Keywords

1 Introduction

Business companies try to communicate with consumers through various marketing channels. Advances in Web technology have enabled marketers to use more aggressive ways of contacting potential customers in the online environment. Online users are exposed to massive amounts of information with either active or passive intentions. Aiming to understand what kind of approach can better draw consumers’ attention and trigger their interest in exploring marketers’ offerings, this study investigates the human-computer interaction (HCI) strategies that are widely adopted by marketers. We argue that HCI strategies have an important effect on consumers’ reactions. Rather than measuring advertising effectiveness, we narrow the research scope to observe the relationship between advertising and real-time reactions, i.e. how to attract customers’ attention and interest in exploring. Focusing on real-time reactions provides a more in-depth understanding of how advertising affects the explosion of advertising (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
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Research model

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Electronic devices have a revolutionary evolution in both functionality and usability. The penetration of mobile devices and services has led to the transformation of online business from e-commerce to m-commerce. Traditional electronic devices and mobile devices differ not only in their physical size, but also in their use of scenarios and HCI methods (physical keyboard vs. touch screen). Providing insight into the distinction is increasingly important, especially for companies who rely on online channels. Hence, to understand the HCI strategy in the mobile context, the goals of this research are as follows:

  1. 1.

    What are the dimensions of HCI strategy?

  2. 2.

    How does HCI strategy affect customers’ reactions within a mobile context?

  3. 3.

    What combinations of HCI strategy can best draw customers’ attention and trigger their interest in exploring?

2 Literature Review

2.1 Communications and HCI Strategy

Communication Model.

Marketing is the process of communication between a marketer and consumers or business partners. According to the Shannon-Weaver communication model [1], noise may occur in the communication channel. When mobile electronic devices are used as the channel of communication, the issue of reducing noise is related either to device problems or to the interaction between human and device. Therefore, HCI issues should be considered in communication.

Interactivity.

William et al. [2] proposed that interactivity has three characteristics: control of the content and subsequent communication, the sender and receiver can exchange roles and they have the potential to converse with each other. A new approach to online advertising, referred to as “call to action” (CTA), displays a button in an advert that invites receivers to click if they want more information. The design of CTA makes it possible for marketers to control the content and subsequent steps. When the receiver pushes the CTA button, the message “I’m willing to learn more” is sent back and a conversation begins between the two parties.

Intervention.

Ducoffe [3] found that irritation had a negative effect on advertising value and attitudes toward advertising. Other researchers have found similar results. Edwards et al. [4] suggest that advertising intrusiveness increases advertising avoidance. Furthermore, Tsang et al. [5] state that attitudes toward advertising are only positive if advertising is permitted by customers. These results emphasize the intervention aspect of advertising. Rather than using the terms irritation and intrusiveness, we prefer to use “intervention” to represent our meaning, as we approach this issue from an HCI perspective.

HCI Strategy.

To identify HCI strategies, two dimensions are considered: intervention mode and interaction scheme. Intervention mode refers to the way that marketing messages intervene in the activities of online consumers, whereas interaction scheme refers to the communication acts required from the consumers after the initial intervention.

After viewing a wide range of advertising, we categorize the intervention mode into three types based on how the advertising intervenes in the customer experience: vertical, parallel and overlap modes. In the vertical mode, advertising interrupts the customer’s surfing experience fully or partially, as in a pop-up window or must-read advert, he/she has no choice about being exposed to the advertising, like two streams (advertising stream and customer experience stream) that intersect and conflict. Banner advertising and title sponsorship belong to the parallel mode because this type of advertising does not interrupt customers’ surfing experience but occupies and exists parallel to customer experience. In the overlap mode, the advertising overlaps with the customer’s experience, neither forced exposure nor occupied an area, adverts merge with the customer’s experience. To be more specific, native advertising and placement advertising can be classified into the overlap mode.

We divide interaction scheme into two types based on the communication acts required from consumers and refer to them as read-oriented and action-oriented. CTA can be categorized in the action-oriented scheme because it is designed to make the customer perform an action (click action) on the advertising. Traditional graphic design, which is still widely used in the online environment, can be categorized as a read-oriented scheme because the only communication act required from the consumer is reading.

2.2 Information Processing and Customer Behavior Model

Information Processing Model.

An information processing model is used to describe the human processing that takes place after receiving information. McGuire [6] proposed six stages of human information processing: presentation, attention, comprehension, yielding, retention and behavior. We focus on the presentation and attention processes because they are involved in HCI in advertising.

Customer Behavior Model.

Hall [7] proposed the AIDMA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Memory, Action) customer behavior model. With the growth of the Internet, Dentsu [8] adapted the model to the AISAS (Attention, Interest, Search, Action, Share) model to fit the Web 2.0 era. The attention and interest stages are an essential part of both models, regardless of the progress in technology.

Attention and Interest in Exploring.

Attention has become a scarce resource since people have become used to living with an information glut due to the growth of information technology. Besides attracting customers’ attention, as a bridge between attention and searching, it is also important to trigger customers’ interest in exploring. Because arousing curiosity is a common and efficient way of inducing an interest in exploring, a CTA scheme offers not only interactivity but also partial information exposure, which is one of the factors that induces curiosity [9].

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Research Framework

Drawing on existing theories and literature, a research model is developed to explain the relationships between HCI strategies, consumers’ attention and consumers’ interest in exploring.

3.2 Research Design

This study aims to identify HCI strategies in online advertising within a mobile context. Because every Internet user is exposed to online advertising, we examine our model in a general sample. To ensure the external validity in this study, we conduct a field experiment as our research method rather than laboratory experiment.

Experiment Design.

This study followed a 3 × 2 within-subjects factorial design. The three levels of intervention mode (vertical, parallel and overlap mode) were represented as pop-up advertising, banner advertising and native advertising, respectively. The two levels of interaction scheme (read-oriented and action-oriented scheme) were manipulated as graphic advertising with detailed information and CTA advertising with simple information and an action button. Eligible participants were those who used mobile devices to surf the Internet. To avoid advertising bias between participants, a within-subjects experiment was used.

Experiment Procedure.

First, we provided some basic instructions about the experiment, such as “We need participants in a mobile context,” “Participants who surf the Internet using mobile devices are suitable for this research,” “You will be invited to a webpage, please enjoy using it as you usually would.” To confirm the manipulation of the mobile context, the webpages were designed to fit a mobile screen size. In addition to the webpage design, we recorded the exposure time on the experiment page and the participants’ device features using programming language as one of the manipulation checks. After viewing the experimental material, the participants were required to answer manipulation check questions and were then invited to answer some questions and provide demographic information.

4 Discussions

This study aimed to categorize online advertising from an HCI perspective. After reviewing the literature, HCI strategies were categorized into intervention mode and interaction scheme. Our findings suggest that marketers should consider their HCI strategy while planning online advertising or digital marketing. Furthermore, while HCI plays an important role in the computer field, our study shows that the marketing field should not overlook the importance of HCI issues, which are important for gaining customers’ attention and interest in exploring.