Web Site Credibility

" How Do People Evaluate A Web Site Credibility?
Results from a Large Study." published on by netmechanic.com

1. Web site Credibility through Visual Impact - 41.8%

The results about the connection between Design Look and perceived credibility suggests that creating Web sites with quality information alone is not enough to win credibility in users' minds. In most cases Web site designers need also to focus on the impression that the visual web design will make, creating a site that achieves what many of our participants described as "a polished, professional look." Some of the comments coded in this category are as follows:

This site is more credible. I find it to be much more professional looking. — M, 38, Washington
More pleasing graphics, higher-quality look and feel — F, 52, Tennessee
The design is sloppy and looks like some adolescent boys in a garage threw this together. — F, 48, California

Many comments were indicative of this attitude: "It looks like it's designed by a marketing team, and not by people who want to get you the information that you need."

In other words, the visual design may be the first test of a site's credibility. If it fails on this criterion, Web users are likely to abandon the site and seek other sources of information and services.

2. Web site Credibility through Information Design / Structure - 28.5%

After Design Look, the next category that people commented on in assessing credibility was the structure of the site's information. The participant comments discussed how well or poorly the information fit together, as well as how hard it was to navigate the site to find things of interest. While information structure is often associated with usability, the comments here show how information structure has implications for credibility. Sites that were easy to navigate were seen as being more credible. Some sample comments are below:

This site is very well organized, which lends to more credibility. — M, 33, Illinois
Horrible site, information badly presented. They try to put everything on the front page, instead of having multiple layers of navigation. This to me suggests that they developed this thing on a whim. — M, 42, Canada

That information design affects credibility should come as no surprise. A well-organized site is the antithesis to a site that purposely confuses and misleads a user toward advertisements and other promotions.

3. Web site Credibility through Information Focus - 25.1%

People in this study talked about the focus of information on the site. The comments varied in content. At times a focused site was seen as more credible, other times a narrow focus hurt credibility. What's clear is that many people in this study relied on information focus to determine whether a site was credible or not. Sample comments are below:

Credible because of the breadth of information available. — M, 35, California
I find this site trustworthy because it offers a simple message to a very targeted community. — F, 34, Massachusetts
This Web site is filled with too much crap. I feel as though part of the reason it seems less credible is the fact that the crap they fill it with is taking attention away from their own Web site. — F, 23, Illinois
This site seems focused on body image. They have articles about feeling good naked, the perfect swimsuit for every body type, and toning exercises. Not a lot of solid health information. — F, 22 Minnesota

An other notable finding about information focus is how much this issue varied depending on the type of site, with information focus being most prominent when evaluating health and news sites and least prominent when evaluating nonprofit sites.

The data suggest that people have clearer expectations about the focus of certain types of Web sites. We speculate that the expectations about site focus are higher for the types of information-rich sites people know best (e.g., health, news, sports).

4. Web site Credibility through Company Motive - 15.5%

The comments in this study addressed the perceived underlying motive of the site or the institution sponsoring the site. These comments often referred to how Web sites lost credibility when the only purpose of a site seemed to be selling things or getting money from users. In other cases, Web sites won credibility by conveying motives that people found to be admirable. Sample comments are below:

The fact that this site has a global conscience impressed me and made me feel it was more credible. — F, 40, New Jersey
This site looks like its goal is to help you find what you are looking for. — F, 55, California
Seems too "commercial" and therefore less objective. — M, 52, Texas
This site says to me "Give us your money and get out." — F, 29, British Columbia
Doesn't seem credible when they give a product a good review and give you a link to order it too. — F, 38, Texas

5. Web site Credibility through Information Usefulness - 14.8%

When evaluating Web site credibility, people in this study commented on the usefulness of the site's information. As one might expect, useful information led people to see the Web site as more credible. Below are sample comments we found in this category:

This Web site provided useful and interesting knowledge about events in sports. — F, 30, New Jersey
Liked it because it is something that would be useful to me and other family members. — F, 18, Illinois
I searched for a particular scientific term, and this search engine came up with more useful Web sites than the other one. — F, 40, Washington

6. Web site Credibility through Information Accuracy - 14.3%

This category includes comments in which people expressed doubt about the information on the site. But this category also includes comments where people confirmed the accuracy of what they found on the site. In assessing accuracy, people often drew on their own knowledge. Samples of comments relating to information accuracy are below:

