Heuristic-systematic Model Research Articles

Investigating phishing victimization with the Heuristic–Systematic Model: A theoretical framework and an exploration

To the extent that phishing has become a serious threat to information security, there has been rather limited theory-grounded research on this burgeoning phenomenon. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model of victimization by phishing based on the Heuristic–Systematic Model of information processing. We argue that the Heuristic–Systematic Model offers an ideal theoretical framework for investigating the psychological mechanism underlying the effectiveness of phishing attacks. An exploratory experiment is presented to validate the research model based on the theory.

College students’ credibility judgments and heuristics concerning Wikipedia

This study examined: (1) whether a peripheral cue and subject knowledge influenced the credibility judgments in the context of Wikipedia; and (2) whether certain factors affected heuristic processing in the context of Wikipedia. The theory of bounded rationality and the heuristic-systematic model serve as the basis of this study. Data were collected employing a quasi-experiment and a web survey at a large public university in the Midwestern United States in the fall of 2011. The study participants consisted of undergraduate students from nine courses whose instructors agreed to their participation. A total of 142 students participated in the study, of which a total of 138 surveys were useable. The major findings of this study include the following: a peripheral cue and knowledge influenced the credibility judgments of college students concerning Wikipedia. The effect of a peripheral cue on credibility judgments was not different between those with high versus low knowledge. Finally, perceived credibility was positively related to heuristic processing, but knowledge, cognitive workload or involvement in a topic was not. This study suggests that educators and librarians need to integrate heuristic approaches into their literacy programs, guiding students to effectively use and not blindly accept cues. Wikipedia needs to offer noticeable cues that can help Wikipedia readers assess the credibility of information. The role of perceptions in heuristic processing needs further investigation. Further, this study demonstrates the strength of a peripheral cue on credibility judgments, suggesting that further research is needed when cues lead to effective credibility judgments and when cues lead to biased credibility judgments. Finally, this study provides the suggestion of an integrated model of the theory of bounded rationality and the heuristic-systematic model that can enhance our understanding of heuristics in relation to credibility judgments.

Hedonism versus accuracy: the influence of motivation and affect on the evaluation of multiple gains and losses

The perceived value of multiple gains and losses may be influenced by a perceiver’s goals or affective state. In this research, insights from prospect theory were combined with the heuristic-systematic model to shed light on the information-processing strategies that underlie motivated and affect-related preference formation in the context of valuating multiple gains and losses. Specifically, findings from two experiments examine the influence of motivation and affect on preferences for segregated versus integrated gains and losses. In the first experiment—consistent with hypotheses—accuracy motivation was found to induce systematic processing for gains. The mixed results in the loss condition are explained with the influence of negative affect. Overall, the evidence supports the notion that people’s value functions might be more flexible than predicted by prospect theory, depending on people’s current goals. The second experiment substantiates these findings, identifying the influence of negative versus positive affect on the valuation of gains and losses. The results suggest that mood-management determines information processing and preferences depending on the congruence of the valence of affect (e.g. negative such as sadness) and the valence event (e.g. a positive event such as a gain). From a managerial perspective these studies add to practical knowledge on price communication, bundling, surcharges, or sequences of payments. When setting prices, salaries or other compensation schemes managers should consider whether their target group tends to be more accuracy or more feeling motivated.

When do people feel more risk? The effect of ambiguity tolerance and message source on purchasing intention of earthquake insurance

The present study explored the impact of message source and ambiguity tolerance (AT) on risk perception and purchasing intention of earthquake insurance. Two months after Wenchuan earthquake, adult residents exposed to seismic hazard (n = 108) were first asked to finish the AT scale and five items of risk perception. After being provided with a risk message from ‘news media’ (publicity) or ‘peers’ (word-of-mouth), they were instructed to report their intention to purchase the seismic insurance. All sociodemographic data were also collected. Results indicated an interaction of message source and AT on intention of buying earthquake insurance with risk perception as a mediator. Specifically, people with higher AT felt more risk and were more willing to buy earthquake insurance when the risk message is from publicity than that from word-of-mouth; while people with lower AT demonstrated nearly the same risk perception and intention of buying insurance under both types of information conditions. The results were interpreted in relation to heuristic systematic model of persuasion, and were discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.

