Stanford Web Credibility — Fogg et al. (2002/2003): ~2,684 participants, 100 sites; "design look" present in 46.1% of comments (most-cited), ahead of Information Design/Structure (28.5%) and Information Focus (25.1%)

Claim: Stanford's Persuasive Technology Lab studied how people actually judge website credibility. The headline finding:

"The 'design look' of the site was mentioned most frequently, being present in 46.1% of the comments" — ahead of Information Design/Structure (28.5%) and Information Focus (25.1%).

When people judge a site's credibility, the most frequently cited basis is the visual design, not the information content. For a new site without reviews or reputation, this is the dominant lever.

Source: Fogg, B. J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D. R., Marable, L., Stanford, J., & Tauber, E. R. (2002/2003). "How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility?" Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab. ~2,684 participants, 100 sites.

Confidence: Industry-consensus that visual design dominates early credibility; Single-source on the exact 46.1% figure.

Caveat: Method-flagged. Based on self-reported rationalisations, circa 2002–2004 web; NN/g notes subjective scores correlate only moderately (r≈.53) across ~298 of NN/g's own studies with measured behaviour. NN/g's later cross-cultural work found the four trust factors (design quality, upfront disclosure, comprehensive/current content, connection to the rest of the web) have remained stable across decades — see Nielsen Norman Group four durable trust factors (Nielsen 1999; Aurora Harley cross-cultural study): design quality, upfront disclosure, comprehensive/current content, connection to the rest of the web — stable across decades; "a single violation of trust can destroy years of slowly accumulated credibility". Durability under modern mobile/app conditions is a known unknown — see Genuine unknown — durability of 2002–2004 Stanford credibility cue weights under modern mobile/app conditions; NN/g argues PRINCIPLES persist, exact weightings predate the smartphone era.