visualize and experience most, if not all, of
its features. Furthermore, they are unlikely to be able to seek
necessary clarifications from the experts immediately. The same
condition is likely to continue for high uncertainty avoidance
users in cell H4 also. However, low uncertainty avoidance users
may be prepared to take the challenges even if the system does
not completely meet all their demands. They may find that an
environment depicted by Cell H3 to be reasonably appropriate
for their decision making; even if they are not able to visualize
the product completely or try out all the features they believe
they will be able to obtain such information by having an on-
line dialogue with the domain experts. Only an EC systems en-
vironment represented by cell H6 would be a completely con-
gruent environment for high uncertainty avoidance consumers
for a complex product; the same systems is likely to be, how-
ever, be a misfit (with over rich environment—cell H5) for low
uncertainty avoidance users.
For a moderately complex product (Retirement Invest-
ment/Vacation Plan and music CD/Book as noted earlier) the
type of EC environments that could be deemed to be congruent
is displayed in Cells M3 and M4 (of Fig. 4), respectively, for
low and high uncertainty avoidance users. Low uncertainty
avoidance users may be able to manage with moderately
rich product information presentation and communication
environments. However, high uncertainty avoidance users want
to make sure that they are not making an incorrect decision
and may want that additional assurance from domain experts to
realize the confidence to make a purchase decision. EC systems
environments depicted as M1 and M2 would be insufficient in
terms of richness whereas those depicted in cells M5 and M6
may be a little too rich.
Thus, we would argue that the degree of sophistication of
each dimension of an EC environment needs to vary depending
on the social/product presence requirements of a user for his
(her) product-choice task. As the level of social/product pres-
ence requirement increases, greater communication and product
interaction support should be provided. On the other hand, if the
environment is too rich in terms of social/product-presence for
a simple product it can distract the user resulting in less than
satisfactory outcome [29]. Also, over-rich social/product-pres-
ence environments may cause under-utilization of various fea-
tures of EC systems and not constitute a good design strategy
from an economic perspective. Thus, an appropriate level of
SP/PP of an EC environment relative to SP/PP requirements
of a product-choice would result in desirable outcomes such
as improved attitude, more confidence in the purchase-decision
process and the decision, greater acceptability of the EC media,
and higher satisfaction with the EC environment. This line of
discussion has support in the cognitive fit theory proposed in
the context of information acquisition and information evalua-
tion for (what the researchers labeled as) simple decision tasks
[72], [73]. Empirical research using this theory shows that deci-
sion-making outcomes improve when problem representation or
problem-solving tools match the task-characteristics [21], [73].
B. Qualitative Assessment of Eight Commercial Web Sites
We discussed earlier four categories of products: 1) simple
(PC diskette), 2) experiential (music CD), 3) social (retire-
ment investment plan), and 4) complex (digital camera) and
corresponding e-commerce environments. To illustrate the
applicability of our framework and provide a rough initial
validation, we selected eight commercial web sites—two sites
dealing with each of these four product-categories. In light of
the fact that we are merely trying to illustrate and establish the
efficacy of our framework we searched for some of the popular
commercial web sites that displayed different look/feel and fea-
tures. Since the intent was not a field-validation of our model,
we did not pursue rigorous random sampling in selecting
the sites. The web sites selected were: Officemax.com and
Officedepot.com for PC Disk, CDNow.com and Getmusic.com
for music CD, Fidelity.com and Prudential.com for retirement
investment plan, and Kodak.com and Sony.com for digital
camera. These eight sites were independently evaluated by
three different researchers; on average, each person spent about
10–12 h to 1–2 h per site (depending on the site) to try out most
if not all of its functionality. There was significant concordance
of assessment across the three independent evaluators. We
provide below a brief description of our evaluation of the web
sites for each product category followed by a summary table.
We reiterate that the purpose of this assessment is not intended
to be a comprehensive validation test of our model; rather, it is
conducted to illustrate the usefulness of the model and suggest
directions for future research.
