How a Target Audience Utilizes an Internet Site
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Please expand the final paper. Thank you!
This 10-16 page research brief will enable you to pursue a specific topic related to the digital media in which you have personal interest. It may be some aspect we have studied in class or one we have not studied. Your assignment is to write research brief on the topic. The key skill you should have from this is being able to apply empirical research findings to a situation or problem you might encounter at work. This assignment is worth 80 points.
A research brief summarizes the state of the current research on a given topic, and it also provides some recommendations about what actions might be beneficial for your target audience. You can choose your target audience for this paper – it might be your current employer, in which case you would summarize the topic and make specific recommendations to improve practices. If your topic does not apply to your current profession, you can think about writing for the public and making recommendations that are beneficial for society.
Make sure your paper makes a clear argument, and that you forecast that argument in the introduction and restate it in the conclusion. Remember to cite all claims using APA format. Attach a cover sheet and abstract. The abstract should summarize the main argument. See the documents for guidelines on how to write a final paper and the final paper rubric to learn how you will be graded on your assignment.
The writing style for this assignment should be less technical and academic and more general. Because a key skill you should have from this is being able to apply empirical research findings to a situation or problem you might encounter at work, you will want to think about how to communicate best to your target audience. You must learn how to translate these findings into language that is understandable for your target audience, which may very well be others who are not well versed in research.
Your assignment should include:
APA style title page
Abstract
Main text
Reference list
Guidelines
Overview of paper sections:
Introduction: Your paper should begin with a short introduction that explains why the topic you have chosen is important and interesting and forecasts the main argument of the paper. Your introduction should also provide a clear roadmap of what you will present in your paper.
1) Try to summarize/preview the main question of your paper in the first paragraph.
2) Dedicate a couple of paragraphs to why your topic is important. It is okay to be explicit by using a paragraph that starts: “This topic is important because…” Think about who will benefit from reading your paper and what knowledge will be gained. Communicate who can use the information of your review and how they can use it.
3) It is okay to use evidence from popular literature to make the claim that your study is important. Consider using statistics. Support all claims with empirical evidence.
4) Make sure you define any key terms. Give one best definition. If the definition is controversial, then explain why you have chosen the definition you have chosen. Usually definitions have citations.
5) Give readers important background about your topic. Only give enough so that they will understand the study. They do not need the whole history of your topic.
6) Provide a road map of what your reader can expect in your paper.
Literature Review: The main body of your paper should be organized conceptually using APA heading styles. Include at least three sections with three or four studies in each section. Each section should have a key point, argument, or finding that is supported by the studies you choose. Refer back to your final paper outline to keep your ideas organized. Make sure each section has a brief introduction and conclusion that summarizes the main findings in that section.
For each study that you include, say a few words about how the study was conducted and then give the results of the study. Be sure to link the main finding to the key point of that section. Make sure you use transitions between studies to show how they relate to each other.
1) Start your literature review with a paragraph that previews what we know on the basis of the literature.
2) Divide your literature review into sections. Include three or four sections, each with three or four studies. The sections should be conceptual. Use APA headings to divide the sections. Begin each section with a summary argument that states one idea that all of the studies in that section support.
3) Make sure you describe the key details for each study. Tell us what the researchers did and what they found. Do not tell us about their literature review or what they think the implications are. Make sure you mention critical ideas that help the reader evaluate the study (How many subjects? Was the sample random?).
4) Don’t just say there is a relationship between two variables. Always say the direction of the relationship. For example, don’t say “humor and attention are related.” Say “humor and attention are positively related.”
5) Use transitions between studies that explain how one study relates to the next. Usually transitions explain how the conclusions in the studies are related.
6) At the end of each section, include a summary statement that articulates what one idea all of the studies in that section argue.
7) If a study touches on ideas that are not relevant to your paper don’t mention those results or that aspect of the study.
8) If a study is relevant to two or more sections mention the study in both sections.
Analysis/Recommendations: The final section of your paper should be a summary and analysis of the state of the literature. What do we know about your topic based on the literature taken as a whole? This summary is the main argument of your paper. It is a statement about what we know based on the literature. Review the main points in a few paragraphs. You may also want to consider pointing out any shortcomings of the studies. Following this review, you should a few paragraphs about the implications of the research and findings for communication practitioners working in this topic area. Based on what we know, what would you recommend as action steps that communication practitioners can use to improve the situation? What would you say to someone who is working in this area? (Note: This section is worth the most points in the final paper.)
At the end of literature review, present a summary that articulates the main argument from each section. Follow this statement about what we know with a presentation of what we do not know.
