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INTERACTIVITY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: FUNCTION,
PERCEPTION, INVOLVEMENT, AND ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WEB SITE
Sally J. McMillan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Much of the literature on computer-mediated communication assumes these new media forms
are interactive. But what is interactivity? This study begins by briefly reviewing key literature that
explores differing approaches to interactivity. While some scholars see interactivity as a function of the
medium itself, others argue that interactivity resides in the perceptions of those who participate in
communication. Research reported here compares functional and perceived interactivity. Relationships
between interactivity, attitude toward the Web site, involvement in the subject matter, and demographic
characteristics are also considered.
Review of the Literature
Rafaeli (1988, p. 11) defined interactivity as: “An expression of the extent that, in a given series
of communication exchanges, any third (or later) transmission (or message) is related to the degree to
which previous exchanges referred to even earlier transmissions.” Rafaeli conducted a number of
studies (see for example Rafaeli, 1990; Rafaeli and Sudweeks, 1997) in which he examined interactivity
as a process-related variable based on relatedness of sequential messages. Heeter (1989) suggested
interactivity was a multi-dimensional concept based in the functions of the medium. Massey and Levy
(1999) operationalized Heeter’s conceptual definition and examined Web sites for interactivity based on
presence of functional features such as e-mail links, feedback forms, and chat rooms. Jensen (1998)
defined interactivity as (p. 201): “A measure of a media’s potential ability to let the user exert an
influence on the content and/or form of the mediated communication.”
But not all scholars believe that interactivity resides in the technical capacity of the medium.
Morrison (1998) suggested that failure to view evolving media from the user’s perspective might be a
blind spot in the study of interactivity. Newhagen (1998) noted “traditional concepts of audience have
little descriptive power in the context of the Internet. Rather, the individual user comes to conceptual
center stage.” While the capacity to carry out two-way communication and other technical aspects of a
medium may help to facilitate interactivity, the uses that individuals make of evolving media may better
explain the interactive process. Williams, Stover, and Grant (1994) suggested that although media
technologies change rapidly, understanding individuals’ uses of those media is a key step in the theorybuilding process. Wu (1999) has also focused on the need to study interactivity from the perspective of
perceptions of those who use interactive media.
McMillan and Downes (2000) interviewed individuals who teach, research, and create content in
the evolving environment of computer-mediated communication. From those interviews, they identified
key dimensions of interactivity that are based on individuals’ perceptions. The dominant dimensions to
emerge from that study were direction of communication and control of the communication experience.
Direction of communication has been a key underlying concept in the work of scholars such as
Bretz (1983), Rice (1984), and Rogers (1995) who examined role taking, feedback, and mutual
discourse in computer-mediated communication. The implicit assumption in this work is that two-way
communication is more interactive than one-way communication.
The concept of control is key to Jensen’s (1998) definition of interactivity. Finn (1998) also
suggested that the sender/receiver ratio of control in content creation, presentation, and preservation is a
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key dimension of computer-based information systems. In general, as participants feel that they gain
more control over the communication experience, they view that communication as more interactive.
Figure 1 presents a model of interactivity developed by McMillan (1999) that identifies four
“types” of interactivity that may be found in computer-mediated environments. The model is based
primarily on variation in direction of communication and control of the communication experience.
Figure 1. Four Models of Cyber-Interactivity
One-Way
Communication Direction
Rich Content
S
Virtual Community
P
R
P
Chat rooms, bulletin boards, and other
environments where participants build shared
communication. Sender and receiver roles
become indistinguishable.
Packaged Content
Virtual Transaction
Receiver
Control
Online environments that provide in-depth
searchable content such as databases. May also
include customized information resources such as
personalized newspapers.
S
Low
Two-Way
R
S
Content created to attract an audience, promote a
product or service, build a brand, or perform some
persuasive but non-selling communication
function. Includes e-mail news summaries and
corporate Web sites.
R
Environments that facilitate online
transactions. Transactions may be for the sale
of products, solicitations for membership or
donations, providing online customer support,
and so forth.
