Cool stuff and UX resources

< Back to newsletters

Introduction

There is a lot of buzz around Persuasion, Emotion and Trust (PET design) going on now. Sure, human factors / usability is still important: if the user can't find it, the product / function still isn't there. Usability is not going away.

But the field IS becoming more interesting. Methods for deriving navigation architectures and best practices for designing effective layout are established. Now the leading edge is exploring evidence-driven methods to describe information exploration and decision patterns. The question is not "Can they buy the argyle socks?" but rather, "What experience will drive consumers toward buying OUR argyle socks?"

So attention has shifted from ensuring that sites allow people to take specific sub-actions (complete a purchase), to designing sites that encourage people to take larger, business-driven actions. Actions can be anything from buying... argyle socks (!), to joining a club, to signing-up for a specific 401K plan, to advocating for one's own healthcare. The key, though, is that the site content should influence action.

Motorcycles and attitudes. Are they connected?

Measuring persuasion is one of the field's current challenges. Marketing often uses attitude measures to evaluate how persuasive an ad or a website is. To do this, they measure how positively or negatively consumers feel about a product or toward a service. Then they expose consumers to ads or sites or even the actual product. And they measure again. The delta between the first and the second measure is used as an index of how persuasive (or not) the ad / site / product was.

This seems logical. But organizations aren't really interested in attitudes. They are interested in action. And there is often an uncomfortably loose link between the attitudes consumers report and whether they ultimately act on those attitudes. As an example: I have a strong positive attitude about Ducati motorcycles. Every ad I see, every (reasonably frequent) visit to the website, and every conversation with motorcycle enthusiasts increases that positive feeling. But I'm not likely to buy one. Not very soon, anyway.

If attitudes are not an effective measure for persuasion, what should we measure?

A recent series of studies by Rucker, Petty & Briñol (2008) suggest that "attitude certainty" predicts "behavioral intention" (or likelihood to act) better than direct attitude measures. As an added benefit, along the way their work also addresses the common marketing question – is it better to present only the benefits of the product, or to present both the benefits and potential drawbacks?

The research...

Rucker and team developed a series of experiments that manipulated / controlled the presentation of various elements of selling communications for products ranging from cell phones to bicycles to toothpaste to portable DVD players to medicine. Overall, the messages were positive. Critically, in half the tests consumers were presented with only positive information (one-sided frame). In the other half consumers were explicitly presented both pros and cons of the product (two-sided frame condition). Across their experiments they found:

  • One-sided and two-sided messages can both increase positive attitudes toward a product.
  • Two-sided messages are more effective at instilling consumers with confidence in that attitude.
  • Individuals who know a lot about something are less influenced by message framing (two- vs. one-sided) They are already confident about their attitude.
  • People remembered about the same number of positive and negative product details in both the one-sided and two-sided messaging – frame does not influence recall of product details.
  • People who were exposed to both pros and cons (two-sided) indicated a greater intention to buy than those exposed only to pros – even though both had developed positive attitudes toward the product.

Not sure? Make a list of Pros and Cons...

Yesterday, I looked at apartments with a friend in Los Gatos. Each place had selling points. Each also had drawbacks. To sort which apartment was most desirable, we made a list. Doing that made the decision process feel more solid. Ordered. Complete. Informed. Before the list, we were doing cost / benefit analysis in our respective heads. After the list, we felt more confident about a decision. All of the critical elements of the various places were surfaced and prioritized.

Rucker, Petty & Briñol (2008) suggests that presenting a two-sided frame instills the same sort of confidence. People who are exposed to a one-sided frame know consciously that they still need to think about the drawbacks of a given decision. And – worse for persuasion design – they are left to generate the negatives on their own. In contrast, people who are exposed to a two-sided frame are left with the impression that the communication is complete. At a meta-cognitive level, the reader seems to assume that the communicator has comprehensively considered and presented both positives and negatives. As a result, the consumer doesn't need to expend energy generating and considering the cons before they can make a good decision. Somebody has already done that for them.

The good, the bad... but maybe not the ugly?

In thinking about this study, it is critical to differentiate between content that creates a positive attitude and content that also leaves consumers confident that their conclusions are correct. The persuasion literature highlights why:

  • Confidently held attitudes influence behavior more than attitudes held with less certainty. Rucker & Petty (2004)
  • Confidently held attitudes are more likely to persist over time. (Petrocelli, Tormala & Rucker, 2007)
  • Strongly held attitudes are more resistant to change tactics than attitudes held with less certainty. Rucker & Petty (2004)

As Rucker and colleagues point out, politicians seeking to create loyalists or companies wanting to create advocates should create content that persuades. But critically, they also should strive to create content that instills confidence. Presenting both pros and cons seems to be one way to do that.

References

Petrocelli, J.V., Tormala, Z.L., and Rucker, D.D. (2007). Unpacking attitude certainty: Attitude clarity and attitude correctness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 30-41.

