Motivational Duality in Online Consumer Behaviour: Website Usability and Flow State as Moderating Factors

The present study explores the influence of website usability (utilitarian motivation) and user flow state (hedonic motivation) on online purchasing behaviour in the context of a site promoting a tourist destination. A 2x2 (high vs. low website usability and high vs. low flow state) experimental design was chosen. The sample comprised 227 Spanish individuals. The results underline the importance of utilitarian aspects for the effectiveness of the purchasing process and the formation of perceived risk online. The findings also demonstrate the influence of hedonic aspects on attitudes and loyalty towards the tourist destination, and affirm that message involvement plays an important role in reducing perceived risk and augmenting attitudes and loyalty. It is recommended that websites should reflect the different types of motivation so as to make browsing both appealing and useful for the online consumer.