The rate at which users make value judgments on web pages exclude cognitive thinking. The test users had an emotional reaction to the home pages that they could not control. This “emotional reaction” pre-cognitive is a physiological response to what they see on the screen – a “gut reaction.” The postponement of first impressions with other attributes is sometimes called “halo effect” or “cognitive confirmation bias”: users search for evidence their first impression and ignore evidence contrary to their first impression. People want to be right, and tend to look for clues that confirm their initial hypothesis.

“… The strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to distract usability problems. This suggests that factors aesthetic or visual appeal are detected first and that these could affect how users consider subsequent experience …. Therefore, even if a site is very user friendly and provides helpful information presented in a logical order, it may fail to impress someone whose first impression of the site was negative. ” – (Lindgaard 2006)

There is clearly an interaction between our emotional reaction to a web page and our conscious thought processes. Users apply both to an overall judgment (emotional) and analytic (cognitive) when they decide to buy a product. “The feeling qu’éprouveront users through a” clean and professional design “can have a effect called halo effect on their future purchasing decisions (Fogg 2003).