A Model of End Users' Web Threats Information Processing

Many threats have appeared with an increasingly sophisticated web platform. To cope with these threats, end users have to gather and process relevant information. There are two modes of information processing: systematic processing and heuristic processing. Using the heuristic-systematic model, the study shows the influence of involvement and information insufficiency on the processing mode. The study finds that high involvement is positively related to systematic processing, while low involvement is negatively related to heuristic processing. Information insufficiency has a significant negative relationship with heuristic processing but no significant relationship is found between information insufficiency and systematic processing. The study also shows that systematic processing has a positive relationship with the intention of following recommended protective actions while heuristic processing has a negative relationship with this intention. The results shed light on the role of processing mode related to web threat information.

Communicating health decisions: an analysis of messages posted to online prostate cancer forums

Experiential websites such as message forums and blogs allow Prostate Cancer (PCa) patients to communicate their health decisions to peers. The issues surrounding this form of indirect involvement in public health are little understood. This paper explores the types of decision-making processes that people are exposed to on PCa online message boards. The kinds of treatment choices patients are making and the reports of their decision-making processes to peers through an online environment are examined in the context of the Heuristic Systematic Model. Messages about treatment decision making were collected from four PCa websites. In total, 137 messages were selected from blogs and online forums and their decision-making processes coded. Men looking online for information about treatment options for PCa are exposed to a range of decision-making processes. Just under half (49.6%) of the messages reported non-systematic decision processes, with deferral to the doctor and proof of cancer removal being the most common. For systematic processing (36.5%), messages most commonly considered treatment outcomes and side-effects. Processes did not vary between the blogs and online forums. Compared to previous studies far fewer messages reported non-systematic decision processes and only a small number of messages reflected lay beliefs or misbeliefs about PCa treatment. Implications for men and their clinicians of seeking health information online are discussed.

Prior Knowledge and Health Messages: An Examination of Affect as Heuristics and Information as Systematic Processing for Fear Appeals

This study examines the role prior knowledge plays in the cognitive processing of and response to fear appeals. The Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) is used as the theoretical frame with results strengthening the HSM by demonstrating that having prior knowledge about a topic reduced the impact of fear arousal and led to systematic processing. Conversely, a lack of prior knowledge resulted in high fear arousal and heuristic processing. The influence of prior knowledge on systematic and heuristic processing provides greater clarity to the HSM as well as suggests future directions for health campaign practitioners that use fear appeals.

Information Processing of Genetically Modified Food Messages Under Different Motives: An Adaptation of the Multiple‐Motive Heuristic‐Systematic Model

Recent risk management research has noted the importance of understanding how the lay public processes and reacts to risk-related information. Guided by the multiple-motive heuristic-systematic model, this study examines (1) how individuals process messages in the context of genetically modified foods to change their attitudes and (2) how the persuasion process varies across types of motives. In the three treatment conditions of accuracy, defense, and impression motives, the respondents changed their attitudes through either the heuristic or the systematic mode, depending on their motives. The accuracy-motive group appeared to use the systematic processing mode, while the impression-motive group seemed to employ the heuristic processing mode. The empirical findings highlight the importance of incorporating motives to improve our understanding of the process of attitude change in risk management and communication contexts.

When Do Large Product Assortments Benefit Consumers? An Information-Processing Perspective

Retailers frequently attempt to attract shoppers by offering large product assortments. The prevailing literature on assortments has recognized that although large assortments benefit consumers by providing many choices, wide choices also challenge consumers to use extensive cognitive processes in making purchase decisions. Therefore when retailers offer extensive product assortments, they may also be adding cognitive costs to consumers—costs that may diminish the assortment's attractiveness. This research draws on the literature related to the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing and the literature related to optimal stimulation level (OSL) in testing for the presence of two possible processing benefits provided by large assortments: their capacity to aid consumers in achieving decision-making certainty and their ability to provide consumers with desired stimulation. In two experiments, we find support for both models of assortment evaluations and demonstrate that purchase context and individual traits can lead consumers to prefer large assortments from a processing perspective.

