Ad Intrusiveness, Loss of Control, and Stress: A Psychophysiological Study

As Internet advertising has become increasingly important in supporting free content, advertisers are trying to find novel ad formats (such as timed pop-up ads) to compete for users’ attention. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the effects of advertising characteristics on users’ emotions. To this end, we examine the effects of the ad characteristics perceptual salience and interference with user control on users’ perceived attentional and behavioral control, attentional and behavioral intrusiveness, and ultimately, stress. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model and report the results of a preliminary study that triangulates self-report measures with objective measures of psychophysiological activation. Preliminary data from a study using 36 participants indicates that the ad characteristics perceptual salience and interference with user control influence users’ perceived attentional and behavioral control. Preliminary analysis of facial electromyography data also suggests an influence of ad characteristics on affective responses

Cross-Organizational Software Development: Design and Evaluation of a Decision Support System for Software Component Outsourcing

While the decision to outsource software development tasks was mainly considered strategically and economically, it relies on technical properties of single components and their integrability into complex systems, as well. This paper suggests a decision model that evaluates technical properties of software components to support the outsourcing decision with its implications on the cross-organizational distribution of development tasks. Following a design science approach decision criteria are deduced and logically combined in order to design a decision model. The model is then used to implement a mobile prototype for a decision support system in order to classify all software components regarding their outsourcing applicability. Both model and tool are evaluated in depth: we examine the quality of model and tool in a naturalistic and experimental evaluation setting. The overall satisfaction with utility, ease of use and intention to use is very positive

The dual pathway to information avoidance in information systems use

This article develops an explanatory model of information avoidance behavior from extant theory and examines its hypotheses using psychophysiological methods. It integrates existing but partially conflicting explanations into a coherent positivist model based on Coping Theory. The existence of two distinct but interlinked causal pathways to information avoidance will be outlined. Both pathways are cause by defects in the information quality. The first pathway is grounded on being threatened by the information’s inconsistency. The second pathway is based on being distressed by the information’s complexity. Due to the involvement of cognition as well as affect, the usefulness of traditional measurement methods alone is deemed to be limited. Thus, we will draw upon recent advances from NeuroIS research in order to integrate psychophysiological measures into an extended, triangulated measurement protocol. This article intends to contribute to this special issue in three ways. First, it shapes a theoretical model for studying information avoidance which has received little attention in IS research. Second, it exemplifies the derivation and instantiation of a NeuroIS measurement model and the selection of appropriate NeuroIS methods for scrutinizing the theoretical information avoidance model. Third, based on the evidence of an experiment, it provides guidelines for how to conduct eye-tracking, pupillometry, and facial electromyography measurements as well as how to subsequently derive meaning from the initial data collected

EXTROVERT OR INTROVERT: HOW PERSONALITY MODERATES THE EFFECT OF VISUAL AESTHETICS ON APP ATTRACTIVENESS IN MOBILE APPLICATIONS

We propose a conceptual model for the context of mobile applications (apps) that explains the relationship between perceived visual aesthetics, perceived visual attractiveness, and intention to download. The model predicts that the aesthetics characteristics influence users’ perceived app attractiveness and users’ intention to download the app. It further predicts an interaction effect, where users’ personality types moderate the effect of aesthetics characteristics on perceived app attractiveness. In other words: differences in aesthetics characteristics explain differences in perceived app attractiveness. However, this effect varies for different types of user personality. We explain the model’s grounding in theory, describe the design of a laboratory experiment for empirically testing the model, and explain our manipulations of the aesthetics characteristics along its classic and expressive dimensions. Besides presenting our conceptual model and describing out planned experimental design, this study encourages researchers to further investigate how aesthetics characteristics affect intention formation depending on user personality types

THE URGE TO CHECK SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES

Social networking sites (SNSs), combined with the rapid growth trajectory of mobile devices, and widespread deployment of mobile data services, have evolved as a primary platform for daily social interaction. While the majority of users enjoy frequent interactions with their friends and family members, some users suffer from incessant urges to check up on the lives of others on their social networks. In the last decade, the use of SNSs has received much attention in the IS literature. Not until recently, researchers have begun to examine the dark side of using SNSs. In this study, we attempt to advance existing literature by exploring the role of urges in the context of SNSs. Particularly, we propose a research model that examines the antecedents and consequences of the urge to check SNSs. We will test the model with SNS users using structural equation modeling. We believe that current work will enrich the existing literature on the dark side of SNS use, and raise the awareness in the community regarding this emerging phenomenon

A Model of Defensive Information Avoidance in Information Systems Use

This paper looks at defensive information avoidance: the phenomenon that users avoid decision-relevant but incongruent information. Since only utilized information can contribute to better decision-making, the phenomenon of information avoidance is of great relevance to the information systems discipline. This paper contributes the first coherent conceptualization of information avoidance behavior by synthesizing scattered but related definitions. Building on this, it proposes a theoretical model and explains how encountering decision-relevant but incongruent information relates to different avoidance behaviors. In particular, it helps to understand yet unexplained IS use phenomena, where encountering incongruent information – paradoxically – leads to a higher information exposure but a decreased information absorption and use. The paper contributes methodologically by proposing a series of neurophysiological measures for testing the explanatory model. It derives and discusses two experimental paradigms from experimental psychology for testing the hypothesized effects

Breaking the Norm – On the Determinants of Informational Nonconformity in Online Social Networks

Behavior in social groups follows unwritten codes, with the social group one is embedded in defining what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Prior research has found strong tendencies toward informational isomorphism in groups in online social networks, as social peers seem to establish a shared understanding of what behavior is acceptable and what informational content is okay to share. However, these isomorphic tendencies have disadvantages, in that not all the available and potentially useful information is shared within the social group. Peers who actively introduce new and potentially controversial information are key in overcoming this problem, but this bears the risk of violating social norms. We seek to identify the determinants that explain why individuals decide to take the risk, and derive an explanatory model from theory. This research-in-progress paper describes the theoretical reasoning behind our model, and introduces our measurement strategy