Effects of Website Interactivity on Skin Cancer–Related Intentions and User Experience: Factorial Randomized Experiment

Background Digital media technologies provide users with the ability to interact with content and to receive information based on their preferences and engagement. Objective We used skin cancer and sun protection as a health topic to explore how modality interactivity, interface tools that afford users greater activity, resulting in greater depth and breadth of mentally representing and experiencing mediated content, and message interactivity, the extent to which the system allows users to exchange messages back and forth on health websites, influenced users’ attitudes, knowledge, behavioral intentions, and experience. Methods We employed a 2×2 (modality interactivity: high vs low; message interactivity: high vs low) between-subject online experiment for which 4 websites were created. Participants (n=293) were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk and randomly assigned into to 1 of 4 conditions. After browsing the website, participants completed an online survey regarding their experience and cognitive perceptions. General linear models and path analysis were used to analyze the data. Results Both modality interactivity (P=.001) and message interactivity (P<.001) had an impact on intention to use sun protection. Attitudes toward health websites and perceived knowledge mediated the effects of modality interactivity and message interactivity on sun protection use intention, individually. Participants in the high modality interactivity and high message interactivity condition felt more satisfied (P=.02). Participants in the low message interactivity condition had more interest in the experience with health websites than participants in the high message interactivity condition (P=.044). Conclusions Findings suggested that modality interactivity influenced intention to use sun protection directly as well as via attitudes toward the websites. Message interactivity impacted intention to use sunscreen directly and also through perceived knowledge. Implications for designing health websites and health intervention content are discussed.

A Content Marketing Framework to Analyze Customer Engagement on Social Media

Factors influencing customer engagement on Facebook have been extensively analyzed but there are barely evidences if those factors also effect customer engagement on Instagram. A digital analysis was conducted including a content analysis of the post appeals and of the message interactivity as well as multiple linear regressions to explore the influence of the factors mentioned above on customer engagement. It was possible to conclude which factors can be used to increase customer engagement on social media, namely message interactivity and certain post appeals. Different conclusions are withdrawn when comparing Facebook to Instagram, proving empirically that different social networking sites have distinct influence on customer engagement. This chapter is relevant for content and social media strategies and helps brands increase their customer engagement.

Effects of Website Interactivity on Skin Cancer–Related Intentions and User Experience: Factorial Randomized Experiment (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Digital media technologies provide users with the ability to interact with content and to receive information based on their preferences and engagement. OBJECTIVE We used skin cancer and sun protection as a health topic to explore how modality interactivity, interface tools that afford users greater activity, resulting in greater depth and breadth of mentally representing and experiencing mediated content, and message interactivity, the extent to which the system allows users to exchange messages back and forth on health websites, influenced users’ attitudes, knowledge, behavioral intentions, and experience. METHODS We employed a 2×2 (modality interactivity: high vs low; message interactivity: high vs low) between-subject online experiment for which 4 websites were created. Participants (n=293) were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk and randomly assigned into to 1 of 4 conditions. After browsing the website, participants completed an online survey regarding their experience and cognitive perceptions. General linear models and path analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS Both modality interactivity (<i>P</i>=.001) and message interactivity (<i>P</i>&lt;.001) had an impact on intention to use sun protection. Attitudes toward health websites and perceived knowledge mediated the effects of modality interactivity and message interactivity on sun protection use intention, individually. Participants in the high modality interactivity and high message interactivity condition felt more satisfied (<i>P</i>=.02). Participants in the low message interactivity condition had more interest in the experience with health websites than participants in the high message interactivity condition (<i>P</i>=.044). CONCLUSIONS Findings suggested that modality interactivity influenced intention to use sun protection directly as well as via attitudes toward the websites. Message interactivity impacted intention to use sunscreen directly and also through perceived knowledge. Implications for designing health websites and health intervention content are discussed.

A Content Marketing Framework to Analyze Customer Engagement on Social Media

Factors influencing customer engagement on Facebook have been extensively analyzed but there are barely evidences if those factors also effect customer engagement on Instagram. A digital analysis was conducted including a content analysis of the post appeals and of the message interactivity as well as multiple linear regressions to explore the influence of the factors mentioned above on customer engagement. It was possible to conclude which factors can be used to increase customer engagement on social media, namely message interactivity and certain post appeals. Different conclusions are withdrawn when comparing Facebook to Instagram, proving empirically that different social networking sites have distinct influence on customer engagement. This chapter is relevant for content and social media strategies and helps brands increase their customer engagement.

Effects of Web Interactivity: A Meta-Analysis

Over the last few years, significant research has been conducted to examine the impact of web interactivity. However, mixed results have been found regarding why and how web interactivity could affect users’ attitudes and other psychological responses. This meta-analysis reviewed prior research that examined the extent to which web interactivity could affect various psychological outcomes and how such effects would differ due to several moderating variables. Our analysis of the results in 63 studies ( N = 13,484) suggested that across studies, web interactivity was significantly correlated with user enjoyment, positive attitudes, and desirable behavioral intentions. However, interactivity did not necessarily increase cognitive elaboration, knowledge acquisition, and information recall. While modality interactivity appeared to be more effective than source interactivity and message interactivity, perceived interactivity was significantly more effective than objective interactivity. Furthermore, extremely high levels of web interactivity were not as effective as have been anticipated.

Tweet or “re-tweet”? An experiment of message strategy and interactivity on Twitter

Purpose – Although a large number of prior studies have discussed the impact of using social media to organizations, the existing literature has not yet provided a clear guidance on what specific communication strategy organizations should adopt on social media and what relationship they need to establish with the public. To fill this theoretical gap, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of message strategy and interactivity from a relationship-building perspective within a social media context. Design/methodology/approach – Through a 2×2 between-subjects experiment (n=84), this study tests the effects of two message strategies, communal-relationship oriented messages and exchange-relationship oriented messages, with either a high or low level of interactivity within a corporate Twitter setting. Findings – The study findings indicate that communication strategies with different relationship orientations differ in quality. Communal-relationship oriented messages tend to generate more favorable relationship outcomes such as trust and control mutuality than exchange-relationship oriented messages. Message interactivity also positively influences attitude toward the company, perceived company credibility, and commitment. Originality/value – The unique contribution of this study is to extend relationship theories to a discussion of what message strategies organizations should use on social media. It suggests that messages oriented toward different relationships can lead to different outcomes. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of message interactivity in building a relationship between an organization and the public.