S = Sender, R = Receiver, P = Participant (sender/receiver roles are interchangeable)
McMillan and Downes (2000) identified direction of communication as the primary dimension
related to how individuals perceive interactivity as a characteristic of the medium. But two other
medium-related dimensions were also identified: time and place.
Some scholars have suggested that interactivity must occur in “real-time” (see for example Steur,
1992; Rice & Williams, 1984). Zack (1993) focused on the importance of simultaneous and continuous
exchange of information in interactive communication. By contrast other observers (see for example
Finn, 1998 and Rheingold, 1993) have suggested that one of the great appeals of cyber-interactivity is
that participants can interact without the necessity for co-presence in time. The participants in the
McMillan and Downes (2000) study seemed to suggest that as communication environments become
more sensitive to the time demands of participants they exhibit greater interactivity. Rheingold (1993)
suggested that interactive computer-mediated environments create a sense of place. And McMillan and
Downes (2000) found that some, but not all, types of computer-mediated communication may create a
kind of “online environment” that provides communicators with a sense of place.
McMillan and Downes (2000) identified control as the primary dimension related to how
individuals perceive interactivity as a characteristic of the communication participants. But two other
participant-related dimensions were also identified: activity, and purpose of communication.
Morrison (1998) found level of activity to be a key theme among individuals who shared their
perceptions of interactive media. Rafaeli (1990) also recognized the importance of activity. He
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suggested interactivity is a series of active and reactive communications that are related. Respondents in
the McMillan and Downes (2000) study suggested that computer-mediated communication that is
informational in nature is more interactive than is communication that is perceived to have persuasive
purposes. Schultz (1998) observed that newspaper-sponsored online forums are likely to be
information-oriented as contrasted with online shopping forums that serve a persuasive function.
Packaged Content, as illustrated in Figure 1, is based on one-way communication from a sender
to a receiver. The receiver has little control over the message and takes relatively simple actions to
negotiate through the message. The perceived purpose of the communication is to persuade the receiver
to the sender’s point of view. Timing is relatively “set.” Content availability is controlled by the
schedule of the sender. These sites do not create a sense of place. A typical Packaged Content is the
corporate Web site that does little more than present an electronic version of corporate brochures.
The second type, Rich Content, is also one-way communication. But control shifts. The sender
creates messages, but the receiver exerts control over what he/she will view. The level of activity is
greater than for Packaged Content. Rather than selecting from a menu of choices, the receiver initiates a
series of actions with the computer that results in retrieval of specific information requested by the
receiver. The perceived purpose of Rich Content is to inform rather than to persuade. Time is relatively
set; the receiver cannot demand to see content until the sender has posted it. Individuals who use Rich
Content sites are more likely to view them as information sources rather than as places where they go to
interact. Typical examples include searchable databases and archived information.
The third type, Virtual Transaction, utilizes two-way communication. Because control remains
primarily with the sender, the roles of sender and receiver are not completely eliminated. The sender
may try to reduce activity required of the receiver by presenting a well-organized list of options from
which the receiver can select. The perceived purpose is to persuade the consumer to make some type of
transaction. Virtual Transactions are sensitive to time in two ways. First, the closer to “real time” that
communication occurs, the more likely that a transaction will be completed. Second, use of tools such
as e-mail allow both sender and receiver to communicate efficiently without requiring that they be in the
same time or space. Successful Virtual Transaction sites do create a sense of place. Typical examples
include commerce-oriented Web sites and online customer support facilities.
The fourth type, Virtual Community, utilizes two-way communication. In this type, senders and
receivers switch roles so frequently as to be almost indistinguishable. All participants retain some
control over the communication and all must exert effort to stay current on the exchange of actions and
reactions. The perceived purpose of most Virtual Communities is to exchange information and build
understanding among participants. Virtual Community allows for the flexibility of both real-time and
time-shifted communication. Additionally, participants often view these Virtual Communities as
“places” where they can gather. Typical examples include chat rooms, bulletin boards, and newsgroups.
