To facilitate product selection and purchase decisions on e-commerce Web sites, the presentation of product information is very important. In this research, the authors study how disposition styles influence users’ search patterns in product comparison services of e-commerce Web sites. The results show that people use relatively more feature paths and less product paths in vertical disposition style than horizontal disposition style. The findings also indicate that there are relatively more feature paths and less product paths in the first half than second half of the information search paths. This is consistent with Gensch’s two-stage choice model which suggests that people use attribute processing to derive a consideration set before they apply alternative processing to arrive at a final choice in product comparison services.

Abstract We are grateful to the editors-in-chief for this opportunity and their strong support of the second AIS SIGHCI-sponsored special issue on HCI studies in MIS. We also thank the following reviewers who have played an important role in the development of the manuscripts included in this special issue: Steven Bellman, Damon Campbell, Jinwei Cao, Jane Carey, Andrea Everard, Mark Fuller, Matt Germonprez, Maggie Guo, Susanna Ho, De Liu, Hong Sheng, Chuan Hoo Tan, Horst Treiblmaier, June Wei, and Yunjie Calvin Xu.

Abstract Prior research on Web animation typically focuses on banner ads, where the findings suggest that users are capable of ignoring the animation when performing online tasks. Research on non‐banner‐ads animation (e.g., animation applied to the main content of an e‐commerce Web site), however, is relatively scarce with inconclusive results. We propose that the effects of non‐banner‐ads animation are moderated by task type and the Web user's experience with the animation. Drawing upon divided attention theories, especially the central capacity theory, this research investigates the effects of non‐banner‐ads animation on Web users' clicking behavior, task performance, and perceptions through an online shopping experiment. The results show that non‐banner‐ads animation does attract Web users' attention, with the animated item more likely to be clicked first and also more likely to be purchased when users are performing browsing tasks. Meanwhile, Web users' task performance and perceptions are negatively affected in the presence of animation. Moreover, the negative effects of animation on task performance are greater in browsing tasks than in searching tasks. Finally, experience can help Web users to reduce the distraction from animation and is more effective when users are engaged in searching tasks than when they are engaged in browsing tasks.