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KathyHammond,GilMcWilliam,AndreaNarholzDiaz（1998）,"FUNANDWORKONTHEWEB:

DIFFERENCESINATTITUDESBETWEENNOVICESANDEXPERIENCEDUSERS",inAdvancesinConsumerResearchVolume25,eds.JosephW.Alba&J.WesleyHutchinson,Provo,UT:

AssociationforConsumerResearch,Pages:

372-378.

AdvancesinConsumerResearchVolume25,1998    Pages372-378

FUNANDWORKONTHEWEB:

DIFFERENCESINATTITUDESBETWEENNOVICESANDEXPERIENCEDUSERS

KathyHammond,LondonBusinessSchool

GilMcWilliam,LondonBusinessSchool

AndreaNarholzDiaz,LondonBusinessSchool

ABSTRACT-

ThisresearchexploresthedifferencesbetweennoviceandmoreexperiencedWebusersandtheirappreciationoftheWeb’sentertainmentandinformationalvalue.Atwo-stagestudywiththesamesubjectsaftera4-monthintervalwasconducted.Ourfindingsshowthatwhilepriorexperienceisanimportantmoderatorofusers’attitudestowardstheWeb,itsinfluenceisnotlinear.Theheaviestusersareenthusiastsforthemedium,whilemoderateandlightusersperceiveitasasourceofinformation,butnotforentertainmentorfun.Ifthisfindinggeneralizes,itwillhaveasignificantimpactonthegrowthanddevelopmentoftheWebasamassmedium.

INTRODUCTION

TheInternetisdevelopingfromachannelforcommunicationbetweenacademicsintoanewmassmedium（MorrisandOgan1996）.InthisstudyweareconcernedprimarilywiththeWorldWideWeb-thepartoftheInternetcomprisingindividualhomepagesandcompanysites.Forthemarketer,therearepotentiallymanyusesfortheWeb,fromthepostingofpublicrelationsinformationsuchasfinancialstatementsandcorporatehistory,sellinggoodsviaon-linecataloguesandordering,andthemanagementofcustomercommunications（HoffmanandNovak196）.ThegrowthanddevelopmentoftheWebasamassmediumwilldependonhowtheconsumerrespondstotheseearlyofferings.Threeimportantquestionshereare:

（i）WhatwillpeopleusetheWebfor?

（e.g.informationsearches,shopping,fun）.

（ii）WhatarethecharacteristicsandattitudesofuserswhichwillaffecttheirWebbehavior（e.g.Webexperience,motivations,enthusiasmforthemedium）.

（iii）CanweidentifypotentialWebusers,（e.g.fromtheirattitudestowardsPCusage?

）.

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

BroadlywemightcharacterizepotentialconsumerusesofcommercialsitesontheWebintwoways:

first,asachannelforcommercialexchange,includingnotonlypurchasing,butalsobrowsingandseekingindividualizedinformationaboutproductsandservices;second,useoftheWebasamediumforinformationorentertainmentinasimilarwaytohowwepresentlyusetelevision,computergames,orprintmedia.AlthoughthereareuniquefeaturesassociatedwiththeWeb,itwillreplaceneithertraditionalmedia,normostshoppingactivity（justastelevisiondidnotreplaceradio,norout-of-townmallsleadtothecompletedisappearanceofmarketsandconveniencestores）.Rather,Webusagewilllikelybeincorporatedintoconsumers’currentportfoliosofactivities.Forthisreason,itisappropriatetoexamineWebbehaviorinthelightoftheoriesassociatedwithexistingmediaandshoppingbehaviors.

ShoppingBehavior:

PurposiveorJustFun

Moststudieswhichhaveexploreddecision-makingprocessesintheshoppingenvironmenthavethemeasureofproductpurchaseasafinalobjective.TheWebhaslittlereportedsales,andtoconcentrateonpurchasewould,atthisstageoftheWeb’sdevelopment,notyieldgeneralizableresults.Ouraimhereistounderstandconsumers’interactionwiththemediumasapotentialshoppingchannel,andassuch,theliteratureonbrowsingactivityisthemostappropriate.Bloch,RidgwayandSherrell（1989）definebrowsingas"anongoingsearchactivitythatisindependentofspecificpurchaseneedsordecisions".Importantly,theyproposethatthetriggersofbrowsingactivitiescanbebothrecreationandsearchforinformation（i.e.funaswellaswork）.

Consumersusedifferentstrategiestonavigatethroughashoppingenvironmentdependinguponthepurposeortaskofaparticularshoppingtrip（HirschmanandHolbrook1982）.AsBabin,DardenandGriffin（1994）andBaumgartnerandSteenkamp（1996）propose,shoppingneednotbeevaluatedsolelyintermsofthegoodsorservicesacquired,itcaninvolveexperientialaswellasutilitarianoutcomes.Ifthepurposeofashoppingtripistolocateaparticularitem,thenthesearchprocesstendstobeofautilitarian（problemsolving）nature;ifthemainpurposeofthetripismorefunoriented,thenthesearchstrategyinvolvesmorehedonic（experiential）behavior（Bloch,RidgwayandSherrell1989;TitusandEverett1995）.

