Understanding the nature of online emotional experiences: A study of enjoyment as a web experience

Have you ever felt frustrated, annoyed or even enraged when interacting online with one service provider, but thoroughly enjoyed your experiences with another? Do you find some websites not only easier to use, but more enjoyable too? Online service providers now need to think beyond basic concepts of functionality and ease-of-use and consider the emotional experiences that their services engender. This paper indicates a new fundamental direction for research that links online service design with emotional experiences. It is necessary to connect information systems (IS) research with psychology, philosophy, and even physiology and neuroscience to take advantage of the rapid advances in these fields. One positive online emotional experience, namely enjoyment, was selected as the research theme. Three studies with seven websites were conducted. The research is significant as it shows how assessment of a complex emotion can deepen understanding of online service provision and go beyond attention to functional needs. Subsequent innovations in services have high potential benefit in terms of productivity gains, increased exports and more satisfied clients in the community. Copyright © 2009 ACM.