Design visual e credibilidade percecionada na web : análise empírica de websites de Instituições de Ensino Superior

• Author(s): Machado, Tiago
• Date: 2015
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/18214
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
• Subject(s): Design; Percepção; Credibilidade; Web sites; Ensino superior; Universidades
• Document Type: Master thesis
• Language: Portuguese
• Advisor(s): Vilar, Emílio Távora, 1964-
• Contributor(s): Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa

Description

This dissertation explores the relationship between the visual design of websites in higher education institutions, namely universities, and the credibility assigned to them by the public. In this kind of organisations, websites constitute a powerful representational and communication tool, and are particularly important in attracting students, as they are the first (and often the only one) interface with potential candidates. Online, and specifically with regard to websites, there are four identified categories of assigned credibility: presumed credibility (based on personal assumptions); reputed credibility (based on the prestige and reputation of the sources); earned credibility (based on past experiences) and surface credibility (based on the visual characteristics of web pages). The empirical study developed focuses on surface credibility and tests the theoretical assumption that web pages with good visual design are perceived as more credible than web pages with bad visual design. It also seeks to identify the visual elements that impact the most on surface credibility and verifies whether there are differences in this assessment relating to the demographic profile and computer skills of users. The findings clearly show the existence of a correlation between the quality of the visual design of a web page and the perception of its credibility: websites with good visual appearance are perceived as more credible than websites with bad visual appearance. The visual elements that mostly influence credibility are: organisation and visual structure, imagery, colours and patterns. This study is the first to try and isolate the visual component of a website, so that the assessment of credibility is made exclusively on the basis of its appearance. It is also the first to approach the relationship between visual design and the perception of credibility on the web in the higher education sector and a precursor in the identification of the visual elements that contribute to the perception of superficial credibility