Web design and perception of greeness: the role of aesthetics in digital environments

Abstract

In the modern era, the digital world dominates over the analog. The above condition, combined with climate change and the need for more environmentally responsible companies, has created the necessity for green marketing. The adoption of a green aesthetic on a website is a tool of green marketing in order to communicate the efforts of a company to reduce its environmental impact. Focusing on green marketing, the research analyzes how elements of green aesthetics such as symmetry, the selection of specific colors, and color harmony, influence consumers' psychology and purchasing intentions. The main objective of the research is to explore whether the aesthetics of a website that contains elements communicating a company's environmental responsibility influences consumers' trust in the company and whether it makes them more willing to purchase from it. For the conduct of the research, a questionnaire was created and distributed to a sample of participants. The results were statistically analyzed by examining correlations and influences between the variables. The results revealed that elements of green aesthetics influence, either directly or indirectly, the trust consumers have in a company regarding its environmental responsibility, and ultimately, this also affects their purchasing intention.