Skepticism Toward Online Advertising

Despite the enormous spending on digital advertising, consumers are skeptical toward online advertising (STA). We integrated advertising value and stimulus-organism- response (SOR) frameworks to develop a model of STA's causes and consequences. Product knowledge and perceived ethics of online seller (ETH) were proposed as moderators. For study 1, moderated-moderated mediation technique was applied on the time-lagged data of 411 consumers. For study 2, a between-subject experiment (n = 179) compared the effects of skepticism across video and picture ads. The results indicate that ETH and product knowledge moderated the relationships between stimulus-organism and organism-response states, respectively. Moreover, consumers showed favorable attitudes toward video ads. This study made novel contributions to research on STA by filling multiple voids (a) integration of advertising value and SOR (b) infotainment and puffery as predictors (c) product knowledge and perceived ethics of online seller as moderators (d), and comparison across advertisement type (video vs. picture).

EFFECTS OF THE TRIPLE SPLIT WINDOW SCREEN ON VISUAL PRIVACY AND VIEW IN THE RESIDENTIAL LIVING SPACE

In order to examine the effect of the translucent level of each layer on the visual privacy and the view when the window equipment is divided into three sections, the subject experiment was carried out. It was found that “visibility from inside” and “estimated visibility from outside” were proportional to each other regardless of the window equipment condition. The relationship between “visibility from inside” and “estimated visibility from outside” was affected by the shielding position of the window equipment, and it was revealed that the clearer the view from the middle layer, the more privacy could be secured. In addition, it was suggested that opening the lower level of the window rather than the upper level would ensure both privacy and view.

Exposure to virtual nature: the impact of different immersion levels on skin conductance level, heart rate, and perceived relaxation

It is generally accepted that natural environments reduce stress and improve mood. Since access to natural environments is sometimes limited, virtual natural environments, especially monoscopic 360° nature videos, offer a viable alternative. However, it remains unclear whether presenting monoscopic 360° nature videos via a head-mounted display (HMD) or a PC monitor results in larger relaxation effects. Therefore, this study examined whether a monoscopic 360° beach video presented with an HMD is significantly more relaxing than the same video presented via a PC screen, or no video at all (control condition), in altering skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate (HR), and perceived relaxation. Overall, 102 adults (40.2% females, age range 19–62 years) participated in a counterbalanced, randomized, controlled, within-subject experiment. All participants were subjected to three stressors comprising different mental arithmetic tasks, followed by three different recovery phases (HMD, PC, control). For SCL, the results showed a significantly larger decrease in the HMD and PC than in the control condition, but no significant differences between the HMD and PC condition. For HR, there were no significant differences between the recovery conditions. However, the HMD condition was rated significantly more relaxing than the other conditions, with no significant differences between the PC and control condition. Exploratory analyses showed that these results were not moderated by the participants’ age, gender, or technology anxiety. Overall, the psychophysiological results showed no significant benefit favoring the HMD over PC condition, although the self-reported relaxation ratings did. Future studies are warranted to clarify this divergence.

Exercising With a Six Pack in Virtual Reality: Examining the Proteus Effect of Avatar Body Shape and Sex on Self-Efficacy for Core-Muscle Exercise, Self-Concept of Body Shape, and Actual Physical Activity

This study investigates the Proteus effect from the first-person perspective and during avatar embodiment in actual exercise. In addition to the immediate measurements of the Proteus effect, prolonged effects such as next-day perception and exercise-related outcomes are also explored. We theorized the Proteus effect as altered perceived self-concept and explored the association between virtual reality (VR) avatar manipulation and self-concept in the exercise context. While existing studies have mainly investigated the Proteus effect in a non-VR environment or after VR embodiment, we aim to contribute to the literature by addressing this concern to explore how the Proteus effect works in actual VR exercise. Through a 2 (avatar body shape: with a six pack vs. normal) × 2 (sex: male vs. female) between-subject experiment, the results partially support the Proteus effect. Regarding actual physical activity, embodying an avatar with a six pack during exercise creates fewer body movements. No significant effect was found for perceived exertion. We also explored the role of sex as a potential moderator in the association of the Proteus effect on exercise outcomes. The Proteus effect was supported by immediate and next-day self-efficacy for core-muscle exercise only among female participants. The between-subject design allowed us to probe how avatar manipulation of muscular body shape with a six pack as opposed to normal body shape influences participants’ self-concept and exercise outcomes, as limited VR studies have employed within-subject comparisons. This also contributes to the literature by providing an upward comparison (e.g., muscular with a six pack vs. normal) as opposed to the previous downward comparison regarding body fitness (e.g., normal vs. obese). The overall results supported the Proteus effect in the context of core-muscle exercise when comparing normal and ideal body shape avatars. However, the Proteus effect as an altered self-concept and its effects on self-efficacy for exercise were supported among females but not males. Whereas the female participants who embodied avatars with a six pack associated themselves more with the muscular concept than other people, the male participants who embodied avatars with a six pack perceived themselves as more normal than others. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Social media users (under)appreciate the news: An application of hostile media bias to news disseminated on Facebook

News outlets rely on social media to freely distribute content, offering a venue for users to comment on news. This exposes individuals to user comments prior to reading news articles, which can influence perceptions of news content. A 2 × 2 between-subject experiment (N = 690) tested the hostile media bias theory via the influence of comments seen before viewing a news story on perceptions of bias and credibility. Results show that user comments induce hostile media perceptions.

