Conclusions Drawn From User Research Interviews:
People that would be interested in
this product in the first place are easily convinced by the extraordinary
health benefits. The growing popularity and nutritional notoriety of green tea
beverages provides credibility to claims about the leaves from which they are
derived. Attitudes formed about green tea leaves do not appear to be unrelated
or dissimilar to previously held attitudes toward green tea. The appealing
aspects of the beverage are successful selling points for the leaves.
However, there seem to be two variables that
must be understood in the target audience: green tea and health knowledge and
inclination toward healthy lifestyles. (See diagram below)
Those with high levels of knowledge about
the benefits of green tea and healthful consumption are likely to be already
sold on the product. Motivation to even begin to act is the only issue for this
group. Those with high inclination
toward healthy lifestyles are highly motivated to act. Their barrier to act
seems to be ease of object access and task completion, but mostly it seems to
be knowledge about green tea. The amount of knowledge sufficient enough for
those with high inclination to pursue a healthy lifestyle is minimal. That is,
a few words about its great benefits from a friend is enough to generate
action.
Certain barriers to action (site
visitation, site exploration, purchase of product) were identified in the
interviews. Two expressions of doubt of the website’s credibility came from a.)
aesthetics and b.) the singular product available. The aesthetics concern was given a contingency- the interviewee said
it would not prevent him from pursuing the acquisition of green tea leaves. The
interviewee whom expressed concern with the product availability would prefer a
two-sided refutation message. In accordance with the research done by O’Keefe (1999)
and Allen (1998), a message that both enhances the credibility/superiority of
the product being offered as well as providing cogent reasons why others are
not as good is more likely to influence attitudes. The interviewee was informed
that the products available were tested alongside others, but the interviewee
preferred the superiority of the product over others (and an opportunity to
compare) be more obvious.
Interviewee consistently expressed a
liking for the large amount of information and the recipes provided. Another
well-received aspect of the site is the very accessible and highly pertinent
subpage titles. To summarize general
pleasure with the architecture on first look, on interviewer said, “I like how
everything I need is right here up at the top. I don’t have to look for what I
need.”
Allen, M. (1998). Comparing the persuasive
effectiveness of one and two sided messages. In M. Allen & R.W. Preiss
(Eds.), Persuasion: Advance through metaanalysis
(pp. 87-98). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press
O’Keefe, D.J. (1999). How to handle opposing
arguments in persuasive messages: A meta-analytic review of the effects of
one-sided and two-sided messages. In M.E. Roloff (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 22, 209-249