Ethical Judgments in Business Ethics Research: Definition, and Research Agenda

Decades of empirical and theoretical research has produced an extensive literature on the ethical judgments construct. Given its importance to understanding people’s ethical choices, future research should explore the psychological processes that produce ethical judgments. In this paper, the authors discuss two steps needed to advance this effort. First, they note that the business ethics literature lacks a single, generally accepted definition of ethical judgments. After reviewing several extant definitions, the authors offer a definition of the construct and discuss its advantages. Second, future ethical judgment research would benefit from greater integration between theories of ethical decision making and theories of social cognition. Drawing upon the Hunt–Vitell (Journal of Macromarketing 6(Spring), 5–15, 1986; In: N. C. Smith and J. A. Quelch (eds.), Ethics in Marketing. Irwin, Homewood, IL, pp. 775–784, 1992) model and the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39(November), 752–766, 1980), the authors present a brief research agenda intended to stimulate research on the psychological processes behind ethical judgments.

The influence of evidence type and product involvement on message‐framing effects in advertising

Abstract Extrapolating from prior research that describes the persuasive effects of gain‐ versus loss‐framed messages via the heuristic‐systematic model (HSM), the current study incorporated two advertising‐related factors – evidence type (informational vs. exemplar) and product involvement – and examined their influence on message‐framing effects in advertisements for commonplace consumer products. A significant interaction in Experiment 1 indicated that loss‐framed messages were persuasive in a higher‐involvement context only when coupled with informational evidence, which enhanced systematic processing among participants and thereby elicited the framing effect. No interaction effects occurred in the lower‐involvement context of Experiment 2, in which the hypothesized thought‐processing patterns did not evince. Consistent with recent theoretical advancements, these results indicate that message‐framing effects can be attenuated when both systematic and heuristic processing occur simultaneously. Practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of Value Predispositions, Mass Media Use, and Knowledge on Public Attitudes Toward Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Research on public attitudes toward controversial science seem to be divided between a camp that relies on a ‘scientific literacy model’, which states that increase in public knowledge of science is related to increase in public support, and a camp contending that the ‘miserly’ public will rely on heuristic cues such as value predispositions to form opinions about scientific controversies. In the present study, we argue along the lines of the heuristic-systematic model of information processing that the influences of value predispositions and knowledge on attitude formation can be complementary processes that will supplement cues provided by the media. Using data from a national three-wave panel survey conducted between 2002 and 2005, we examine the influence of value predispositions, news media use, and scientific knowledge on attitudes toward a controversial scientific issue: human embryonic stem cell research in the USA. Public attitudes toward stem cell research were shaped by value predispositions and to a lesser extent, cues from the news media. Scientific knowledge played a minor role in influencing attitude toward stem cell research. Religiosity, ideology, and deference to scientific authority moderated the effect that scientific knowledge had on support for stem cell research, with knowledge having a weaker effect on attitudes for the conservatives, and those individuals high on religious beliefs and low on deference to scientific authority.

Predictors of Engaging in Family Discussion About Organ Donation and Getting Organ Donor Cards Witnessed

Family knowledge of organ donation intentions has been found to double rates of family consent regarding organ donation; therefore, it is an important communication process to study in the effort to persuade more people to become organ donors. This article reports the results of a study based on the heuristic-systematic model of persuasion designed to assess predictors of family discussion of organ donation and getting organ donor cards witnessed. Possible predictors of family discussion and getting organ donor cards witnessed included individual differences and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors. A path model of the process leading to family discussion and getting organ donor cards witnessed is presented and results are discussed for their practical importance.

Capitalizing on Content: Information Adoption in Two Online communities

Online communities enable members to exchange messages, and rich content is generated in the wake of these contributions. Little research has systematically investigated how this content is utilized. In this paper we use the HeuristicSystematic Model of information processing to explore the mechanisms by which the potential value of these information assets can be realized. We argue that the extent to which message content and heuristic cues influence the validity assessment process is moderated by two factors: how consistent the new information is with what is already known and the extent to which information-seeking members are actively searching for on-topic information to satisfy their specific information needs. Survey data collected from two online communities generally support the hypotheses derived from this model. This study demonstrates that community members process information from online communities in a highly contextual manner that may extend to the functionality of the technical tools provided by the online communities. It also suggests numerous opportunities for future research and potential ways that online communities might improve their information sharing.

