Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Using A Modified Heuristic-Systematic Model To Characterize Information Seeking On The Internet, Kyle Hill

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This study combines two major theories in communication research, Palmgreen and Rayburn's Expectancy-Value approach to media gratifications (1985) and Eagly and Chaiken's Heuristic-Systematic Model (1989), in order to identify the relationships between information seeking tendencies, channel beliefs about specific websites, and website usage for accurate information. Taking a page from schema theory (Rumelhart, 1980), it was expected that individuals who use the Internet frequently to find accurate information have a set of beliefs concerning what a "good" or "bad" website has on it. To this end, a study of 130 undergraduate college students was completed. The study had an added …