A key question that grows from the literature is the relationship between interactive features of a
Web site and perceptions of interactivity. Thus, the first hypothesis examines the relationship of the
variables in the McMillan (1999) model and perceived interactivity:
H1
The more features that add two-way communication, receiver control, a sense of place, time
flexibility, activity, and information exchange to a Web site, the more interactive individuals will
perceive the site to be.
For advertisers, a key question that grows from analysis of interactivity is whether interactivity
has a relationship with attitude toward the Web site. The second hypothesis examines relationships
between interactive functions at a Web site and attitude toward the site.
H2
The more features that add two-way communication, receiver control, a sense of place, time
flexibility, activity, and information exchange to a Web site, the more positive the attitude
toward the Web site.
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Wu (1999) found a positive relationship between attitude toward the Web site and perceived
interactivity of the Web site. He argued that attitude toward the Web site is a critical measure of
effectiveness that needs further exploration. Thus, hypothesis 3 explores relationships between
perceived interactivity and attitude toward the Web site.
H3
The higher the perceived interactivity of a site, the more positive the attitude toward the Web
site.
McMillan’s (1999) study of interactivity found some evidence that people who are more
involved with the subject of the Web site will find it to be more interactive. Ognianova (1998) also
found involvement to be key factor in user’s perceptions of Web sites. Thus, this study further explores
relationships between involvement and both interactivity and attitude toward the Web site:
RQ1 What impact does a participant’s involvement in the subject matter of a Web site have on
perceived interactivity of a Web site?
RQ2 What impact does a participant’s involvement in the subject matter of a Web site have on attitude
toward a Web site?
Finally, because our understanding of interactivity and attitude toward the Web site is still at an
early stage of evolution, it is important to explore any demographic characteristics that may impact on
either perceptions of interactivity or attitude toward the Web site:
RQ3 What relationships exist between demographic characteristics of respondents and perceptions of
interactivity of a Web site?
RQ4 What relationships exist between demographic characteristics of respondents and attitude toward
a Web site?
Method
Four Web sites were developed to test hypotheses 1 and 2. The sites were based on McMillan’s
(1999) four models of cyber-interactivity. All four Web sites were about racewalking. This subject was
chosen to test McMillan’s (1999) finding that involvement with the subject matter of a Web site might
impact on perceptions of interactivity. While racewalking is an Olympic sport, it is not well recognized
or understood outside of the community of track and field enthusiasts. Thus the subject offered the
opportunity for further exploration of the role of involvement in perceived interactivity of sites.
All four Web sites used the same graphics, design, and structure developed by a graduate student
with professional, computer-based design experience. All sites also included photographs of
racewalkers taken at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta by a sports photojournalist. Each site included
four menu items: Technique, Schedule, Records, and Readings.
In all four sites, the Technique menu item led to a detailed tutorial on racewalking written by a
track and field coach who is also a racewalking judge. One sub-menu provided detail on the walking
rules. Another sub-menu led to training tips on the following topics: preliminaries, physiology,
technique, pace/speed, and competition. The Schedule section provided both international and US
schedules for major racewalking competitions for one year. Records were subdivided by gender and
event. Finally, the Readings submenu led to information on two books about racewalking. The sites are
no longer active, but html files are available from the author.
Each of the four test sites in this study was designed to match the corresponding model in the
McMillan (1999) study. Table 1 summarizes key differences in the four sites based on dimensions
identified in McMillan’s (1999) study. Changes were made to the sites to control for both of the key
dimensions identified in Figure 1: direction of communication and control of the communication
experience. Additional changes were made to address the remaining dimensions: time, place, activity,
and perceived purpose. The Packaged Content site was the “base site” and additional interactive
features were added to the remaining three sites based on the theoretical model outlined in Figure 1.
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Table 1. Characteristics of Four Web Sites Examined in the Study
Features
Packaged
Content
Rich
Virtual
Content Transaction
Two-way communication – Feedback forms
Yes
Control – Site map
Yes
Virtual
Community
Yes
Yes
Sense of place – Use of place-based metaphors
Yes
Yes
Time-sensitivity – Allow visitors to submit updates
to records and schedules
Yes
Yes
Activity – Searchable records and schedules
Yes
Yes
Informative/Persuasive – Copy has an informative
(as contrast with persuasive) tone
Yes
Yes
Two additional changes were made to further differentiate two-way models. The Virtual
Transaction site linked to Amazon.com with encouragement for visitors to purchase reviewed books.
