La vida y el amor

For the second within subjects study, we see some major differences. 51.5% of codes from comments were negative, 13.4% were neutral, and only 35.1% were positive. Although having a smaller number of raw comments at 701, there were still 1796 individual comment codes recorded.

Table 17: Within Subjects coding results

Theme Positive Neutral Negative Total

Aesthetic 60 21.9% 11 4.0% 203 74.1% 452 Meaning 150 36.9% 20 4.9% 237 58.2% 407 Credibility 135 37.6% 62 8.5% 162 45.1% 359 Affect 116 34.8% 62 18.6% 155 46.5% 333 Reputation 83 37.1% 11 4.9% 130 58.0% 224 Interaction 7 36.8% 0 .0% 912 63.2% 19 General 0 .0% 0 .0% 2 100.0% 2

Now all the results are skewed to the negative, some of them with much larger proportions than any theme in the frst study. The key change here is the sudden rise of Aesthetic, and that with a high negative majority of 74.1%

This change is dramatic, and is partly a result of moving to a within subjects design where all the participants can suddenly see the different designs and advertisement combinations in close proximity, and that comparative effect, inherently missing from the between groups design, has presumably begun to infuence their opinions.

The effect of different combinations of Appearance and Advertising

To better understand what was happening, it is necessary to examine the comments made when participants were exposed to the different combinations of independent variables - Appearance and Advertising. Illustration 35 shows some interesting effects on some key themes:

Aesthetic comments * Appearances Aesthetic comments * Advertising Illustration 35: Results for incidence and direction of Aesthetic Comments

It seems clear that while both appearances engendered negative Aesthetic comments, the Unattractive design had many more (44.5% vs 29.6%), and also far fewer positive comments (5.5% vs 16.4%)

An even more dramatic effect was seen in the impact of different types of advertising, with the Disreputable Ads scoring 34.7% and negative comments making up 74.1% of all Aesthetic comments about advertising.

Some example comments encountered were:

“The bright blue, green, Comic sans font, etc tell me that they don't seem to mind if they aren't well presented. They have no logo, and a stock photo of a smiling accountant, they offer an affordable service, but it looks unorganized.” Male, 25 -34yrs

“Ha, we seem to have gone backwards here. The fashing adds, gimmicky adds certainly detract from the seriousness of a small business provider. Also, tacky graphics make it look amateurish again.” Female 35 - 44yrs

“Very brief - shows lack of preparation which gives a shonky feel to it. The ads at top and bottom intrude and make the thing look very mickey mouse” Male, 45 - 54yrs

“Site looks cheap so Company looks cheap too.” Male, 35 - 44yrs

Similar but less dramatic results were seen for the effect of Appearance and Advertising on Meaning:

Meaning comments * Appearances Meaning comments * Advertising

While the result for appearance is not as clearcut and dramatic as the previous example, the effect of Advertising on Meaning comments discussing relevance and appropriateness is clearly seen, with the Disreputable Ads taking 43.0% and Irrelevant Ads taking 34.6% of all negative comments about Meaning, with a combined share of 77.6%.

Interestingly, many found the spelling and grammatical errors off-putting as well, and these were genuine, the text was exactly as sourced from other real online directories.

Some example comments encountered were:

“The spelling mistakes and poor quality tell you that the business is incompetent and unprofessional” Male 18-24yrs

“I probably would have navigated away from this page, hard to see the listing or think it will be reliable with such surrounding content. Seems the site takes the information from elsewhere, but it isn't monitored.” Female, 25 -34yrs

“Dreadful site with shonky grammar and spelling. The whole concept seems fawed. The obviously fake testimonials really put you off. Very dishonest looking. You can just imagine getting serious food poisoning here!” Male 45 -54yrs

“The description of the service and the surrounding listing material were at odds with each other. It's hard to see that location for your listing as something coincidental.”

Female, 25 - 34ys

Finally, the effect of the two independent variables on Credibility can be seen in Illustration 37:

Credibility comments * Appearances Credibility comments * Advertising

The result for appearance supports the overall results from the Quantitative study, although there is a noticeable trend for greater uncertainty refected in the far higher proportion of neutral comments on this theme than the previous two.

The advertising again makes a major negative impression on perceived credibility, with with the Disreputable Ads taking 45.1% and Irrelevant Ads taking 32.7% of all negative comments about Credibility, with a combined share of 77.8%.

Some example comments encountered were:

“That Russian wife ad destroys any chance this site has of credibility. The rest is just a mish mash and thoroughly unconvincing. You can't read the second testimonial with caps - yuk!” Male 45 - 54yrs

“Amateur and lacking professional input into the advertisement, therefore the service being offered.” Male 65+

“The advert above the company picture and map was very distracting and unsuitable for this type of service therefore made the information about the services seem untrustworthy.” Female, 35 - 44yrs