THE ‘ME’ REVOLUTION IN MEDIATED COMMUNICATION: INVESTIGATING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COSMETIC AND FUNCTIONAL CUSTOMIZATION
Open Access
- Author:
- Marathe, Sampada Sameer
- Graduate Program:
- Mass Communications
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 07, 2010
- Committee Members:
- S. Shyam Sundar, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
S. Shyam Sundar, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Mary Beth Oliver, Committee Member
Fuyuan Shen, Committee Member
Mary Beth Rosson, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Cosmetic customization
Functional customization
Sense of control
Sense of identity
Intrinsic motivation
Customization
Attitude toward portal
Behavioral intention
User experience - Abstract:
- Digital information and communication technologies offer myriad ways for users to engage with the interface and content. Some of them come in the form of tools, while others in the form of interface attributes. Customization – an attribute that lets users take control and make changes to the presentation and functionality of the interface – is becoming a hallmark of today’s interactive media devices. Users can change presentation-based cosmetic aspects like colors and fonts on websites, skins and wallpapers on cell phones, avatars in video games, as well as task-based functional aspects such as speed dial numbers on cell phones, email account settings, privacy settings on social networks and different command menus in software, among countless other features. While it is not hard to find such customization features on devices we use every day, there is noticeable dearth of scholarly empirical research that has systematically investigated the psychology and user experience surrounding the interaction with such features. Even fewer papers recognize that there are different types of customization and see the value in studying it. This dissertation addressed this shortcoming by explicating the meaning of cosmetic and functional customization, and then delving into their theoretical underpinnings. It tested the role of cosmetic and functional customization in influencing user attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a Web portal by exploring sense of identity, sense of control, and intrinsic motivation as intervening factors. A between-subjects experiment (N=300) was designed where participants were randomly assigned to one of the four manipulated conditions. They were asked to perform either cosmetic customization of an interface, functional customization, both cosmetic and functional customization, or no customization whatsoever before engaging in a task with the interface. In addition to supporting the hypothesized role of customization in promoting positive attitudes via sense of identity, sense of control and intrinsic motivation, this dissertation uncovered the presence of inconsistent mediation, brought on by sense of identity and sense of control that acted as suppressor variables. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.