IntermsofWebbehavior,theeasewithwhichpotentialgoal-directedshopperscanfindtheinformationtheywant,andthereliabilitytheycanplaceonthatinformation,willbekeydeterminantsintheirrepeateduseoftheWeb.Thosewhowanttobrowseforfun,andhavenoparticularproductorpieceofinformationinmindwhentheyaccessWebsites,willbelessconcernedwitheaseofaccessorwithreliability,butmaybemoreconcernedithwhethertheprocessgivesthemsufficientstimulation,newinterestsandfuntokeepthemcomingback.

TheEffectofKnowledge

Consumershavevaryingamountsofknowledgebothabouttheproductstheyareinterestedinandabouttheenvironmentinwhichtheyaccesstheseproducts.Previousstudieshavenotedthemoderatingeffectsofdomainknowledgeorexpertiseonpurchasingbehavior（AlbaandChattopadhyay1985;BettmanandPark1980;Bouwman1984）.ForWebusage,which,certainlyintheshorttomediumterm,isverymuchdependentonaparticularsetofskillssuchascomputerfamiliarityandtyping,domainknowledge（i.e.experiencewiththeinteractiveenvironment）couldprovetobeanimportantfactorindeterminingwhatsortsofactivitiesconsumersengagein.TitusandEverett（1995）proposethatconsumerfamiliaritywiththeshoppingenvironmentmayimproveperceptionsofitslegibility（i.e.familiarityhelpsintheextractionandcomprehensionofrelevantinformation）.However,theyalsosuggestthatfamiliaritymayhaveanegativeeffectonperceptionsofenvironmentalstimulation,insofarasthelackofchallengemayleadtoboredomandhencecreateanunattractiveshoppingenvironment.Forexample,theyrefertothe"organizedchaos"ofthebargainbasementenhancingtheshoppingenvironmentbycreatingasenseof"hiddentreasure".Similarly,iftheWebenvironmentweretobeusedonlyforgoal-directedinformationseeking,anditlackedhedonicstimulationorentertainmentvalue,thenthemoreimpulsiveandplayful"shoppingasleisure"mightnottakeplaceviatheWeb.

Figure1,below,captureshowtheperceivedvalueoftheWebmightchangedependingonlevelofexperience.Experiencedusers,whomayperceivetheWebashighlylegiblewillhavegreaterappreciationoftheinformationalvalueoftheWebthannoviceswholackthatimportantfamiliarity.Ontheotherhand,experiencedusersmayalsosufferareductioninthelevelofstimulationwhichtheWebgivesthempreciselybecauseofitsfamiliarity,andthereforetheirperceptionofitsentertainmentvaluewillbelowerthanthatofnovices.

FIGURE1

However,theremayadditionallybeaneffectonperceptionsabouttheWebanditsusageaccordingtowhethertheWebisaccessedforutilitarianorhedonicpurposes.ThusthoseaccessingtheWebforfunwillhavegreaterexpectationsofbeingentertainedthanthoseintentonfindingadefinitepieceofinformation.

MediaBehavior

IncontrasttotheTitusandEverett（1995）propositionthatanincreaseinfamiliaritymayreducetheenvironmentalstimulationofashoppingexperience,ithasbeenfoundfromresearchontelevisionviewing（BarwiseandEhrenberg1987）thatincreasedexposure,i.e.familiarity,resultsinincreasedliking.Itisalsogenerallyacceptedthatenduringinvolvement（resultingfromahobbyorprofessionforexample）co-varieswithexpertise（MitchellandDacin1996）.AsaresultwemightexpecttheexperiencedWebusernotonlytobemoreadeptataccessingsites,butalsoconsistentlymoreenthusiasticforthemedium.

Becauseoftheheightenedinvolvementresultingfromthenatureoftheinteractivityinherentinthismedium,wemightexpecttoseeconsiderableattentionpaidtotheinformationcontainedthereinsothat,irrespectiveoflevelofexperienceallWebsitevisitorssharesimilarratesofrecallofsitesvisited.

AIMSOFTHESTUDY

Fromtheabovediscussion,fivebroadhypothesesaresuggested:

H1:

ExperiencedusersoftheWebwillplaceahighervalueontheinformationfoundontheWeb（i.e.perceiveitasmorelegible）comparedtothosewithlessexperience.

H2:

ExperienceduserswillperceivetheWebaslessfunthanlessexperiencedusers（i.e.environmentalstimulationwillbediminishedthroughrepeatedexposure）.

H3:

UserswithahedonictaskwillvaluethefunaspectsoftheWebmorethanthosewithanutilitariantask

H4:

UserswithautilitariantaskwillvaluetheinformationaspectsoftheWebmorethanthosewithahedonictask.

H5:

Webuserswilldisplaysimilarlevelsofrecallofsitesvisited,irrespectiveofexperience.

ItmaybethathighlevelsofWebexperiencearesuggestiveofmorethanjustknowledgeandfamiliarity.ItmaybethatwearealsodealingwithpeopleforwhomtheWebhasbecomeahobbyinitsownright.Thesepeoplewillthushaveanenduringinvolvementwiththemedium,andwillthusbedistinguishedfromlighterusersbyamoreconstantappreciationofbothutilitarianandhedonicqualitiesoftheWeb.Accordinglyoursixthhypothesisreads:

H6:

ThevalueoftheWebbothasasourceofinformationandent