The influence of mobile app design on emotions leads to purchase intention for risk avoidance cultures

In the current competitive environment, retailers should focus more on customers' experiences and perceptions while designing interactive interfaces to evoke positive emotions. Improving user experiences by refining design strategies is considered a successful business strategy. This is because customers' perceptions and related experiences influence the utilisation behaviour and purchase intention. Therefore, this study intends to explore the effect of design characteristics on emotions leading to purchase intention. An experimental prototype of an online ticket booking is developed to collect the data for validation of the intended objective. The collected data is analysed using partial-least-squares, a structural equation modelling technique. The results provide partial support for the proposed hypotheses. Accordingly, animation, colour, and transition are observed to be associated with positive emotions, while font and aesthetic graphics are determined as strong indicators of negative emotions. However, hierarchy and control were more crucial for positive (and negative) emotions. Lastly, positive and negative emotions contribute to changing the purchase intention.