Effect of website colour saturation on trustworthiness and visual appeal impressions

Abstract

Initial impressions of websites can be formed in a matter of milliseconds. Colour is one of the most prominent features of a website, especially the saturation of colours. The present study investigated how colour saturation affected user perception of trustworthiness and visual appeal of websites. 122 participants were recruited and randomly divided into one of the three conditions (desaturated, control, saturated). Only 108 participants were included in the analysis, as 18 participants did not pass the Ishihara colour blindness test. Participants rated the trustworthiness and visual appeal of thirty website screenshots on a seven-point Likert scale. Two one-way ANOVAs and a Pearson's correlation were carried out to investigate user ratings of trustworthiness and visual appeal of websites based on the websites’ colour saturation. Results found that colour saturation had no significant impact on visual appeal. Desaturated websites had a negative effect on perceptions of trustworthiness compared to the control group. Visual appeal and trustworthiness were positively highly correlated. Further research should be carried out, where only certain items on a website are manipulated, and investigation into gender is also recommended.