Social Presence and Use of Internet-Delivered Interventions: A Multi-Method Approach

Abstract

ObjectiveInternet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to intervention websites once they are accessed is very low. This study tests whether and how social presence elements can increase website use.MethodsA website about Hepatitis A, B, and C virus infections was used in a preparatory lab-based eye-tracking study assessing whether social presence elements attract participants' attention, because this is a prerequisite for affecting website use. In the following field study, 482 participants representative of the Dutch population were randomized to either a website with or a website without social presence elements. Participants completed a questionnaire of validated measures regarding user perceptions immediately after exposure to the website. Server registrations were used to assess website use.ResultsParticipants in the experimental condition focused on the social presence elements, both in terms of frequency (F(1, 98) = 40.34, p<.001) and duration (F(1, 88) = 39.99, p<.001), but did not differ in website use in comparison with the control condition; neither in terms of the number of pages visited (t(456) = 1.44, p = .15), nor in terms of time on the website (t(456) = 0.01, p = .99).ConclusionsAdding social presence elements did not affect actual use of an intervention website within a public health context. Possible reasons are limited attention for these elements in comparison with the main text and the utilitarian value of intervention websites.

Comparative analysis of the complete chloroplast genomes of seven Populus species: Insights into alternative female parents of Populus tomentosa

“…tremula ), and all of the P1s were composed of poly A (polyadenine) and poly T (polythymine) repeats (Fig 5B and S3 Table). Research has shown that, in the cp genome, SSRs are generally composed of polythymine (poly T) or polyadenine (poly A) repeats and infrequently contain tandem cytosine (C) and guanine (G) repeats [59, 60]. In addition, all the dinucleotide repeat (P2) sequences in the seven accessions were AT repeats.…”

“…Cp genomes provide abundant resources, that are useful for evolutionary, taxonomic, and phylogenetic studies [20, 60, 74]. Whole cp genomes and protein-coding genes have been successfully used to resolve phylogenetic relationships at almost every taxonomic level during the past decade [60, 75].…”

Understanding and Promoting Effective Engagement With Digital Behavior Change Interventions

“…These surrogate measures of engagement can be difficult to interpret, and differences in attention may not always translate into differences in intervention use (or other measures of engagement). 40 That said, they do complement subjective measures by providing an objective measure of user reactions.…”

E‐loyalty towards a cancer information website: applying a theoretical framework

“…The increase in perception of efficiency, however, is in line with the idea of freedom of choice being more important than its actual existence [48]. Another example would be adding social presence elements: presenting human images [49] and testimonials [50] in which people share their experiences and ideas regarding the information presented on the website with others [51]. In short, more experimental studies regarding the improvement of user perceptions are needed, but these should be embedded within a theoretical framework such as the one presented in this study.…”