Handling of online information by users: evidence from TED talks

an article by M. Utku Özmen (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey) and  Eray Yucel (Ihsan Dogramaci Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey) published in Behaviour and Information Technology Volume 38 Issue 12 (2019)

Abstract

This paper studies how people search for, choose, process and evaluate information provided online. In this context, the study analyses how the content and context of online information are related to the length of information and to user ratings.

Employing naturalistic data that cover the titles, durations and viewer-assigned ratings/tags of more than two-thousand TED talks, the paper investigates whether

1. the talk duration is related to viewer-assigned ratings,
2. there is a link between the talk duration and attention driving factors (title words), and
3. the ex-ante wording of talks’ titles and ex-post user-assigned ratings are connected.

The findings show that talks with certain end-user ratings have significantly different length, most strikingly, talks first rated as persuasive are on average 35% longer than talks first rated as ingenious. Also the inclusion of certain words in the talk title significantly affects both the talk duration and end-user ratings.

For instance, talks whose title include ‘child’ are on average 27% longer than other talks; or talks whose title include ‘brain’ are 57% more likely to be rated as fascinating than others.

Overall, the paper reveals regularities regarding information processing attitudes, attention and subjective evaluations of online information users.

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Is my fear of missing out (FOMO) causing fatigue? Advertising, social media fatigue, and the implications for consumers and brands

an article by Laura Frances Bright (Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, USA) and Kelty Logan (University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA) published in Internet Research Volume 28 Issue 5 (2018)

Abstract

Purpose
Social media usage has become ubiquitous in our society – consumers are spending upwards of 20 percent of their media time on social sites interacting with friends, family and brands (Adler, 2016) and all of this usage is driving fatigue. The purpose of this paper is to examine how advertising factors such as attitude and intrusiveness impact social media fatigue as well as two consumer behavior factors, fear of missing out (FOMO) and privacy.

Design/methodology/approach
A 190-item questionnaire was developed and administered to an opt-in subject pool recruited for web-based research (i.e. online panel). A representative sample of 750 US social media users was recruited for the survey of which 518 respondents were valid and usable.

Findings
Results indicate that FOMO has the greatest impact on social media fatigue, not advertising factors as predicted. In addition, privacy concerns continue to plague consumers and should be monitored by advertisers.

Research limitations/implications
With regard to limitation, the survey contained a variety of self-reported measures that can tend to be under-reported, especially when it comes to social media usage as evidenced in a recent study (Adler, 2016).

Originality/value
This research undertook an investigation of consumer perceptions of social media advertising and how those relate to social media fatigue and psychological factors such as privacy and FOMO. In looking at these constructs, a clearer picture of how consumer perceptions of advertising impact levels of social media fatigue has emerged. In addition, the results provide a better understanding of FOMO, a psychological factor that significantly contributes to social media fatigue.

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