1) Digital Camera—Kodak.com versus Sony.com: Eastman
Kodak is a very large corporation providing a large line of prod-
ucts including cameras, chemicals, copiers, films, printers, pro-
jectors, etc. The opening screen of their web site (kodak.com)
is colorful but sort of crowded. Within “digital cameras” their
web site has a variety of choices—search, products, service and
support, shop at kodak, member services, and what’s new. Their
web site allows consumer to select any two cameras so that they
can be compared on various features. Their web site provides
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
technical specifications for each product, detailed set of “fre-
quently asked questions”—FAQ’s, features a discussion forum
and offers e-mail functionality as well. Apart from allowing
consumers to buy online at their site, the web site also pro-
vides information about other mail order companies and dealers
where their products can be purchased. Most interestingly, using
shockwave their site offers a 3-D picture and interactive multi-
media to enable visitors to the site to try out different features
of Kodak digital cameras (e.g., zooming, power, and menu but-
tons).
Sony Corporation is another large global company dealing
with a wide variety of products and services. The opening screen
of their web site (sony.com) is not cluttered and indicates five
major categories of business—music, movies and TV shows,
electronics, playstation, play online games. Within electronics
category, we selected digital camera for assessment. The site
provides technical information in text accompanied by black and
white static pictures of their camera models. Some of the (color)
pictures taken with the cameras can be zoomed to examine the
resolution. Their site features FAQs; a functionality labeled “Ask
the Advisor” requires the user to answer “yes” or “no” to a series
of three broad questions (on three different screens) to advise
the most appropriate products. Finally, their site provides e-mail
capability within “customer service” function.
According to our framework, we proposed that com-
plex product, such as digital camera, requires high social
presence—SP and high product presence—PP (i.e., rich envi-
ronments) for favorable consumer outcomes. As briefly noted
above, we could not find rich environments on both PP and SP
for this product; instead, we found two different environments
with relatively different levels of richness. First, in terms
of social presence, both Kodak.com and Sony.com provide
customers with an e-mail feature that, in our opinion, does not
really provide a high level of social presence. The availability
of a discussion forum within Kodak site, however, may provide
a slightly better environment than Sony.com since potential
customers have the opportunity to partake the experiences of
other customers of the product. If consumers have questions
for additional information or require product consultation, they
will not be able to obtain (satisfactory) responses in a real time
mode. Thus, the SP environment available in these sites could
in the best of circumstances lead to a delayed purchase and in
the worst to lost sales. From a product presence perspective,
Kodak.com provides a rich experiential environment through
the shockwave presentation while Sony.com does not. Sony’s
environment might still be ok for a few customers with high
ambiguity tolerance or sufficient product knowledge and
experience but inappropriate for most of customers, who might
feel uncomfortable with nonrich environments for a complex
product. Overall, we would therefore submit that Kodak.com
provides an experiential environment and Sony.com provides a
simple environment. However, it may be noted that even Kodak
site does not provide a significant level of control to the user
to try out all the features given that it is more a demo version;
the site could certainly be enhanced to provide a richer PP
environment. While Kodak.com is closer to rich environments
than Sony.com both sites still need enhancements on the social
presence dimension.
2) Retirement/Financial Investment Plan—Fidelity.com
versus Prudential.com: Both Fidelity Investments and Pru-
467
dential Services are very large companies offering a wide
variety of financial services, asset management, and insurance
products/services. The opening screen of Fidelity’s web site
(fidelity.com) is nice without much clutter. Their primary prod-
ucts include annuities and insurance, brokerage, mutual funds,
retirement, and rollover. The site also features “PowerStart”
for online trading and provides an “estate planning calculator.”
