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1. Introduction
The transition from "brick-and-mortar" retailing to "click-and-mortar" or "pure-play" environments along with the emergence of online experiences as the next step in the progression of economic value ([66] Pine and Gilmore, 1998), generates further managerial and research attention in online retail contexts. E-tailers' concern is not limited to convincing consumers about the separate functional aspects of the online store (e.g. security, reliability, and effectiveness) but rather heavily relies on the fact that e-tailing effectiveness depends to a great extent on interface design ([4] Burke, 2002; [17] Davis et al. , 2008).
The online store environment lacks some of the qualities of the traditional retail store and possesses some other, which are absent in the traditional store (e.g. customization capabilities). [50] Manganari et al. (2009) proposed that the online store environment consists of four components:
virtual layout and design;
virtual atmospherics;
virtual theatrics; and
virtual social presence.
The present study focuses on the examination of the effects of the first component (i.e. the virtual layout) on consumer behaviour.
The design and development of the virtual store layout is very important since the layout directs consumer online navigation. A plethora of studies underline the role of navigation as a key driver of online purchases ([65] Pearson et al. , 2007; [57] Melián-Alzola and Padrón-Robaina, 2006; [67] Pratt et al. , 2004).
Prior studies have shown that the layout's ease of use influences shoppers' perceptions of quality of ([59] Montoya-Weiss et al. , 2003), evaluation of ([16] Davis, 1993) and attitude toward the store ([9] Childers et al. , 2001). Although several studies have shown direct or indirect positive effects of layout's perceived ease of use on consumer behaviour and overall online channel effectiveness, there are also a few studies that resulted in different research conclusions.
Specifically, layout's perceived ease of use did not appear to affect consumer attitude toward using an online print magazine ([70] Srisuwan and Barnes, 2008), did not drive perceived value in an online music setting ([12] Chu and Lu, 2007) and was, interestingly, negatively related to the perception of a competent apparel web site ([11] Cho and Fiorito, 2009).
Along these lines, two prior studies identified the effects of virtual layout patterns on consumer behaviour, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)....