Most of the articles on this Web site seem to be headline news that I have already heard, so they are believable. — F, 50, Ohio
I work at AOL Time Warner and read the article regarding accounting problems. It accurately quoted an internal memo from Dick Parsons and the general tone was positive, especially given the current business environment. — M, 45, New York
This site is totally based upon personal opinion and admittedly old data and unscientific methods. — F, 35, Colorado

7. Web site Credibility through Name Recognition and Reputation - 14.1%

One strategy for evaluating credibility seemed to be relying on the name recognition or reputation of the site operator. People talked about issues of reputation and name recognition. One frequent comment had to do with one's never having heard about an organization before. This hurt the credibility of the site. In other cases, people saw a familiar company name and inferred the site was credible because of that. Below are the sample comments coded in this category:

This site is less credible because the name is unfamiliar. — F, 22, Maryland
It seems to me that credibility is all about the name and having heard about it. — M, 25, Michigan
CNN is well recognized in the US as a provider of news. Their reputation is not something they would put at risk with unfounded claims or under-researched articles. — M, 24, Illinois
The Mayo Clinic has a great reputation. I would trust the info I found at this Web site. — M, 34, Connecticut

The comments made clear that a site may be perceived as trustworthy if a user has dealt successfully with the site previously, knows someone who has, knows of the site's large following, has heard good things about the site, or at least has heard of the brand name (sometimes via the site's real-world counterpart). The reputation of brick-and-mortar organizations appeared generally to carry over to those organizations' Web sites, although the relationship between this tendency and a site's identity information would make for interesting further investigation.

8. Web site Credibility through Advertising - 13.8%

People in this study used advertising on a site as a criterion for judging the site's credibility. In the comments, people talked about advertising, usually negatively. But at times, study participants talked about the judicious use of advertising in a positive way. Pop-up ads were widely disliked and seemed always to reduce perceptions of site credibility. Sample comments relating to advertising are below:

The advertisements were distracting and reduced the credibility to me. Any site which gives so much real estate to advertisers probably doesn't have my best interests in mind. — M, 25, Washington
Every link brought pop-under ads as well as traditional ads. I feel their view is colored by their desire to boost their advertising revenue: they perceive their primary clients to be their advertising base, rather than the people who use their site. — F, 43, Illinois
This [site] didn't have any advertising, which makes it more credible in my opinion. — F, 34, Iowa

Not surprisingly, advertisements are especially harmful to a site's credibility if they lead a user to believe that the site's content is swayed or controlled by the advertisement or that the site is connected to the advertisement, and is itself trying to sell the user something. The comments make clear that some users are fully aware of potential sponsor influence. They expect a clear line between the content and advertisements so that sponsors do not compromise the site's information.

9. Web site Credibility through Information Bias- 11.6%

People in this study talked about information bias when evaluating the credibility of the Web sites they were reviewing. Sample comments related to information bias are below:

This site is more commentary, and thus more opinionated. Accordingly, I liked it more, but the arguments are more disputable, and thus less "credible." — M, 39, District of Columbia
The headlines and editorial copy didn't even make the pretense of being unbiased, something I think is critical for an organization or media outlet to call itself "news." — F, 30, New York
It is credible because the opinions contained therein are based on unbiased research. — F, 32, Pennsylvania

The comments on this topic were not surprising: Web sites that are perceived to be biased are also perceived to lack credibility. As the data show, bias was highly prominent to users when evaluating sites dealing with news or sites providing opinions or reviews. In contrast, other site categories seemed not to trigger thoughts about information bias: search engines, e-commerce, and travel sites.

10. Web site Credibility through the Writing Tone - 9.0%

The tone of the writing on a Web site was something people noticed when assessing credibility. The participant comments include writing tone as a criterion usually in a negative way. People generally said that sensationalism or slang hurt a site's credibility, while a straightforward, friendly writing style boosted credibility. Some sample comments relating to the tone of writing are below:

" Holy Crap" and other slang or poor language harms credibility. Credible people tend to understate. — F, 53, California
" Cops" to search lake again vs. "Police", "8 hurt" vs. "8 injured", and so on. This site uses lower English and lowers its credibility. — M, 44, Texas
Seemed less sensationalistic, more dry, and therefore more credible. — M, 38, Washington

Participants claimed to be able to detect a "sales pitch" or "marketing" language, and were generally skeptical of sites with an abundance of either. Many participants explicitly distinguished between content that seemed (or was proclaimed to be) factual, opinionated, "gossipy," religious, or overzealous.

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