Their site features a prerecorded Fidelity Fund Video from Tom
Soviero, a portfolio manager. There is an “Online Assistant”
to walk a customer through for opening an account and to
advise on individual planning investment. Finally, Fidelity has
recently teamed up with Webline Communications and has
started offering an advanced “Click-to-Talk” capability (to their
regular account holders) that enables interactive e-commerce
and internet customer service via the use of full two-way
browser synchronization software. With this functionality, after
submitting a request for assistance, the customer’s and Fidelity
consultant’s Web browsers connect, a Fidelity consultant calls
the customer right away by phone, and then the consultant can
answer investors’ questions while viewing the same screens
online.
In the case of Prudential Services, the opening screen of
their web site (prudential.com) is pleasing and uncluttered.
The opening screen offers a number of choices—insurance,
investment and brokerage, banking, real estate and relocation,
search, financial planning, etc. Within financial planning,
there is a choice of retirement plans, education funding, estate
planning, and financial planning services. Besides offering a
number of important pieces of information, the site also offers
an online demo called “Online Retirement Center” that walks
the user through a sample company’s 401(k) plan. Finally, the
site provides e-mail feature, 1–800 number for each product,
help to locate nearest Prudential office, and handling requests
to set up appointment with Prudential agents/financial planner.
In our model, we had proposed that social products, such as a
retirement/financial investment plan, require a social environ-
ment. In our search of various web sites, we could not find
any Web sites that provide real-time audio/video communica-
tion features in it. However, from the brief description of the
two sites provided above, the closest that we could identify was
Fidelity’s site that offers web-based customer interaction using
online chat or click-to-talk. On the other hand, we could not find
this feature in Prudential’s web site. While their site is attractive,
useful, and may be adequate for very knowledgeable customers,
it offers only an e-mail capability requiring customers to e-mail
or call Prudential’s consultants for additional information while
shopping for their retirement/financial products online. Thus,
we can see the difference of social presence provided by these
two Web sites dealing with similar products. Overall, using our
framework, we would submit that at the present time the e-com-
merce environment provided by Fidelity.com is closer than Pru-
dential.com to the ideal EC environment proposed in our model.
3) Music CD—Cdnow.com versus Getmusic.com: The
opening screen of Cdnow.com has a number of features:
browsing and searching for music titles by music areas, artist,
composer, record label, etc.; selling music; selling video; top
100; hot deals; and ability to customize CD. The standard on-
line shopping features of “shopping cart,” placing an order, and
tracking order status are available. Within “help” function, the
site offers an e-mail capability that is assured to be responded
468 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000

TABLE I
INDEPENDENT QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF COMMERCIAL WEB SITES BY THREE RESEARCHERS

to within 24 h. After searching for and locating desired CD
album, the site allows up to 60 s of music samples to be heard.
The opening screen of Getmusic.com appears much simpler.
This web site also provides most of the features noted above
for Cdnow.com but appears much less comprehensive. The site,
however, makes the distinction of posting separate prices and
separate “add to shopping cart” features for cassette tape and
CD’s. The site does not have a direct facility to sample music.
Within the “help” function an e-mail messaging capability is
available. Upon contacting this provider for clarification on
sampling music, we got a reply within four hours, which was
gratifying. However, we were informed that only few artists are
featured on their site for sampling and that those highlighted in
blue color may be available for “streaming."
We had classified music CD as an experiential product where
consumers want to sample and experience the music CD before
making the buying decision. Of the two popular web sites selling
Music CD (Cdnow.com and Getmusic.com) evaluated above,
we note that Cdnow.com has music sampling feature but Get-
music.com does not. This suggests that Cdnow.com provides a
higher level of product presence than Getmusic.com. In terms of
social presence feature, both use an e-mail feature. Thus, using
our framework, we would submit that Cdnow.com offers a con-
gruent EC environment whereas Getmusic.com does not. We
would therefore expect Cdnow.com customers to be more satis-
fied with and more confident of their buying decision.
