Website usability, consumer satisfaction and the intention to use a website: The moderating effect of perceived risk Daniel Belanche a,1 , Luis V. Casalo ´ b,2 , Miguel Guinalı ´u a,n a Departamento de Direccio ´n de Marketing e Investigacio ´n de Mercados, Facultad de Economı ´a y Empresa, University of Zaragoza, Gran Vı ´a 2, 50005 Zaragoza, Spain b Departamento de Direccio ´n de Marketing e Investigacio ´n de Mercados, Facultad de Empresa y Gestio ´n Pu ´blica, University of Zaragoza, Ronda Misericordia 1, 22001 Huesca, Spain article info Available online 12 November 2011 Keywords: Usability Satisfaction Intention to use Perceived risk Online consumer behavior abstract This paper analyzes the influence of website usability on both consumers’ satisfaction and intention to use a website, as well as the impact of satisfaction on usage intentions. Additionally, we study the moderating effect that consumer risk perceptions may have on the influence of website usability. Results show that website usability affects satisfaction which in turn affects intention to use. Contrary to expected, usability does not directly affect intention to use but has an indirect effect through consumer satisfaction. Finally, the usability effect on consumer satisfaction is moderated by perceived risk. & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction According to Oneupweb (2010), in the context of online transac- tions, online users’ mainly expect websites that facilitate their purchases. In this line, 95.5% of users expect pricing and shipping information to be clearly presented, so usability must be an essential component of e-retail strategy. Website usability can be defined considering the following aspects (Flavia ´ n et al., 2006): (a) the ease of understanding the structure of a website, its functions, interface and the contents that can be observed by the user; (b) simplicity of use of the website in its initial stages; (c) the speed with which the users can find what they are looking for; (d) the perceived ease of site navigation in terms of time required and action necessary in order to obtain the desired results; and (e) the ability of the user to control what they are doing, and where they are, at any given moment. Analogously to merchandising in offline stores, when a customer accesses to an online store, usability issues may affect customer’s perceptions and behaviors. Thus, more usable websites tend to create more positive attitudes toward online stores and increase conversion rates, whereas less usable websites have the opposite effect (Becker and Mottay, 2001). Considering the influence of usability on website performance, online retailers require a full understanding of this variable. Previous literature in the field of retailing has studied the concept of usability, especially as a component of quality of service (Ladhari, 2010). However, the integration of usability management in the e-business strategy and the role of perceived risk are outstanding issues. This research allows us to understand the relevance of usability on strategic indicators of companies’ success analyzing the influence of perceived usability on the levels of consumer satisfaction and intention to use a website. Moreover, although the Internet shopping has been proposed to involve more risk than traditional shopping (Lee and Turban, 2001), different consumers may perceive different levels of risk in the same online environment. Thus, this research contributes to the literature analyzing whether risk moderates the influence of perceived usability on consumer satisfaction and inten- tion to use a website. Bearing these considerations in mind, we structure the remain- der of this article as follows. In the following section we formalize the working hypotheses. Next, data collection and measure valida- tion processes are explained, followed by the results of the analyses. Finally, we discuss the main conclusions, managerial implications, and limitations of the study, as well as some possibilities for future research. 2. Hypotheses formulation Traditionally, several authors have stated that satisfaction – defined as an affective condition that results from a global evaluation of all the aspects that make up a relationship – is a crucial antecedent of re-purchase and re-usage intentions of a product or service (e.g. Oliver, 1980; Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Focusing on the new technologies context, satisfaction Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 0969-6989/$ - see front matter & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2011.11.001 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 976761000x4695; fax: þ34 976761667. E-mail addresses: belan@unizar.es (D. Belanche), lcasalo@unizar.es (L.V. Casalo ´ ), guinaliu@unizar.es (M. Guinalı ´u). 1 Tel.: þ34 976761000x4636; fax: þ34 976761667. 2 Tel.: þ34 976761000x4695; fax: þ34 976761667. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 19 (2012) 124–132