The Virtual Community site added a chat room for real-time conversations.
Participants were drawn from two primary populations. The first were students in a major
research university in the northeast. All were enrolled in computer-lab based classes. During a class
session, they were asked to examine one of the four Web sites developed for this study. Students were
randomly assigned to one of the four Web sites. A total of 80 students participated in the study.
The second group was recruited because of athletics activity – either involvement with one of
three athletics and/or racewalking oriented listservs, or because these participants had been identified on
a track and field Web site as active athletics leaders. This second group is referred to throughout the
study as athletes. Each athlete received an e-mail invitation to participate in the study. The only
incentive offered for participation was an abstract of study findings.
The recruitment message included a URL for the site to be examined (the URLs for the four sites
were assigned randomly to recruits) and a unique ID number. The ID number could only be used once.
The ID numbers were also compared with the recruiting list to ensure that each respondent had
evaluated the appropriate Web site. A total of 98 athletes responded.
None of the participants were informed that four different sites existed. They all believed that
they were simply evaluating a single Web site on the subject of racewalking. Participants were asked to
view a site for 10-15 minutes and complete an online survey that was linked directly to the site.
Analysis of participant ID numbers insured that each survey was appropriately matched with the site
evaluated. A copy of the evaluation instrument is available from the author. The evaluation instrument
was identical for all four sites.
Table 2 shows distribution of student and athlete evaluations. Cross tabulation of respondent
type with site type revealed no significant difference in distribution (n = 178, df = 3, 2 = 4.64, p = .20).
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Table 2. Distribution of Participants in Treatment Conditions
Site Examined
Students
Athletes
Total
Packaged Content
27
20
47
Rich Content
19
23
42
Virtual Transaction
16
27
43
Virtual Community
18
28
46
Total
80
98
178
Perceived interactivity was measured using the scale developed by McMillan (1999).
Respondents were asked to use a six-point Likert scale to indicate their level of agreement with seven
statements. Table 3 shows each item in the scale. Alpha for the scale was .80.
Table 3. Interactivity Scale Items
Statement
This site facilitates two-way communication.
When I visit this site I get the sense that I am in a “place” in cyberspace.
This site seems to allow site visitors to communicate at times that are most convenient for them.
I feel that I have a great deal of control over my visiting experience at this site.
Visitors to this site need to take an active role in order to fully experience the site.
This site seems to be designed primarily to inform rather than persuade.
This site is interactive.
Attitude toward the Web site was measured with a scale based on traditional attitude toward the
advertisement (Aad) measures commonly used in advertising, marketing, and consumer behavior
research (e.g. Gardner, 1985; MacKenzie, Lutz & Belch, 1986; Mitchell & Olson, 1986). The sevenpoint semantic differential items were: bad/good, unpleasant/ pleasant, irritating/not irritating, boring/
interesting, dislike/like. Each of these items was reversed for statistical analysis. Alpha for the attitude
toward the Web site scale was .92.
Involvement in racewalking was measured in two ways. First, Oginanova’s (1998) five-item
involvement scale was used. This scale is a shortened version of Zaichkowsky’s (1990) involvement
scale. It consists of seven-point semantic differential items: enjoyable/not enjoyable, entertaining/not
entertaining, important/not important, relevant to me/irrelevant to me, appealing/unappealing. Alpha for
this involvement scale was .94. The second measure of involvement was the individual’s participation
in racewalking. Participants were asked if they considered themselves to be racewalkers. If so, they
were asked how long they had been racewalking.
Five demographic variables were considered in analysis of research questions 3 and 4. First,
student participants were coded separately from those who were recruited from athletics-oriented
listservs and Web sites. The remaining demographic variables were age, gender, years of computer use,
and years of Internet use.
