Navigational Characteristics Effectiveness of Web Sites on Consumer Behavior and Pre-Purchase Intentions

As internet usage increases world wide, one important objective of firms on the web is effective communications with consumer. This study looks at the factors that can affect customers’ purchase & sale website, and it models the behavior of consumers when they are confronted with the navigational characteristics of an internet site. The model of consumers’ web navigational behavior designed by Marie-odile Richard and Ramdas Chandra are taken into account to empirically test. Factors in this study are: Challenge, skills, Interactivity, Reasons to visit a website, need for cognition, optimum stimulation level, Navigational cues, site involvement, Exploratory behavior, Attitudes toward the site, pre Purchase intentions. The data were collected online from the home page of on Iraneservice site. We use structural equations modeling to test 10 major hypotheses and 28 sub hypotheses. Statistical analysis of this research is done using Lisrel& SPSS software. The findings generally indicate, what type of consumers (according to their skills, challenge, need for cognition, optimum stimulation level, etc.) are more likely to seek product related information from the internet, what is the influence of navigational characteristics, and under what circumstances the engage in this activity (reasons to visit a web site). In addition, with know the positioning of information search in the buying decision process, if marketers can identify which consumer segments in their market niche rely more heavily on navigational characteristics, and how to decrease the difficulty of navigating on their site for novice surfers.