Rucker, D.D. and Petty, R.E. (2004), When resistance is futile: Consequences of failed counterarguing for attitude certainty, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 219–235.

Rucker, D.D., Petty, R.E., and Briñol, P. (2008). What's in a frame anyway?: A meta-cognitive analysis of the impact of one- versus two-sided message framing on attitude certainty. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 18(2)

Message from the CEO, Dr. Eric Schaffer — The Pragmatic Ergonomist

Leave a comment here

Reader comments

Craig Tomlin
inQ

Thank you Kath and Eric for another interesting article! I have a few questions about the research that was conducted:

  1. Who were the consumers mentioned in the study? Were they actual users on web sites who were interested in the products, or were they recruited and asked to perform a scenario for purposes of testing?
  2. What were the negative attributes mentioned, were they truly negative (example; "this phone is very expensive"), or were they attributes that might be negative for some users, but positives for other users (example, complex camera with many controls might be a positive for photography enthusiasts, a negative for occasional users - alternatively a simple point-and-click camera a negative for photography enthusiasts, a positive for occasional users)?
  3. The control group was not mentioned, I'm assuming it was the same set of users and same number of users as for the one and two frame sets of users?

Thank you again and please keep these interesting articles coming!

Bryan Floyd
Synapse Wireless

Do you think you would have bought the motorcycle if Ducati had added a con-frame? Eric's point on depth is insightful for perspective.

Subscribe

Sign up to get our Newsletter delivered straight to your inbox

Follow us

© 1996-2018 Human Factors International, Inc. All rights reserved | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions for public training courses

Privacy policy

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Human Factors International, Inc., an Iowa corporation (“HFI”) collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a “User”) of its humanfactors.com website and any derivative or affiliated websites on which this Privacy Policy is posted (collectively, the “Website”). HFI reserves the right, at its discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time by posting such changes to this page. You understand that you have the affirmative obligation to check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes, and you hereby agree to periodically review this Privacy Policy for such changes. The continued use of the Website following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes an acceptance of those changes.

Cookies

HFI may use “cookies” or “web beacons” to track how Users use the Website. A cookie is a piece of software that a web server can store on Users’ PCs and use to identify Users should they visit the Website again. Users may adjust their web browser software if they do not wish to accept cookies. To withdraw your consent after accepting a cookie, delete the cookie from your computer.

Privacy

HFI believes that every User should know how it utilizes the information collected from Users. The Website is not directed at children under 13 years of age, and HFI does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age online. Please note that the Website may contain links to other websites. These linked sites may not be operated or controlled by HFI. HFI is not responsible for the privacy practices of these or any other websites, and you access these websites entirely at your own risk. HFI recommends that you review the privacy practices of any other websites that you choose to visit.

HFI is based, and this website is hosted, in the United States of America. If User is from the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law and User is registering an account on the Website, visiting the Website, purchasing products or services from HFI or the Website, or otherwise using the Website, please note that any personally identifiable information that User provides to HFI will be transferred to the United States. Any such personally identifiable information provided will be processed and stored in the United States by HFI or a service provider acting on its behalf. By providing your personally identifiable information, User hereby specifically and expressly consents to such transfer and processing and the uses and disclosures set forth herein.

In the course of its business, HFI may perform expert reviews, usability testing, and other consulting work where personal privacy is a concern. HFI believes in the importance of protecting personal information, and may use measures to provide this protection, including, but not limited to, using consent forms for participants or “dummy” test data.

The Information HFI Collects

Users browsing the Website without registering an account or affirmatively providing personally identifiable information to HFI do so anonymously. Otherwise, HFI may collect personally identifiable information from Users in a variety of ways. Personally identifiable information may include, without limitation, (i)contact data (such as a User’s name, mailing and e-mail addresses, and phone number); (ii)demographic data (such as a User’s zip code, age and income); (iii) financial information collected to process purchases made from HFI via the Website or otherwise (such as credit card, debit card or other payment information); (iv) other information requested during the account registration process; and (v) other information requested by our service vendors in order to provide their services. If a User communicates with HFI by e-mail or otherwise, posts messages to any forums, completes online forms, surveys or entries or otherwise interacts with or uses the features on the Website, any information provided in such communications may be collected by HFI. HFI may also collect information about how Users use the Website, for example, by tracking the number of unique views received by the pages of the Website, or the domains and IP addresses from which Users originate. While not all of the information that HFI collects from Users is personally identifiable, it may be associated with personally identifiable information that Users provide HFI through the Website or otherwise. HFI may provide ways that the User can opt out of receiving certain information from HFI. If the User opts out of certain services, User information may still be collected for those services to which the User elects to subscribe. For those elected services, this Privacy Policy will apply.

