Why User Comments Affect the Perceived Quality of Journalistic Content: The Role of Judgment Processes

IF 1.7 4区心理学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Pub Date : 2019-01-01 DOI:10.1027/1864-1105/a000217

P. Weber, Fabian Prochazka, W. Schweiger

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引用次数: 19

Abstract

User comments on news websites are frequently uncivil and are not supported by reasoned argumentation. These characteristics can have negative effects on the perceived quality of the commented-on journalistic content, yet to date, it remains unclear how such effects occur. We propose three mechanisms that assume that the effect of user comments depends on how deliberately and elaborately the quality of the commented-on news item is judged. We conducted an experiment (N = 633) in which we varied the level of civility and reasoning in the comments accompanying a news article and the brand of the news website on which it was presented. The results showed that a lack of reasoning in the comments decreased the perceived quality of the news item irrespective of brand awareness, but only with high elaboration during judgment. Incivility in the comments decreased the perceived quality of the journalistic content, but only with low elaboration, and only with an unknown news brand. We discuss different psychological mechanisms that can explain this pattern of effects.

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为什么用户评论会影响新闻内容的感知质量:判断过程的作用

新闻网站上的用户评论经常是不文明的，并且没有合理的论据支持。这些特征可能会对被评论新闻内容的感知质量产生负面影响，但迄今为止，尚不清楚这种影响是如何发生的。我们提出了三种机制，假设用户评论的效果取决于对评论新闻项目的质量进行判断的深思熟虑和精心设计。我们进行了一项实验(N = 633)，在实验中，我们改变了一篇新闻文章的评论中的礼貌和推理程度，以及发表这篇文章的新闻网站的品牌。结果表明，评论中缺乏推理会降低新闻项目的感知质量，而与品牌知名度无关，但只有在判断过程中进行了高度阐述。评论中的不文明行为降低了新闻内容的感知质量，但只是在阐述程度较低、新闻品牌不知名的情况下。我们讨论了可以解释这种效应模式的不同心理机制。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Media Psychology-Theories Methods and Applications Multiple-

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Media Psychology (JMP) is committed to publishing original, high-quality papers which cover the broad range of media psychological research. This peer-reviewed journal focuses on how human beings select, use, and experience various media as well as how media (use) can affect their cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Submissions must substantially advance the current state-of the art on a theoretical and/or an empirical level. To name just a few typical fields and domains of inquiry, the Journal of Media Psychology considers manuscripts dealing with research on entertainment, computer-mediated communication (including social media), human-computer interaction, e-learning, computer and video games, virtual environments, or advertising. The journal is also open to research from neighboring disciplines as far as this work ties in with psychological concepts of the uses and effects of the media. Submissions of comparative work, e.g., crossmedia, cross-gender, or cross-cultural, are encouraged. Moreover, submissions including alternative analysis procedures such as the Bayesian approach are welcome. Starting in 2015, the pre-registration of research plans will also be possible. To ensure short turn-around cycles for manuscript review and fast publication, the Journal of Media Psychology relies heavily upon electronic communication and information exchange, starting from electronic submission and continuing throughout the entire review and production process.