Assessment of Mobile Applications’ Credibility in Users’ Content-Searching Behavior based on PIT Theory

Abstract

This work studies the assessment of mobile applications credibility in user’s content-searching behavior, using Fogg’s Prominence-Interpretation Theory (PIT). Though credibility is a subjective notion, it can be assessed in an objective manner when examined by both components of credibility assessment - prominence and interpretation. Two-phase of mix method sequential studies use to investigate the LINE Webtoon mobile app user. The quantitative phase was a quasi-experiment administered to 30 participants. Then, it was followed by the qualitative phase with in-depth interviews with five people from the experiment’s participants. The results show that the credibility of webtoon’s content was not related to the app’s credibility. Users might interpret the credibility of content without necessarily making reference to the app. This result is true for LINE Webtoon mobile app, but when it applied in different contexts, the results may differ.