Saraswathi Bellur
Biographic Data
| ID | 225156 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Saraswathi Bellur |
| GIVEN NAMES | Saraswathi |
| FAMILY NAME | Bellur |
| SIGNATURE | BELLUR S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Department of Communication; University of Connecticut; Storrs CT 06269 USA |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 7 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Mask Use by 2020 U.S. Presidential Candidates
Drawing from framing theory and the health belief model, we investigated the influence of images and comments accompanying COVID-19-related social media news posts on COVID-19-related attitudes and mask use. Using a mixed factorial design, we examined the visual cue mask use frame and the textual cue comment valence (between-subjects), and the U.S. presidential candidate (Republican v. Democrat) portraying mask-wearing behavior (within-subjects) …
Clicking, Assessing, Immersing, and Sharing
This article explicates the concept of user engagement by synthesizing a disparate body of scholarship, and suggests a measurement and a structural model for empirically capturing the meaning and process of user engagement, specifically in the context of interactive media. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis of data from two experiments ( N = 263) shows that four attributes—physical interaction, interface assessment, absorption, and digit…
Talking Health With a Machine
By affording interactive communication and natural, human-like conversations, can media tools affect the way we engage with content in human–machine interactions and influence our attitudes toward that content? A between-subjects experiment (N = 172) examined the effects of two communication variables: (a) message-interactivity and (b) conversational tone, in an online health information (Q&A) tool. Findings suggest that informal conversational t…
Theoretical Importance of Contingency in Human-Computer Interaction
A critical determinant of message interactivity is the presence of contingency, that is, the messages we receive are contingent upon the messages we send, leading to a threaded loop of interdependent messages. While this “conversational ideal” is easily achieved in face-to-face and computer-mediated communications (CMC), imbuing contingency in human-computer interaction (HCI) is a challenge. We propose two interface features—interaction history a…
How Can We Tell When a Heuristic Has Been Used? Design and Analysis Strategies for Capturing the Operation of Heuristics
Communication research based on social cognition draws heavily from dual process models such as the heuristic-systematic model. Both heuristic and systematic processing are said to be aided by quick rules of thumb or mental shortcuts called heuristics. However, the operationalization of heuristics is quite problematic because their use in decision-making is not directly measured. Scholars claim the operation of specific heuristics in specific sit…
User Experience of On-Screen Interaction Techniques
From scrolling and clicking to dragging, flipping, sliding, hovering, and zooming, the wide array of interaction techniques has vastly expanded the range of user actions on an interface. Each of these interaction techniques affords a distinct action. But do these techniques differ in their ability to engage users and contribute to their user experience? Furthermore, do they affect how users view the content and how much they learn from it? We add…
The Effects of “Friend” Characteristics on Evaluations of an Activist Group in a Social Networking Context
Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in online contexts. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters. We employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment to test the effect of number of affiliates and affiliate race and age on feelings toward the group, its page, and intended support. Results su…
How Can We Tell When a Heuristic Has Been Used? Design and Analysis Strategies for Capturing the Operation of Heuristics
Communication research based on social cognition draws heavily from dual process models such as the heuristic-systematic model. Both heuristic and systematic processing are said to be aided by quick rules of thumb or mental shortcuts called heuristics. However, the operationalization of heuristics is quite problematic because their use in decision-making is not directly measured. Scholars claim the operation of specific heuristics in specific sit…
Talking Health With a Machine
By affording interactive communication and natural, human-like conversations, can media tools affect the way we engage with content in human–machine interactions and influence our attitudes toward that content? A between-subjects experiment (N = 172) examined the effects of two communication variables: (a) message-interactivity and (b) conversational tone, in an online health information (Q&A) tool. Findings suggest that informal conversational t…
The Effects of “Friend” Characteristics on Evaluations of an Activist Group in a Social Networking Context
Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in online contexts. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters. We employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment to test the effect of number of affiliates and affiliate race and age on feelings toward the group, its page, and intended support. Results su…
The Effects of “Friend” Characteristics on Evaluations of an Activist Group in a Social Networking Context
Research suggests that individuals use cues about the popularity of a cause or group to make judgments. This bandwagon phenomenon has found particular support in online contexts. However, perceptions regarding the group may also depend on the identity of those supporters. We employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment to test the effect of number of affiliates and affiliate race and age on feelings toward the group, its page, and intended support. Results su…
User Experience of On-Screen Interaction Techniques
From scrolling and clicking to dragging, flipping, sliding, hovering, and zooming, the wide array of interaction techniques has vastly expanded the range of user actions on an interface. Each of these interaction techniques affords a distinct action. But do these techniques differ in their ability to engage users and contribute to their user experience? Furthermore, do they affect how users view the content and how much they learn from it? We add…
How Can We Tell When a Heuristic Has Been Used? Design and Analysis Strategies for Capturing the Operation of Heuristics
Communication research based on social cognition draws heavily from dual process models such as the heuristic-systematic model. Both heuristic and systematic processing are said to be aided by quick rules of thumb or mental shortcuts called heuristics. However, the operationalization of heuristics is quite problematic because their use in decision-making is not directly measured. Scholars claim the operation of specific heuristics in specific sit…
Theoretical Importance of Contingency in Human-Computer Interaction
A critical determinant of message interactivity is the presence of contingency, that is, the messages we receive are contingent upon the messages we send, leading to a threaded loop of interdependent messages. While this “conversational ideal” is easily achieved in face-to-face and computer-mediated communications (CMC), imbuing contingency in human-computer interaction (HCI) is a challenge. We propose two interface features—interaction history a…
Talking Health With a Machine
By affording interactive communication and natural, human-like conversations, can media tools affect the way we engage with content in human–machine interactions and influence our attitudes toward that content? A between-subjects experiment (N = 172) examined the effects of two communication variables: (a) message-interactivity and (b) conversational tone, in an online health information (Q&A) tool. Findings suggest that informal conversational t…
Clicking, Assessing, Immersing, and Sharing
This article explicates the concept of user engagement by synthesizing a disparate body of scholarship, and suggests a measurement and a structural model for empirically capturing the meaning and process of user engagement, specifically in the context of interactive media. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis of data from two experiments ( N = 263) shows that four attributes—physical interaction, interface assessment, absorption, and digit…
Mask Use by 2020 U.S. Presidential Candidates
Drawing from framing theory and the health belief model, we investigated the influence of images and comments accompanying COVID-19-related social media news posts on COVID-19-related attitudes and mask use. Using a mixed factorial design, we examined the visual cue mask use frame and the textual cue comment valence (between-subjects), and the U.S. presidential candidate (Republican v. Democrat) portraying mask-wearing behavior (within-subjects) …
Computer Science (5 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Digital Marketing and Social Media (3 works) · Human–computer interaction (3 works) · Multimedia (3 works) · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour (3 works) · Impact of Technology on Adolescents (2 works) · Interactivity (2 works) · Operationalization (2 works)