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Scores for all scales were standardized to facilitate analysis of sites. Analysis of Variance was
used to test hypotheses 1 and 2. Bi-variate correlation was used for examining the remaining hypothesis
and the research questions.
Findings
Table 4 provides descriptive information about how each of the four test Web sites was
evaluated in terms of both interactivity and attitude toward the Web site.
Table 4. Standardized Interactivity and Attitude toward the Site Scores for Each of Four Web Sites
Site Examined
Interactivity Scale
Attitude toward the Web Site
Packaged Content
-.08
.04
Rich Content
-.16
-.11
Virtual Transaction
.19
.15
Virtual Community
.07
-.08
N = 175, df = 3, f = 1.08, p = .36
N = 173, df = 3, f = .63, p = .60
ANOVA
Hypothesis 1 predicts that the more features that add two-way communication, receiver control,
a sense of place, time flexibility, activity, and information exchange to a Web site, the more interactive
individuals will perceive the site to be. Thus, the Packaged Content site which contained the fewest of
these features should have had the lowest interactivity score and Virtual Community with the most
interactive features should have scored highest. The Rich Content and Virtual Transaction sites would
be expected to have moderate scores on the interactivity scale. Table 4 shows that some differences in
interactivity scores were found; however analysis of variance shows that those differences were not
significant. Thus, hypothesis 1 is not supported.
Hypothesis 2 predicts that the more features that add two-way communication, receiver control,
a sense of place, time flexibility, activity, and information exchange to a Web site, the more positive the
attitude toward the Web site. As shown in Table 1, Virtual Community has the most interactive features
and Packaged Content the least. Thus hypothesis 2 predicts that attitude toward the Web should be
highest for the Virtual Community Site and lowest for the Packaged Content site. However, expected
relationships were not found. While there was some variance in attitude toward the site for the four
different sites, it was not significant as shown in Table 4. Thus, hypothesis 2 was not supported.
Hypothesis 3 predicts a correlation between perceived interactivity of a site and attitude toward
the site. A strong positive correlation was found (r = .44, p <.01). Support for hypothesis 4 was found.
The first research question was designed to explore relationships between participants’
involvement with the subject of the site and perceptions of interactivity. A strong, positive correlation
was found between involvement and interactivity scales (r = .23, p < .01). The data do not allow direct
evaluation of whether involvement leads to higher scores on the interactivity scale or vice versa.
Analysis of variance in interactivity scores among walkers and non-walkers showed that
interactivity scores were higher for walkers (.18) than for non-walkers (-.09). However, the difference
in interactivity scores was not significant (N = 175, df = 1, f = 2.65, p = .11). Prior racewalking
experience does NOT seem to be a predictor of perceived interactivity at a Web site. Thus, there seems
to be some evidence that perception of interactivity leads to involvement in the subject of the Web site.
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The second research question was designed to explore relationships between participant’s
involvement with the subject of the site and attitude toward the site. A strong, positive correlation was
found between the involvement and attitude toward the Web site scales (r = .49, p <.01). Again, the
study design does not facilitate direct testing of causation in the relationships between these two scales.
Analysis of variance in attitude toward the Web site scores among walkers and non-walkers
showed that scores were higher for walkers (.57) than for non-walkers (-.28). This difference is
significant (N = 173, df = 1, f = 32.51, p <.001). This suggests that walkers are significantly more likely
than non-walkers to have positive attitudes toward the site.
The third research question was designed to explore relationships between demographic
characteristics of respondents and perceptions of interactivity of a Web site. Bi-variate correlations
examined relationships between the interactivity scale and each five demographic variables
(student/athlete, age, gender, computer use, and Internet use). No significant relationships were found.
The fourth research question was designed to explore relationships between demographic
characteristics of respondents and attitude toward a Web site. Bi-variate correlations were examined for
relationships between the attitude toward the site scale and each of the five demographic variables. Both
athletes (r=.31, p < .001) and men (r = .16, p < .05) were significantly more likely to have positive
attitudes toward the Web site than students or women. Positive correlations were also found between
attitude toward the Web site and both age (r = .32, p < .001) and years of computer use (r = .17, p < .05).