How interaction experience enhances customer engagement in smart speaker devices? The moderation of gendered voice and product smartness

PurposeWith the advancements of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, smart objects (SOs) have been widely applied in the lives of consumers to fulfill a variety of functions. This research aims to explore the new interaction experience between consumers and a smart speaker that can create the effect of customer engagement by enhancing the gendered voice and product smartness.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject experiment to validate the research model and the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that a high level of interaction experience between the users and smart speaker devices increases customer engagement. Smart speaker devices that present female voices have a high product smartness, whereas high levels of interaction experience are more effective in customer engagement. Furthermore, the results also show a moderate effect of gendered voice and product smartness between the interaction experience levels and customer engagement.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the assemblage theory and the interaction experience levels between users and smart speaker devices in IoT. Based on the results, suggestions on enhancing the smartness ability and application services of new smart speaker devices are proposed. The findings of this study can promote a more continuous interaction between users and smart speakers.

A Subjective and Behavioral Assessment of Affordances in Virtual Architectural Walkthroughs

Immersive technologies, such as VR, offer first-person experiences using depth perception and spatial awareness that elucidate a sense of space impossible with traditional visualization techniques. This paper looks beyond the visual aspects and towards understanding the experiential aspects of two popular uses of VR in 3D architectural visualization: a “passive walkthrough” and an “interactive walkthrough.” We designed a within-subject experiment to measure the user-perceived quality for both experiences. All participants (N = 34) were exposed to both scenarios and afterwards responded to a post-experience questionnaire; meanwhile, their physical activity and simple active behaviors were also recorded. Results indicate that while the fully immersive-interactive experience rendered a heightened sense of presence in users, overt behaviors (movement and gesture) did not change for users. We discuss the potential use of subjective assessments and user behavior analysis to understand user-perceived experiential quality inside virtual environments, which should be useful in building taxonomies and designing affordances that best fit these environments.

The Moderating Effect of Achievement Motive on Performance Feedback in Choices of Challenging Tasks

Successful employee engagement in cognitively challenging tasks is a driving force of performance in modern organizations. Research has shown that performance feedback can be a powerful management control tool to stimulate engagement in such tasks; however, little is known about how individuals with different achievement motive respond to it. This paper examines the main and interactive effects of achievement motive and performance feedback on engagement in tasks that become progressively more challenging. We designed a within-subject experiment deploying an increasingly difficult cognitive task. We find that feedback is a key determinant of engagement in challenging tasks, as the main effect and in the interaction with achievement motive. Failure feedback discourages individuals with low achievement motive more than those with high achievement motive. Success feedback strongly encourages individuals to engage in a challenging task and levels out differences in achievement motive.

Supporting Designer Learning and Performance in Design Space Exploration: A Goal-Setting Approach

Design space exploration (DSE) is an important knowledge discovery process in the early design phase of complex systems. The outcomes of this process generally include the performance of the designs generated and designer learning. The latter broadly refers to the designer’s knowledge of the mapping between the design space and the objective space. Despite the integration of visual and data analytics in DSE, there is a lack of emphasis on a human designer’s learning as a basis for increasing the effectiveness of DSE. To address this gap, we investigate the use of goal-setting as a motivating factor to improve DSE outcomes. Previous research suggests that the goal of designing (i.e., finding good designs) and the goal of learning (i.e., learning useful knowledge) are inextricably interlinked. We test the hypothesis that giving designers an explicit goal of learning vs an explicit goal of designing generates different learning and performance outcomes, despite the two goals being interlinked. To this hypothesis, we conduct a between-subject experiment in which participants (N = 14) use a DSE tool to explore mechanical metamaterial designs. Subjects in the first conditions are incentivized to maximize the number of correct answers in learning tests administered after using the tool. Subjects in the second condition are incentivized to maximize the performance of designs they generate. The results show that the subjects with the goal of learning perform better on the learning tests, with a large but mildly significant effect. Whereas, the subjects with the designing goal generate better design performance, with a small but significant effect. This study suggests that there may exist a trade-off between the designing and learning goals, despite their interconnections, and designers can target one at the expense of the other through goal-setting.

Negative media portrayals of immigrants increase ingroup favoritism and hostile physiological and emotional reactions

Anti-immigration rhetoric in the mass media has intensified over the last two decades, potentially decreasing prosocial behavior and increasing outgroup hostility toward immigrants, and fostering ingroup favoritism toward natives. We aim to understand the effects of negative and positive discourses about immigration on prosociality at different levels of societal ethnic diversity. In two studies (student sample, nationally representative sample), we conduct a survey and a 3X3 between-subject experiment, including money-incentivized behavioral games measuring prosociality. We manipulate media representations of immigrants and the probability of interacting with immigrants (the latter measuring diversity). Results show that negative news affects prosociality as a function of the probability of interacting with immigrants. Negative portrayals increase altruism and trustworthiness in ethnically homogenous settings relative to unknown and ethnically-mixed contexts. These results are stronger for right-wing and high-prejudice respondents. Moreover, negative media portrayals of immigrants increase the testosterone-cortisol ratio, which is a proxy for proneness to social aggression. Negative news also increases outgroup-related perceived health risk, outgroup anxiety and outgroup threat less in ethnically-homogeneous contexts. Overall, negative portrayals of immigrants generate physiological and emotional hostility toward the outgroup, and ingroup favoritism in economic transactions, possibly determining efficiency losses in ethnically-diverse markets, relative to ethnically-homogeneous markets.