Análisis de restricciones y potencialidades

complete the tasks as well as kind of information they sought to avoid during their search process (code: Finding and Excluding Tactics and Strategies) (Table 38).

Table 38. Codes for Finding and Excluding Tactics and Strategies

Subnodes No.

Participants

No. References C. Finding and Excluding Tactics and Strategies 33 97

Criteria for Finding 28 64

Criteria for Excluding 23 33

In terms of participants’ criteria for finding information, there were four main subnodes of coding (Table 39): criteria related to webpage content attributes, the type or kind of webpage content, the webpage source attributes, and the source types.

Table 39. Codes for Finding Criteria

Subnodes No.

Participants

No. References

Criteria for Finding 28 64

Content Attributes 6 6

Content Type or Kind 17 29

Source Attributes 4 6

Source Type 17 23

Participants (N = 6) mentioned attributes of webpage content that they were interested in finding (Table 40), including content in list format (N = 2), content that was current (N = 2), content that was neutral in terms of presenting the financial product in a positive or negative light (N = 1), and content the presented both positive and negative information about the financial product (N = 1).

123 Table 40. Codes for Webpage Content Attributes

Subnodes No.

Participants

No. References

Content Attributes 6 6

Content Format - list 2 2

Date or Currency Information 2 2

Neutral Information 1 1

Both sides of the argument 1 1

In terms of the type or kind of content on webpages, participants (N = 17) offered different kinds of examples (Table 41). Eight participants said they wanted to find pages with the pro’s and con’s of the financial product in their task, eight said they wanted to find basic or general information about the financial product, two were looking for alternatives to the financial product from their task, and one individual each said they were looking for the following:

websites for seniors, the typical interest rate for the task financial product, information about loan payoff grants, legal information about the product, a person to speak with about the product, information that answered the question from the task scenarios, information on the page that would confirm the product was a scam, content on the page that would enable the person to eliminate that page as a source of information, a single answer that did not have a lot of options, and information the person knew from firsthand knowledge.

124 Table 41. Codes for Types and Kinds of Webpage Content

Subnodes No.

Participants

No. References

Content Type or Kind 17 29

Pro’s and Con’s 8 8

Find basic or general information about this product 8 9

Find product alternatives 2 2

Find websites for seniors 1 1

Find what normal interest rates are for this product 1 1

Look for loan payoff grants 1 1

Find legal information about the product 1 1

Find a human resource to talk to 1 1

Guiding questions 1 1

Confirmation this product is a scam 1 1

Content on page that will tell me I can eliminate it 1 1 Don’t want options, want to talk grandfather out of it 1 1 Find what I know exists from firsthand experience 1 1

Another set of criteria for finding information for the search task had to do with attributes of the information sources, which typically meant the websites or the organizations that

supported the websites (Table 42). Four participants mentioned the following attributes they were seeking in the sources of information they found: reputable, legitimate, trustworthy, and professional.

125 Table 42. Codes for Source Attributes

Subnodes No. Participants No. References Source Attributes 4 6 Reputable 2 2 Legitimate 2 2 Trustworthy 1 1 Professional 1 1

Participants also said they were looking for specific types of sources (N = 17) (Table 43). This may have meant that the participant inspected the URL address to learn the source of the website. In other cases, participants would explicitly state they were looking for a specific website source, such as government websites (N = 9), non-profits (N = 2), or websites by educational organizations (N = 2). Participants also looked for website sources such as

Wikipedia (N = 1), their own bank’s website (N = 1), or their employer’s website (N = 1). In one instance, a participant (P33) indicated that she was interested in finding only one source for the reverse mortgage task, not many, because she did not want to give the grandfather in the task too many options (i.e., she wished to talk him out of getting a reverse mortgage).

Table 43. Codes for Source Types

Subnodes No. Participants No. References

Source Type 17 23

Government website 9 10

Look at URL address 4 4

Domain - .org 2 2

Domain - .edu 2 2

Go to my bank’s website 2 2

Look at my employer’s website 1 1

Go to Wikipedia 1 1

126

In terms of criteria for excluding information, participants (N = 23) identified types of webpage content and website sources they wished to avoid (Table 44). Many participants (N = 15 out of 23) expressed the desire to avoid advertisements (code: Avoid or Ignore Ads). An example of this sentiment came from P32 while she was searching on the reverse mortgage task,

“I definitely don't look at the ads because I know that they pay Google to put their name first [on the SERP].” Another participant (P43) also searching on the reverse mortgage task, explained her reasoning for skipping ads on the SERP, “Often times, I'll skip the first ones that have the

advertisement with it just because it feels like it's people trying to sell things or get customers and so they may not give you both sides of the story because they would only give you what's beneficial to them. So, I typically scroll through the first couple that have ads.”

Some participants intentionally avoided bank and lender websites (N = 6) (code: Avoid or Eliminate Banks or Lenders). P03 implied this when she was explaining her searches on the payday loan task when she said, “I was looking for a reputable source, or what I thought might

be a reputable source. 'Cause a lot of them were banks.” Another participant (P16), searching on the reverse mortgage task, explained the reason she sought out government sources but avoided bank sources was because of paid content bias: “So I’m looking for something from a

government organization or someone who is presumably not paid by the lender.”

In some cases, participants lumped together their mental set of undesirable sites and information they wished to avoid, such as advertisements and lender websites. P36, searching on the reverse mortgage task, put it this way: “I'm looking for what I consider legitimate sites. I'm

looking for things that aren't ads obviously or that look like they're from a bank or from someplace that's going to redirect me to a mortgage service company or a broker.”

127

A few participants said they avoided “sketchy” websites (N = 3), such as P29 who said, “I was just looking at some of the results and I didn’t want an advertisement. I didn't want student hero. Student loan hero sounded a little sketchy maybe.” Other kinds of websites or information participants actively avoided included blogs (N = 1), content of “simple tricks” (N = 1), websites that were not familiar to the participant (N = 1), and Wikipedia (N = 1).

Table 44. Codes for Excluding Information

Subnodes No.

Participants

No. References

Criteria for Excluding 23 33

Avoid or ignore ads 15 20

Avoid or eliminate banks or lenders 6 6

Avoid sites that look sketchy or stupid 3 3

Avoid blogs 1 1

Avoid content showing simple tricks 1 1

Avoid sites I don’t recognize the source 1 1

Avoid Wikipedia 1 1

5.4.1.4. SERP tactics and strategies. Participants shared about various tactics and