Sally J. McMillan

Measures of Perceived Interactivity: An Exploration of the Role of Direction of Communication, User Control, and Time in Shaping Perceptions of Interactivity

Abstract Interactivity is an often mentioned but seldom operationalized concept associated with the World Wide Web. Interactivity has been positioned conceptually as a process, a function, and a perception, but most operational definitions have focused on the process or function. This study develops scales to operationalize the perception-based approach to interactivity, because consumer perceptions are central to advertising research. Three overlapping constructs that are central to interactivity are explored: direction of communication, user control, and time. A multistage method is used to identify and refine measures of perceived interactivity (MPI). The 18 items included in the MPI offer researchers a tool for measuring a consumer perception central to advertising on the Web.

The Microscope and the Moving Target: The Challenge of Applying Content Analysis to the World Wide Web

Analysis of nineteen studies that apply content analysis techniques to the World Wide Web found that this stable research technique can be applied to a dynamic environment. However, the rapid growth and change of Web-based content present some unique challenges. Nevertheless, researchers are now using content analysis to examine themes such as diversity, commercialization, and utilization of technology on the World Wide Web. Suggestions are offered for how researchers can apply content analysis to the Web with primary focus on formulating research questions/hypotheses, sampling, data collection and coding, training/reliability of coders, and analyzing/interpreting data.

Defining Interactivity: A Qualitative Identification of Key Dimensions

The literature on interactivity includes many assumptions and some definitions but few tools for operationalizing the concept of interactivity in computer-mediated environments. This article takes an early step in filling that gap. In-depth interviews with 10 individuals who work and teach in the field of interactive communication led to a conceptual definition of interactivity based on six dimensions: direction of communication, time flexibility, sense of place, level of control, responsiveness, and perceived purpose of communication. Suggestions are made for applying these dimensions to multiple forms of computer-mediated communication. Future research should empirically test the existence and application of these dimensions.

A four-part model of cyber-interactivity Some cyber-places are more interactive than others

Existing communication models and definitions of interactivity provide both background and structure for a new model of cyber-interactivity that is introduced and explored in this article. Two primary dimensions, direction of communication and level of receiver control over the communication process, provide the primary framework for this new model of computer-mediated cyber-interactivity. A study designed to explore the applicability of this model analyzed 108 health-related websites using both perception-based and feature-based measures of these two dimensions. No significant correlation was found between the perception-based and feature-based models. The perception-based model was a better predictor of attitude toward the website and perceived relevance of the subject of the website than the feature-based model. However, the feature-based model may hold greater promise as a tool for website developers who seek to incorporate appropriate levels of interactivity in their websites.

Coming of age with the internet A qualitative exploration of how the internet has become an integral part of young people’s lives

Analyzing autobiographical essays written by 72 young adult college students, this study investigates how coming of age concurrently with the internet and related technologies has influenced these young people’s lives. An understanding of how the technology is influencing the various domains of their lives provides a window on what internet use may be like for future generations. Essays revealed insights into four primary domains: self, family, real communities, and virtual communities. Within each of these domains, participants’ responses tended to focus on key dualities. Additionally, these young people report a growing dependency on the internet for activities ranging from managing their daily lives to building and maintaining virtual communities.

Effects of Structural and Perceptual Factors on Attitudes toward the Website

This study examined effects of structural and perceptual variables on attitude toward websites. Data were collected from 311 consumers who reviewed four hotel websites. The sites were structurally different in terms of having high versus low number of features and also in terms of informational versus transformational creative strategies. Involvement and perceived interactivity were the two perceptual variables examined in the study. Involvement with the subject of a site and the subdimension of perceived interactivity that measured level of engagement were the best predictors of attitude. Positive attitudes were also associated with sites that took advantage of web-specific features such as virtual tours and online reservations systems. A key implication of this study is the need for advertisers and researchers to reconsider advertising in the context of the web. Radio and television required advertisers to adjust to the new concepts of buying and selling time instead of space and of incorporating aural and visual appeals in messages. The web demands that advertisers adjust to a new medium that is not bound by either space or time and that has the technical capability to involve and engage the consumer.This study was funded in part by grants from the University of Tennessee Scholarly Activities Research Initiative Fund (SARIF) and the Department of Advertising and College of Communication at the University of Tennessee.

Corporate Web Sites as Advertising

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this study is to explore and explain the concept of the Web site as corporate advertisement. Three coders analyzed 160 corporate Web sites. Corporate Web sites are able to combine multiple functions such as providing information and image-building strategies for companies and their brands as well as direct and indirect selling functions. Corporate Web sites are also able to address multiple audiences from a single umbrella site. Message strategies were more likely to be informational than transformational - possibly reflecting the information-delivery potential of the Web. In general, high-revenue companies had more functions and addressed more audiences through their Web sites than low-revenue companies. High-revenue companies were also more likely than low-revenue companies to use transformational message strategies. However, no predicted relationships were found between overall message strategy and either number of functions at the Web site or number of audiences served. The study provides details on application of a relatively new message strategy model to a unique new form of corporate advertising - the World Wide Web.

Evaluation of Internet Advertising Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Citations from Key Sources

How has scholarly research shaped the Internet advertising field since the mid 1990s? This study addresses that broad question with a bibliometric analysis of academic literature on Internet advertising. By examining most-cited authors and papers, as well as co-citation patterns, a general picture of the field can be drawn. This analysis sets a baseline that will enable future scholars to see where the field of Internet advertising research began and trace its shift over time.

Motivators for the intention to use mobile TV

This research tests the effects of gender on attitude and intention to use mobile TV. Gender is frequently identified as a key moderating variable in consumers’ behaviour and in the usage of media. Studying the case of mobile TV in the early stage of Korean digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) development is important because Korea is the first market where mobile TV is commercially available. The findings can provide useful implications not only for theory in the adoption of new media but also for marketing practitioners in countries that are rolling out mobile TV. Five motivation factors – entertainment, social interaction, permanent access, pass time and fashion/status – were drawn from uses and gratifications theory to test their relationship with attitude and intention to use mobile TV. For the purposes of the study, a total of 256 undergraduate students in South Korea participated in the survey. Overall, uses and gratifications theory is found to be a valid approach to explain people’s attitude and intention to use a mobile TV. Regarding gender effects, the results indicate that motivation for fashion/status is most important for males, while social interaction has the highest impact on female attitude and intention. Theoretical and practical implications are offered; they suggest that the advertising concept needs to be targeted by consumers’ gender.

Health Communication and the Internet: Relations Between Interactive Characteristics of the Medium and Site Creators, Content, and Purpose

This article examines the level of interactivity at health-related sites on the Internet. Sites most likely to utilize the interactive capacity of the medium were those created by nonprofit or government organizations, those in which the content focused on diseases or medical practice, and those designed primarily for the purpose of dialogue or information dissemination. Sites least likely to use the interactive capacity of the Internet were those created by for-profit organizations; those in which the content focused on wellness, alternative medicine, public service, or industry service; and those designed primarily for the purpose of education, sales, or publicity. Measures of interactivity that show the greatest promise for further studies of computer-mediated communication are Complexity of Choice, Responsiveness, and Interpersonal Communication.