Abstract Building on the recent work in web atmospherics, the theoretical notions of psychological reactance and the flow experience, propositions and a model are developed, which provide a framework in which the navigational atmosphere of a web site can be examined. This paper specifically examines how and why consumers are influenced by restrictive navigation cues on the web. Essentially, the present author proposes that restrictive navigational cues act as barriers that threaten consumers' control over web navigation, which, in turn, arouses psychological reactance and leads to negative consequences for the web marketer. These negative consequences include increased levels of negative emotions, negative attitudes toward the web site and increased site avoidance behavior. The magnitude of the threat to control, consumers' expectation of control and the importance of web navigation are proposed to moderate this relationship. The reduction in navigational control associated with restrictive navigation cues is also posited to reduce the likelihood of the consumer flow experience, which, in turn, leads to negative attitudes and site avoidance behavior. Implications for web marketers and avenues for future research are discussed.