The Influence of Race, Heuristics, and Information Load on Judgments of Guilt and Innocence

This study applies the heuristic-systematic model to explore the influence of race and judicial-system heuristics on jury decision-making. In a mock-jury investigation, a 3 × 2 experimental design varied a trial description's information load (high, medium, low) and defendant's race (Caucasian, African American). Two participant groups (Caucasian, African American) judged defendant characteristics and guilt. Observations demonstrate that race and legal-system heuristics alter guilt judgments. First, although Caucasian judgments were unaffected by race, an accused African American benefited from disproportionately positive judgments by African American appraisers. Second, information load moderated heuristic influence on guilt judgments. High load strengthened the negative effect of perceived judicial-system bias on verdicts of innocence.

How and How Much To Reveal? The Effects of Price Transparency On Consumers' Price Perceptions

This study investigated the effects of price transparency on consumers' price perceptions. Our two-dimensional information transparency framework (sufficiency and diagnosticity of pricing information) is grounded in the Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion. Real-life online hotel booking sites were used for hypothesis testing. Our results show that consumers' price fairness perceptions and willingness-to-pay are more susceptible to the influence of externally supplied pricing information when such information is presented in a high transparency context (i.e., information high in sufficiency and diagnosticity). Heightened judgmental confidence in consumers' price perceptions was also observed in the high information transparency condition. Managerial implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

The Role of Social Presence in Interactive Agent-Based Persuasion

This investigation examines the extent to which interactive social agent technology can influence social presence, information processing, and persuasion. Specifically, it looks at how interactive media using virtual agents can increase the sensation of social presence, or the extent to which a person feels “with” a mediated being. Using logic based on the Heuristic Systematic Model (HSM), social presence is posited to impact indicators of heuristic and systematic processing, leading to changes in attitude and intention toward a health issue. A 2 × 2 between subjects experiment was conducted (N = 125) with manipulations of interactivity (interactive or not) and source attractiveness (attractive or unattractive). Results of causal model tests suggest that interactive agents facilitate social presence leading to increased message processing, which in turn affects both attitude and behavioral intentions toward the issue of healthy blood pressure. Contrary to expectations, however, social presence with an unattractive source did not impede attitude and intentions. These findings are interpreted in light of presence, new media, and HSM scholarship.

Animals in advertising: Love dogs? Love the ad!

Advertisers frequently use animals in ads, but little academic research focuses on consumer reactions to their use. This study uses the heuristic–systematic model (HSM) to examine consumer response to animal companions in advertisements. Specifically, HSM serves as the theoretical foundation for testing the effects of animal heuristic cues on the formation of attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention. In the current study, the presence of the dog increases heuristic processing, concurrent processing, and ultimately attitude toward the ad. The article proposes managerial implications and avenues for future research.

Information Processing in the Context of Genetic Risk: Implications for Genetic‐Risk Communication

Communicating genetic-risk information is fraught with difficulties, and there are no universally accepted guidelines for clinical practice. In this paper, we suggest that information-processing models may offer some guidance for the communication of genetic risk. The paper reviews selected literature from health and social psychology, including defensive reactions to threatening health information, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and Self Affirmation Theory. Ultimately, it presents the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) of information processing as a useful perspective from which to view genetic-risk communication. Through our review of this literature, we identify some of the variables found to influence the systematic or heuristic processing of risk information and note their relevance to genetic counseling contexts. We suggest that systematic information processing is conducive to informed decision-making, as well as improved understanding of risk information. Clinical practice implications derived from our review of these literatures are noted.

Relationship of Media Attention to Colorectal Cancer-Related Risk Appraisals in Older Japanese Americans

Objectives: The goals of this study were: (1) to explore how personal attributes and media attention are related to colorectal cancer (CRC)-related risk appraisals (i.e., causal attribution, and fatalism/misconception) among Japanese Americans at risk; and (2) to identify segments of the population that should be targeted for education programs, topics of interest, and health communication channels. Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to cross-sectionally test a proposed model derived from the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) and Attribution Theory for understanding the relationship between media attention and cognitive processes related to CRC in a population-based community sample of 341 asymptomatic Japanese Americans aged 50 and over residing in the Greater New York region. Results: Accounting for 30% of the variance in risk appraisals, the data fit a model (χ²(136)=231.41, p