Sydney Jones here,

A recently completed study confirms what we've been telling our clients for years - people gather an impression, an opinion about your company the moment they visit your site. A recently published study, confirms that 'first impressions' really do matter.

Conducted by researchers from the Human-Oriented Technology Lab at Carlton University in Ottawa, they discovered that people form an impression in as little as a 1/2 second. The study was published in the recent edition of the journal Behaviour and Information Technology.

Users made their decision based completely on visual appearance, since they were unable to decipher the site's content in such a short time-frame, said Gitte Lindgaard, a professor of human-computer interaction in the department of psychology. Their first impression could leave a lasting mark.

"We know from the judgment and decision-making literature that once we have formed an opinion, that opinion is likely to stick and we're going to look selectively for evidence supporting our hypothesis," said Lindgaard. It's what academics call "cognitive bias."

"In other words, if I like what I see I'll go looking for any evidence that supports my idea that this is good stuff. I want to prove to myself that I made a good decision."

She said businesses might consider pumping more cash into the esthetic appeal of their website. "That first impression is likely to carry over to subsequent tasks and interaction. If you're ugly, I may not stick around at all to see what you offer."

So take a quick look at your site - is it pretty enough for you to stick around? If it needs a face lift, call your friends at Honeycomb Creative Solutions.

Sydney

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To read the complete news report, goto: "First Impressions Count for the Web"