Product context in EC websites

Little attention has been attributed to product context in the design of EC environments. Even though extensive marketing research has shown product context to be a major driver of consumer search behavior in the physical world of shopping, most EC websites seem to ignore this. EC sites generally offer the same type of corporate layout, interactive functionality, dialogue system and information depth regardless of the product on sale. This article presents an experimental study with 150 subjects conducted at Humboldt University Berlin (Germany). The study shows how consumers have distinct navigational needs when they search for different product types online. Specifically, we observe how users seek 'deeper' levels of interaction for product categories with higher purchase uncertainty. Equally, we prove that different interactive functionality is needed to address different dimensions of product risk. Consequently, we argue for more product context recognition in EC website design and make some recommendations on how this could be done.