4) PC Disk—Officemax.com versus Officedepot.com: Office
Depot and Office Max are two of the largest national retail
stores dealing with a number of products/supplies including
PC Diskettes. While the design and placement of navigational
links and buttons are somewhat different, the opening screens
of both these companies web sites (OfficeMax.com and Of-
ficeDepot.com) quite attractive but sort of busy since they deal
with a wide variety of products/supplies. Both sites display the
usual functionality of shopping cart, order tracking, special
deals, etc. The customer service facility within Officemax.com
site provides both e-mail as well as toll free 1–800 separately
for each of their various product lines. A two-step easy-to-order
instruction for online shopping is presented on the screen. A
picture of the disk pack (in 10 s, 25 s, or 50 s) is shown followed
by tabular format display of details such as item #, description,
delivery date, unit quantity, list price, actual retail price, and
“add-to-cart.” Officedepot.com also provides most of these
features. It offers e-mail capability within “special service”
which includes “customer service”; furthermore, the site asks
the visitor if “response to the e-mail question” is required.
Since PC disk is a simple product type, we had proposed that
it does not require high level of either social or product pres-
ence. In other words, a simple EC environment is suitable for
this product. Here, both Officemax.com and Officedepot.com
sites have an e-mail feature. Both provide descriptive text with
a static picture of PC diskette. We also examined another web
site Buy.com; it features only a textual description (not even pic-
ture) and e-mail functionality. Based on our framework, descrip-
tive text with a static picture is suitable for this product; thus,
both Officemax.com and Officedepot.com appear to provide a
congruent EC environment while Buy.com may fall marginally
short of the ideal.
The above discussion of the eight commercial web sites has
been summarized in Table I.
Note that the classification of “fit” is based on our assess-
ment of where each web site fell on our framework. No effort
was made to examine relationship of fit to site success or per-
formance.
V. CONCLUSIONS
The theory of congruence for successful design of EC envi-
ronments, presented in this article, has several advantages. First,
JAHNG et al.: EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ENVIRONMENTS
it provides a unified view of the current EC environments. It lists
a fairly comprehensive set of dimensions or factors in each of
the three key components constituting an E-Commerce environ-
ment: 1) product, 2) user and 3) the technology. Depending on
the nature of products a supplier wants to offer it is imperative
that they try to first get a clear understanding of the potential
target market segment they are after. As a second step, in light
of the fact that there is often a vast divergence in the types of con-
sumers, they may want to consider customizability by providing
a fairly wide variety of alternate user-interfaces that can allow
consumers to choose from among these. To go a step further, it
is not too difficult to develop a profile of the users when they
access the web site on the first occasion through the application
of artificial intelligence and provide the most suitable interfaces
from among the ones available. These profiles can be stored in
the database for future reference whenever the users access the
web site again. Using one set of dimensions from the conceptual
model, the study identified and presented a typology of four en-
vironmental types based on the pattern of a user’s sense of pres-
ence in a virtual environment: 1) simple, 2) social, 3) experien-
tial, and 4) rich environments. This typology is parsimonious but
is capable of explaining significant amount of variation across
EC environments. Furthermore, it offers a new product charac-
terization scheme that, to our knowledge, has never been pro-
posed before in EC or marketing research and one that is par-
ticularly relevant in an EC environment. Both EC environment
and product schemes are grounded in theories such as social
presence and tele-presence theories. This “fit” model explicitly
defines the link between EC environmental types and product
types and proposes consequences of the link. Finally, it recog-
nizes the importance of individual differences in relation to the
above-noted dimensions of EC environments.
This study provides important implications for researchers.
