Analyzing bookdepository.com using Gestalt theory and the M-R Environmental Psychology Model

The theory that the complexity of a webpage’s visual design and its order influences a user’s emotional and behavioral response, is the framework for the M-R Environmental Psychology Model. This model aims to analyse the relationship between design and emotions to predict consumer behavior. For websites that aim to market and sell products such as https://www.bookdepository.com/, this model and its features are incredibly important, as the model suggests that “people’s emotions determine what they do and how they do it…people respond with different sets of emotions to different environments” (Deng & Poole, 2010, p713).

The M-R Environmental Psychology Model was formed by Mehrabian and Russel in 1974. The basic concept is that the complexity of a user’s visual environment and the order of webpage items are key in creating the perfect emotional response to buy a product. If a user has a positive response to the website’s initial design, then they will want to keep searching the website and the business will have a higher chance of making sales. According to Liqiong Deng and Marshall Scott Poole who collaboratively wrote the article “Affect in Web Interfaces: A Study of the Impacts of Web Page Visual Complexity and Order” published in 2010, “when the stimulus is assessed as helping to reach the goals or satisfy the motives of the individual, he/she will experience positively valenced emotion”. A “positively valenced emotion” is one that allows a user to feel pleasant, and therefore creates a positive, safe, and beneficial environment for the user. This leads to them moving towards that environment, and makes them want to explore or approach it. However, when the layout of a website does not assist in the goals of an individual, they are more likely to avoid the website entirely. This is part of ‘approach-avoidance’ behaviors, which results in a lack of sales as the design does not coincide with the users wants.

To create this ideally designed environment, one needs to use specific features. According to Gestalt theory, the initial design of a website needs to be focused on the layout, as the website is seen first as a whole and then as its smaller parts. The human mind groups things together by comparing features such as colour, shape, and size, while also disconnecting things using the same features. If a user sees something as belonging together then they will see a clearly organized environment that they can easily work through, and if not then the user will find a disorganized and chaotic environment that does not promote productivity. According to Roy R. Behrens in his article “Art, Design and Gestalt Theory” published in 1998, Gestalt theory focusses on “flat abstract patterns, structural economy and implicitness”. The “flat abstract patterns” mean simple writing styles, use of shadows, and a more grid-like structure for organization so that a user can be productive and informed while using an aesthetically pleasing website. The “structural economy” focuses on the continuity of the content on the website. The content must flow and be grouped well in an order that is easy to read and understand. When referring to “implicitness”, Behrens means the website has ways of suggesting what to buy and recommending things to the user without perhaps directly expressing them. For example, a website may have the item you would like to buy for sale, but also several other things to do with that object also advertised at the same time.

For https://www.bookdepository.com/, these basic principles of Gestalt theory are evident from the home page. The search bar, logo, and other important hyperlinks are placed at the top of the page with a purple backing to separate it from the rest of the website. Because it is a primarily white background, the purple groups them together and connects them. There are also many different boxes of text separating each idea on the website, and the different headings on each box means that one can identify these different ideas, e.g. book lists, stories for younger children, and bestsellers. This gives the whole website a grid like structure both down and across the page. As well as this, many of the important buttons are coloured a bright pink to make them stand out on the white background and attract one to search, so a user can identify the separate and unique parts of the website. The whole website is a continuous scroll down page with different lists that one can scroll through sideways as well. The grouping of these ideas going down the page and many different options creates the organized environment one is looking for. On each book cover there are bright pink triangles indicating a percentage discount in white font, which attracts one to look at the price. This implies that they are cheaper than normal and inspires one to look at the prices. Overall, the website is well designed, flows, has clear headings, and is decently organized in a continuous grid-like structure.

However, the mistakes bookdepository makes with this is that all the boxes have the same white background and are not separated by a large margin. There is a thin border of grey around each box that does not stand out to the naked eye when skimming through the webpage, making it seem as though there is one continuous block of white. There is also a large number of different colours as each book cover varies in font and style, meaning the grouping together of these ideas would be difficult if not for the tiny heading. A user may feel as though the website is too complex to use while looking at all the different colours on one white background, and that there is too little separation of ideas. According to the M-R Environmental Psychology Model, this means some people using the website may avoid it, as they would not be experiencing any “positively valenced emotions”. The majority of people, however, would find the website very beneficial to them and see a bustling website that promotes productivity. Along with the grid-like structure, headings, fonts, and different boxes to lead to the different areas of the website, there is a scroll down bar to go through many lists of options. This would inspire a user to keep searching through and buy from Bookdepository, as they experienced more positive “approach” behaviors in accordance with M-R.

https://www.bookdepository.com/ corresponds with many of the principles of Gestalt theory, meaning that it also fits with the M-R Environmental Psychology model. This means that users will buy from the website due to its efficient and economical design. The right environment is created by Bookdepository, and therefore the correct emotional response is provoked in a user, inspiring them to buy products. As well as this, the website promotes more positive emotions with its design features, despite the visual complexity of the home page. Overall, this makes the website a success in its efforts to sell books online.

Bibliography

1. Deng, L., Poole, M.S. (2010). Affect in Web Interfaces: A Study of the Impacts of Web Page Visual Complexity and Order. MIS Quarterly, Vol.38(4), 711-730.

2. Behrens, R.R. (1998). Art, Design and Gestalt Theory. Leonardo, Vol.31(4), 299-303.

3. Wenger, R. (1997). Visual Art, Archaeology and Gestalt. Leonardo, Vol.30(1), 35-46.

4. The Book Depository Limited. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.bookdepository.com/