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Can interactivity make a difference? Effects of interactivity on the comprehension of and attitudes toward online health content

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  • Mia Liza A. Lustria

Abstract

The Internet is increasingly being recognized for its potential for health communication and education. The perceived relative advantage of the Internet over other media is its cost‐effectiveness and interactivity, which in turn contribute to its persuasive capabilities. Ironically, despite its potential, we are nowhere nearer understanding how interactivity affects processing of health information and its contribution in terms of health outcomes. An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of Web interactivity on comprehension of and attitudes towards two health Web sites, and whether individual differences might moderate such effects. Two sites on skin cancer were designed with different levels of interactivity and randomly assigned to 441 undergraduate students (aged 18–26) at a large southeastern university. The findings suggest that interactivity can significantly affect comprehension as well as attitudes towards health Web sites. The article also discusses insights into the role of interactivity on online health communications, and presents implications for the effective design of online health content.

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  • Mia Liza A. Lustria, 2007. "Can interactivity make a difference? Effects of interactivity on the comprehension of and attitudes toward online health content," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 58(6), pages 766-776, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamist:v:58:y:2007:i:6:p:766-776
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.20557
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    1. Varadarajan, Rajan & Srinivasan, Raji & Vadakkepatt, Gautham Gopal & Yadav, Manjit S. & Pavlou, Paul A. & Krishnamurthy, Sandeep & Krause, Tom, 2010. "Interactive Technologies and Retailing Strategy: A Review, Conceptual Framework and Future Research Directions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 96-110.

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