Basically, this study offers a broad theoretical framework for
congruent EC environments. Future researchers could consider
appropriate combination of factors from each of the three major
components of the EC environment proposed in this study and
examine whether congruent environments enable greater effec-
tiveness. If such investigation is performed as a field experiment,
they will also be able to examine whether such effectiveness
applies equitably to both the providers and consumers. Within
the example set of factors taken up for illustrating the face va-
lidity of the model, we applied the social/tele presence theories
to the new information/communication media (i.e., EC media),
thereby presenting a new perspective on EC environments. This
perspective looks at EC media from the “presence” point of view
based on the virtuality of EC environment. It identifies an EC
environment design in terms of a triangulated fit among the vari-
ation of (social/product) presence requirements as well as an
important individual difference variable. The research provides
theoretical derivation of the argument that the best EC environ-
ments design cannot be the same across all products and all users
and that EC environments design should be based on key contin-
gent factors such as product characteristics and user characteris-
tics. The underlying rationale of EC environmental design is to
maximize the efficacy of virtuality and, at the same time, mini-
mize the deficiency of virtuality through computer/communica-
tion technology. Note that we do not propose that rich EC envi-
ronments (for instance through a rich product presence) will or
469
even can necessarily ever be a substitute for a real-world phys-
ical presence.
Another aspect of this research is that it offers comprehensive
and in-depth insights on interaction. Based on two types of in-
teraction, it offers theoretical explanation of virtual interaction
of users involved in EC environments. The typologies of EC En-
vironments and products are interaction-based typologies. The
fit framework was derived to delineate efficient (e.g., in terms
of design facilitating ease of navigation, quick identification
and use of the various functionality) and effective (e.g., ease
of obtaining the right information/clarification, ease of infor-
mation-comprehension) interaction between user and product
and between users and sellers. Thus, researchers should recog-
nize that interaction is one of the most critical component of EC
usage phenomena. This study points out the importance of in-
teraction using theoretical observation of major activities in EC
environments.
We would point out at this juncture that “interface design”
to obtain a “fit” among the product-types, EC environment and
user-specific factors is just one among the many other equally
important variables that may be critical to the success of E-Com-
merce. We laid out a number of candidate variables classified
under the three major domains: 1) product, 2) EC system, and
3) user. We do not claim this to be an exhaustive list. There may
be other variables such as competitive pricing (for the price-sen-
sitive consumers), ease of negotiating and exchanging resources
between the buyer and seller, ability to configure the product to
personal preferences (e.g., building one’s own PC on Dell or
Gateway Computer’s web site), etc. that may be key.
This research also offers practitioners an opportunity to eval-
uate and (re)design their EC systems to realize enhanced effec-
tiveness (e.g., increased sales). Our framework is easy to un-
derstand and has high practical applicability. Using the frame-
work a detailed assessment of eight popular commercial web
sites demonstrated the extent to which they meet the criteria set
in the framework and the directions for improvement. Providers
of products/ services need to design EC environments to fit into
characterization of products they sell and consumers they deal
with. Also, the study implies the importance of interaction and
provides practical guideline on how best to design interaction.
Without sufficient and effective support of human interaction,
EC systems can not survive in the fierce competition among
competing commercial web sites. Social presence offers another
implication for EC environment development. According to our
design framework of EC environments, firms that sell complex
products need to maintain on-line help desk similar to 1–800
number call centers so that consumers can communicate with
real persons (e.g., seller or expert) through web site with one
keystroke. Users might need product consultation or get some
help for trouble-shooting during usage. Maintaining this human
pool may be costly. However, should it increase effectiveness
(e.g., sales) of EC environments, it should be considered as
a way to gain competitive advantage. Except Fidelity.com, all
the other web sites that we examined had only e-mail func-
tionality. Unfortunately, this messaging functionality is usually
embedded within “customer service” or “help” button, is not
prominent enough and may miss the attention span of users, and
of course asynchronous to be of much use to the users of the site
at that moment. Even with Fidelity.com, although we pointed
out earlier that this site provided a number of high quality “so-
470 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS—PART A: SYSTEMS AND HUMANS, VOL. 30, NO. 4, JULY 2000
cial presence” features these were not easily identifiable. In fact,
a casual user might even miss the functionality. Such a design
is neither cost-effective to the provider nor efficient to the con-
sumer, and its value to customers is questionable.
