Quantity vs. Quality of Interactions: The Combinatory Effects of Website Interactivity and Need for Cognition on Anti-Smoking Message Perceptions and Smoking Attitudes

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study attempts to reconcile disparate findings on the combinatory effect of website interactivity and need for cognition (NFC) by combining user interface literature and dual-process theories. It conducted two experiments and examined how two types of interactivity led to anti-smoking message perceptions through different mechanisms. Study 1 (N = 327) investigated the impact of functional interactivity operationalized as low, medium, and high quantity of hyperlinks. Study 2 (N = 102) tested the effect of contingency interactivity operationalized as the absence and presence of interaction history. In Study 1, high functional interactivity led to greater anti-smoking message perceptions and reduced favorable attitudes toward smoking for nonsmokers with lower or moderate NFC by enhancing the user perception of action possibilities. In Study 2, contingency interactivity led to more positive message perceptions and more unfavorable attitudes toward smoking only for those with higher NFC users through the heightened perception of website contingency.