How HFI Uses Information

HFI may use personally identifiable information collected through the Website for the specific purposes for which the information was collected, to process purchases and sales of products or services offered via the Website if any, to contact Users regarding products and services offered by HFI, its parent, subsidiary and other related companies in order to otherwise to enhance Users’ experience with HFI. HFI may also use information collected through the Website for research regarding the effectiveness of the Website and the business planning, marketing, advertising and sales efforts of HFI. HFI does not sell any User information under any circumstances.

Disclosure of Information

HFI may disclose personally identifiable information collected from Users to its parent, subsidiary and other related companies to use the information for the purposes outlined above, as necessary to provide the services offered by HFI and to provide the Website itself, and for the specific purposes for which the information was collected. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information at the request of law enforcement or governmental agencies or in response to subpoenas, court orders or other legal process, to establish, protect or exercise HFI’s legal or other rights or to defend against a legal claim or as otherwise required or allowed by law. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information in order to protect the rights, property or safety of a User or any other person. HFI may disclose personally identifiable information to investigate or prevent a violation by User of any contractual or other relationship with HFI or the perpetration of any illegal or harmful activity. HFI may also disclose aggregate, anonymous data based on information collected from Users to investors and potential partners. Finally, HFI may disclose or transfer personally identifiable information collected from Users in connection with or in contemplation of a sale of its assets or business or a merger, consolidation or other reorganization of its business.

Personal Information as Provided by User

If a User includes such User’s personally identifiable information as part of the User posting to the Website, such information may be made available to any parties using the Website. HFI does not edit or otherwise remove such information from User information before it is posted on the Website. If a User does not wish to have such User’s personally identifiable information made available in this manner, such User must remove any such information before posting. HFI is not liable for any damages caused or incurred due to personally identifiable information made available in the foregoing manners. For example, a User posts on an HFI-administered forum would be considered Personal Information as provided by User and subject to the terms of this section.

Security of Information

Information about Users that is maintained on HFI’s systems or those of its service providers is protected using industry standard security measures. However, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and HFI cannot guarantee that the information submitted to, maintained on or transmitted from its systems will be completely secure. HFI is not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures relating to the Website by any Users or third parties.

Correcting, Updating, Accessing or Removing Personal Information

If a User’s personally identifiable information changes, or if a User no longer desires to receive non-account specific information from HFI, HFI will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update and/or remove that User’s previously-provided personal data. This can be done by emailing a request to HFI at hfi@humanfactors.com. Additionally, you may request access to the personally identifiable information as collected by HFI by sending a request to HFI as set forth above. Please note that in certain circumstances, HFI may not be able to completely remove a User’s information from its systems. For example, HFI may retain a User’s personal information for legitimate business purposes, if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, for account recovery purposes, if required by law or as retained in HFI’s data backup systems or cached or archived pages. All retained personally identifiable information will continue to be subject to the terms of the Privacy Policy to which the User has previously agreed.

Contacting HFI

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, you may contact HFI via any of the following methods:
Human Factors International, Inc.
PO Box 2020
1680 highway 1, STE 3600
Fairfield IA 52556
hfi@humanfactors.com
(800) 242-4480

Terms and Conditions for Public Training Courses

Reviewed: 18 Mar 2014

Cancellation of Course by HFI

HFI reserves the right to cancel any course up to 14 (fourteen) days prior to the first day of the course. Registrants will be promptly notified and will receive a full refund or be transferred to the equivalent class of their choice within a 12-month period. HFI is not responsible for travel expenses or any costs that may be incurred as a result of cancellations.

Cancellation of Course by Participants (All regions except India)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (India)

4 Pack + Exam registration: Rs. 10,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (4 Pack-CUA/CXA) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Cancellation / Transfer by Participants (Online Courses)

$100 processing fee if cancelling within two weeks of course start date. No cancellations or refunds less than two weeks prior to the first course start date.

Individual Modules: Rs. 3,000 per participant ‘per module’ processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the course (any Individual HFI course) registration before three weeks from the course start date. No refund or carry forward of the course fees if cancelling or transferring the course registration within three weeks before the course start date.

Exam: Rs. 3,000 per participant processing fee (to be paid by the participant) if cancelling or transferring the pre agreed CUA/CXA exam date before three weeks from the examination date. No refund or carry forward of the exam fees if requesting/cancelling or transferring the CUA/CXA exam within three weeks before the examination date.

No Recording Permitted

There will be no audio or video recording allowed in class. Students who have any disability that might affect their performance in this class are encouraged to speak with the instructor at the beginning of the class.

Course Materials Copyright

The course and training materials and all other handouts provided by HFI during the course are published, copyrighted works proprietary and owned exclusively by HFI. The course participant does not acquire title nor ownership rights in any of these materials. Further the course participant agrees not to reproduce, modify, and/or convert to electronic format (i.e., softcopy) any of the materials received from or provided by HFI. The materials provided in the class are for the sole use of the class participant. HFI does not provide the materials in electronic format to the participants in public or onsite courses.