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The influence of social presence and bi-directionality within email-newsletters on consumer attitudes and continuous use intention

Hartog, M.J. (2015) The influence of social presence and bi-directionality within email-newsletters on consumer attitudes and continuous use intention.

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Abstract:This study examines the effects of social presence and bi-directionality on consumer attitudes and the intention to continue using the e-newsletter, mediated by perceived benefits (usefulness), perceived informativeness and perceived entertainment. Social presence is the perception of personal, sociable, sensitive human elements in an online environment and bi-directional communication is two-way communication between the source and the receiver. This study aims on permission-based e-newsletters. The purpose of this study is to extend our knowledge of the effects of social presence and bi-directionality on consumer attitudes and continuous use intention within an e-newsletter context by using experimental research methods. To conceptualize the concepts of social presence and bi-directionality, existing theories were used as a theoretical framework. First, the Media Richness Theory was elaborated to conceptualize the concept of bi-directionality. Second, the Social Presence Theory was discussed to conceptualize the concept of social presence. Also, the relationship between effectiveness, attitudes and the intention to continue using the e-newsletter was discussed. Based on the theoretical background it can be concluded that social presence and bi-directionality have a number of effects on the perceived benefits (usefulness), perceived informativeness and perceived entertainment. In turn, these variables seem to play a mediating role in forming attitudes and intentions. A 2 × 2 between-subject experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. Four versions of an e-newsletter were designed and operationalized on level of social presence and bi-directionality. The company that was willing to take part in the study was Bruna (a Dutch retailer). The four experimental e-newsletter versions were randomly sent to Bruna’s subscribers. Each e-newsletter contained a link to a questionnaire. The number of valid responses was 314. A revised research model was presented to illustrate the connections between the variables. Empirical findings indicate that both perceived social presence and perceived bi-directionality seem to play a significant role in forming the perceived benefits (usefulness), perceived informativeness and perceived entertainment of an e-newsletter. The findings suggests that providing an e-newsletter that users perceive as high in social presence and bi-directionality will positively influence their perceptions on informativeness and entertainment. In turn, a more informative and especially a more entertaining e-newsletter will generate more favorable attitudes and intentions to continue using that e-newsletter. Finally, the limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:05 communication studies
Programme:Communication Studies MSc (60713)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68610
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