We caution readers of the subjective nature of EC environ-
ments/product characterization of the sample set of factors we
presented in this study, although various features of EC envi-
ronment are theorized to have a certain degree of sense of (so-
cial/product) presence regardless of human subjects. SP/PP re-
quirements of products are subject to human judgement mostly
based on product complexity and general observation of human
activity in the choice of a particular product. We looked at just
one aspect of individual differences in sort of isolation; uncer-
tainty avoidance, for instance, may be influenced to a significant
extent by product knowledge and prior experience. It is impor-
tant to recognize that as many other dimensions of individual
differences (and product and systems characteristics outlined
in Fig. 1) need to be considered. Ideal future EC environments
might be mass customization—customizing EC environments
for every single customer. In such instances, how to capture cus-
tomer characteristics/traits might be an issue. These are worth
investigating in future studies for micro-segmentation for cus-
tomized EC environments. Future research also requires empir-
ical validation of the congruence theory proposed in this study.
The theoretical fit proposed in the study needs to be validated
through comparison with the empirical fit (i.e., SP/PP profiles
of successful EC environments).
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Jungjoo Jahng is pursuing the Ph.D. degree
candidate in management information systems in
the School of Business Administration, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests are
in the domains of electronic commerce, information
systems strategy, and strategic information systems
planning. He has a number of papers in refereed
conference proceedings such as the Association for
Information Systems Conference (AIS). He has the
honor of being one of the few accepted nationally
as a doctoral consortium candidate in both AIS
1999 Conference as well as International Conference on Information Systems
(ICIS-99), the premier conference for IS researchers and professionals. One of
his research papers was nominated as one of the best papers in the AIS1999
Conference. He also has a number of years of real-world systems experience
in South Korea.
Hemant Jain received the Ph.D. degree in industrial
engineering and information systems from Lehigh
University, Bethlehem, PA, in 1981.
He is Lawrence G. Regner Research Professor of
Management Information Systems and the Director
of UWM MIS Consortium in the School of Business
Administration at the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee. His current research interests are in the
area of Distributed and Cooperative Computing Sys-
tems, Data Modeling and Database Design, Object
Oriented Analysis and Design, Decision Support
Systems, Model Management Systems, Group Decision Support Systems, and
Information Systems Design. He has published a large number of articles in
prestigious journals like IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING,
Information Systems Research, Decision Support Systems, Decision Sciences,
Information and Management, etc. He is on the editorial board of the Journal
of Database Management, in addition to being a consultant to a number of
large corporations. Over the past few years, he has developed (along with
three of his Ph.D. students) an integrated knowledge-based approach for
the design of cooperative computing environment (hardware, software and
network architectures), strategies for object partitioning and distribution in
co-operative computing environment and approaches for operation and control
of cooperative computing environments. He continues to work on this major
endeavor to achieve further refinement.
K. Ramamurthy received the B.S. degree in me-
chanical engineering from the University of Madras,
India, a graduate diploma in statistical quality control
and operations research from Concordia University,
Montreal, P.Q., Canada, the MBA degree from the
Indian Statistical Institute, Madras, I and the Ph.D.
degree in management information systems (MIS)
from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, in
1990.
He is currently an Associate Professor of MIS
at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. He has
over 19 years of industry experience and has held several senior technical
and executive positions. His current research interests include electronic com-
merce including inter-organizational systems/EDI and the Internet, adoption,
implementation and diffusion of modern information technologies, strategic
IS planning, data resource management in distributed environments, decision
systems for individual and group support, self-directed teams, business process
reengineering, TQM, and management of computer integrated manufacturing
technologies. He has published quite extensively in major journals including
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT, MIS Quarterly,
Journal of Management Information Systems, Decision Sciences, Journal of
Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, International Journal
of Electronic Commerce, International Journal of Man- Machine Studies,
International Journal of Production Research, OMEGA, Transportation
Journal, INFOR, and in a number of Conference Proceedings.
Dr. Ramamurthy is a member of INFORMS, AIS, and Beta Gamma and
Sigma Honor Societies.