Do personalisation and emotions affect the use of cancer-related websites?
| Published date | 13 February 2017 |
| Date | 13 February 2017 |
| Pages | 102-118 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-09-2015-0305 |
| Author | Sunčica Hadžidedić Baždarević,Alexandra Ioana Cristea |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Do personalisation and emotions
affect the use of
cancer-related websites?
Sunčica HadžidedićBaždarevićand Alexandra Ioana Cristea
Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the type of personalisation services satisfying the needs of
cancer websites’target users, and the influence of their emotional states on website usage intentions.
Design/methodology/approach –Three data collection methods were employed. Survey questionnaires
were distributed to online health users. Interviews with representatives of the cancer-affected population
further explored emotions as stimuli for online cancer-related activities. Finally, availability of personalisation
features was evaluated on existing health websites in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UK.
Findings –A clear preference emerged for personalisation on cancer-related websites. There are specific
personalisation features the cancer-affected population desires. Interestingly, certain emotions were found to
stimulate visits to health websites.
Research limitations/implications –Fighting cancer implies constant support, including from cancer-
related websites. It is thus vital to understand the required personalisation, stemming from target users’
actual needs, including the neglected user characteristics, as are emotions for cancer-affected people. This
supports emotion-based personalisation.
Originality/value –The paper focusses on the cancer-affected population, and developing a comprehensive
understanding of their personalisation needs in online health services. It further shows which emotions
influence intentions to use cancer websites. The three concepts combined have not yet been studied, to the
best of the authors’knowledge.
Keywords Cancer, Emotions, Personalization, Health websites, Online health information
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Health-related web-based services are numerous (Topaloglu et al., 2013), but raise issues of
low usability, content presentation and content usefulness (Kushniruk, 2015). To improve
“website stickiness”(Benlian, 2015), personalisation can be introduced (Zaied et al., 2015;
Topaloglu et al., 2013). However, research on a systematic application of personalisation
features to health websites is lacking (Cortese and Lustria, 2012; Fernandez-Luque et al.,
2011; Alpay et al., 2009). This study analyses, therefore, the availability of personalisation on
health websites, and personalisation needs of a specific target user group –people affected
by cancer, in order to improve online cancer support.
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide (World Health Organization, 2014).
The 33 million sufferers (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2014) depend
extensively on support from family and friends (American Cancer Society, 2014b), from
diagnosis onwards (American Cancer Society, 2014a). Cancer particularly affects the
emotional states (American Cancer Society, 2016; DeNoon, 2007). Hence, emotions of the
cancer-affected population are studied here, and introducing prospects of emotion-
responsive online health systems.
Emotions, as essential traits of human beings, influence actions and behaviour (Tomkins
Institute, 2014). However, research connecting emotions and personalisation is limited.
Facebook recently introduced a feature for emotional response to content (Zuckerberg,
2015). Other recent studies explored the relation between personalisation and emotions in:
e-shopping (Pappas et al., 2014), movie recommendations (Berkovsky, 2015), tourism
recommendations (Aksenov et al., 2014) and e-learning (Conati and Maclaren, 2009).
Online Information Review
Vol. 41 No. 1, 2017
pp. 102-118
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-09-2015-0305
Received 14 September 2015
Revised 2 May 2016
29 July 2016
Accepted 25 September 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
102
OIR
41,1
Nevertheless, apart from a follow-up study to this research (Hadzidedic Bazdarevic and
Cristea, 2015a), to the best of the authors’knowledge, emotions have not been studied in
relation to personalised cancer websites.
There are, thus, several contributions of this study. The role of emotions in using
online services for cancer-information search is identified. A comprehensive set of
personalisation services for cancer-related website is specified, as preferred by target users.
Guidelines for a systematic approach to personalisation adoption on health websites
worldwide are provided, based on evaluations conducted in two countries differing
significantly in healthcare opportunities –Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and the UK.
Additionally shown is th e scarcity of research connect ing emotions and online
personalisation, especially applied to health. If emotions stimulate online health services
usage, implications emerge for incorporating emotions into personalisation algorithms for
health websites. The paper, therefore, proposes the direction of the research and
implementation in this area –towards emotion-aware personalised cancer-related websites.
This research also has broader implications for online information. It encompasses
cross-disciplinary research in: human-computer interaction, behavioural and usability
research, and the use of web content. Findings on user preferences for personalisation
features and how emotions influence information usage are widely applicable. Interpreting
the impact of emotions on search patterns can lead to the provision of more relevant and
timely online information, adapted to users’emotional states.
Related research
The amount and variety of online health information appeals to cancer-affected people, by
easing their physical and psychological ordeal (Xiao et al., 2014). However, health-consumers
need to filter this wealth of often irrelevant (Alpay et al., 2009) and incomprehensible
( Jucks and Bromme, 2007) content themselves, which is, possibly, overwhelming
(Yocco, 2015). Disregarding the specific needs of cancer-affected users can trigger ending
health-website visits. Personalisation could help by tailoring information to user needs.
Online personalisation
A survey of internet users suggests that 80 per cent desire personalised services (Kobsa,
2007), and are even specific about preferred features (eMarketer, 2013). Two main
approaches are applied to personalisation (Frias-Martinez et al., 2009): adaptive systems
automatically adapt system services to the user model (Brusilovsky, 1996); whereas
adaptable systems rely on manual user tuning (Frias-Martinez et al., 2009). Research
suggests that the user-system control process influences users’behavioural intentions
(Alotaibi, 2013). Thus, this paper also analyses the target population’s preference for
adaptivity vs adaptability on cancer-related websites.
Personalised services can guide user behaviour, e.g. in health systems, by educating
patients about a medical regime (Masthoff et al., 2014). Personalisation is a major usability
and functionality factor, determining users’preference for e-health websites (Topaloglu
et al., 2013). However, adoption of personalisation technologies in online health services
continues to be slow (Sillence et al., 2008; National Information Board, 2014).
A pre-investigation conducted for this paper and the report by Fernandez-Luque etal.
(2011) show that there are few existing global health websites, primarily US-based,
offering some personalisation, e.g.: TrialX (trialx.com/), PatientsLikeMe (www.
patientslikeme.com/), Healthy Harlem (hcz.org/our-programs/healthy-harlem/),
WebMD (www.webmd.com/), MedlinePlus (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/) and
EsTuDiabetes.org (www.estudiabetes.org/). Previous studies explored personalisation
on health websites from specific perspectives, e.g.: defining personalisation requirements
for Dutch senior citizens (Alpay et al., 2009), introducing personalised educational material
103
Use of cancer-
related
websites
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