However no relationships was found between attitude toward the Web and years using the Internet.
Many of the above relationships may stem from the strong relationships between racewalkers
and attitude toward the Web site identified in analysis of Research Question 2. None of the racewalkers
were found in the student population. Thus, the relationship between athletes and attitude toward the
Web site is to be expected. Also, the non-student population tended to be older than the students.
Average age of students was 25; average age of athletes was 46 (N = 173, df = 2, f = 194.33, p < .001).
This accounts for the positive relationship between age and attitude toward the Web site. Similarly,
these older athletes were likely to have used computers longer than students (15.6 years versus 9.34
years; N = 176, df = 1, f = 30.67, p < .001). But because of the relatively recent advent of the Web the
older athletes had no more experience than students in Web use.
The positive correlation between gender and attitude toward the Web is harder to explain. Cross
tabulation revealed no significant gender difference between walkers and non-walkers. The correlation
between gender and attitude may reflect the fact that men adopted the Web earlier than women did.
Men in this study reported having used the Internet for an average of 5.5 years as contrasted with 4.1
years of Internet use by women (N = 172, df = 1, f = 7.90, p < .01). Perhaps the men, who have more
Internet experience than women, were more likely to develop positive attitudes toward Web sites.
Summary and Discussion
This study suggests that interactivity may reside primarily in the eye of the beholder. This
supports the work of scholars who suggest that individual perceptions are an important indicator of
interactivity. Despite manipulations that were designed to add more interactive “features” to a Web site,
the actual functions found at the site were not a predictor of perceived interactivity. Furthermore, no
significant differences were found between interactive functions and attitude toward the Web site.
However, a strong positive correlation was found between perceived interactivity and attitude
toward the Web site. This fact, combined with the strong positive correlation between perceived
interactivity and involvement in the subject matter, suggests that site developers might do well to focus
more on attracting the right audience to the Web site than on developing more bells at whistles at the
site. The strong positive correlation between involvement and attitude toward the Web site further
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supports this idea. Visitors who come to a site because they are involved in the subject matter of the site
are likely to find the site interactive and respond positively to it.
Further research is needed to explore causality in the relationship between perceived interactivity
and involvement. Does a site that is perceived to be highly interactive increase involvement in the
subject matter of the site? Or, does prior involvement with the subject matter lead the site visitor to
perceive the site as interactive regardless of actual opportunities for interaction? Further exploration is
also needed to examine causal links between involvement with the subject matter and attitude toward the
Web site. However, evidence seems to suggest that involvement leads to a positive attitude – again
underscoring the importance of attracting the “right” visitors to the site.
Perceived interactivity does not seem to be influenced by the demographic factors examined in
this study. But demographic characteristics do seem to have some impact on attitude toward the Web
site. Many of these relationships between demographics and attitude seem to be rooted in the
underlying involvement of study participants. Nevertheless, they should be explored in more detail.
This study represents a first step in testing relationships between functional characteristics of
sites and perceived interactivity. Further research is needed. Future studies should consider ways to
more clearly differentiate sites based on McMillan’s (1999) model of cyber-interactivity. For example,
this study included an e-mail link in all tested sites. Perhaps this form of two-way communication
should be eliminated from the Packaged Content and Rich Content sites. Additionally, future research
might identify more ways to operationalize differences in each of the six dimensions of interactivity.
Furthermore, it is possible that with larger sample sizes, some of the hypothesized relationships between
interactive functions and perceived interactivity might be found.
In conclusion, interactivity remains a thorny, but promising concept. This study provides some
evidence that one of the best ways to measure interactivity is from the perspective of the user. However,
if interactivity is in the eye of the beholder, how can Web site developers get the right eyes to their Web
sites? A key next step is to go beyond simply building sites and hoping “they” will come. Instead,
developers must understand who “they” are. Knowing the audience and knowing what will be both
interactive and involving for that audience may be more important than knowing how to build the latest
“interactive” bells and whistles.
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