Critique shortcomings of the studies, if any.
Provide an analysis of the research you have just presented: what are the key themes that emerge? What would you tell someone about this topic? What are the implications of the research for communication professionals who work in this topic area?
What would you recommend to these professionals? You may want to consider how larger trends in digital communication interact with these findings (think the larger topics we covered in the first half of class: digital divide, usability, credibility, demographics related to use). Make sure you provide clear, specific recommendations.
Conclusion: Include a conclusion paragraph where you restate the main points of your paper.
Restate the main points of your paper and provide a brief summary of your argument and recommendations. This should be a summary of your entire paper and be about one to two paragraphs.
I. Introduction
The word usability refers to the ease of use of a certain website or project. This topic covers several major challenges for today's webmasters and developers on how a target audience utilizes an internet site. Usability influences website success because it influences user-friendliness, competitiveness, and survival. According to Weichbroth (2020), the usability of a website or a web application determines its success or failure because users judge a website based on its ease of use and establish whether it is a good website and whether they would frequently visit it or not. Website usability is important because it enhances customers' (users') trust and credibility, user satisfaction, and purchase and repurchase intentions. Based on the literature study results, the article will also give analysis, recommendations, and a conclusion for practitioners.
II. Body
Not only is the usability of a website crucial for consumers, but it is also essential for companies who manage or own websites. According to the available research, website usability enables users to easily accomplish their objectives efficiently and effectively (Weichbroth, 2020). Since the information on the website can be readily accessible by users (Sparks, 2019), who are the aim of any website, it also supports the website’s success from the standpoint of the developer or the company that owns or operates the website.
A. Enhances Trust and Credibility
Website usability enhances users' trust in a website and its perceived credibility. Users need to be assured that the information given on the website is authentic and trustworthy, and companies are responsible for working toward achieving this goal. The ease of use of a website is one method that may be used to win the confidence and credibility of website users. According to the research that has already been conducted, an increase in a website's usability leads to a rise in users' confidence in the website and their perception of the website's legitimacy.
1. Akhmedova et al. (2021) indicate that website usability plays an instrumental role in building and enhancing trust among users in the sharing economy platforms. This is crucial in the survival of sharing economy platforms because they rely on interpersonal trust between users and service providers. Specifically, the researchers were interested in how these factors ensure that website visitors become loyal customers. Because clients and service providers in the sharing economy do not often know each other before conducting a transaction, the sharing economy depends on trust. To carry out their research, Akhmedova et al. (2021) used an approach known as qualitative comparative analysis. The authors used an online platform to gather data from participants in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. Their research uncovered some factors contributing to website users' perceptions of the site's trustworthiness and credibility in the sharing economy. They consist of aspects such as the quality and perceived usefulness of the website. In particular, the authors discovered that the website promotes both interpersonal and platform trust antecedents in the sharing economy. This was one of their key findings. The extent to which users can trust the platform and the individuals who are providing peer services will determine how successful the sharing economy is. According to the findings, the degree to which a website is easy to use is a factor that influences users' levels of confidence in both the platform and the service providers. They imply that the ease of using a website is essential in constructing and increasing customers' confidence levels in sharing economy platforms.
In addition, Akhmedova et al. (2021) found that the usability of online platforms can strengthen the legitimacy of the sharing economy. The accessibility of the web makes it feasible for platforms to verify users’ important information and speed the process by which customers choose peer service providers. This benefits both parties involved. In addition, the authors concluded that improving the accessibility of a website makes it possible to boost both its credibility and its users' faith in the site. This is because enhancing the usability of a website makes it simpler for users to show themselves on the website and enables users to use personal photographs for identification and verification. Credibility is vital to the continued survival of sharing economy platforms since the platforms are dependent on the users' and service providers' capacity to trust one another on a human level. Platforms of this sort need to focus more on enhancing their websites' usability to create trust and credibility among their users and the service providers that work with them.
2. Oyibo and Vassileva (2017) found that perceived website usability plays a significant role in predicting the perceived credibility of a website among users. According to the findings of their study, the perception of aesthetics is the primary factor that determines the credibility of mobile websites on a global and subgroup scale, with the models accounting for 29–83 percent of the variation in credibility. Our findings also indicate that aesthetics affect users' perceptions of usability, with the size of this effect being greater for the NG (a culture that values HC) than for the CG (a LC culture). The authors also demonstrated that the impact size of aesthetics has a far larger bearing on the CG’s believability than on the NG. However, the authors could not support our predictions that the effect of aesthetics perception on credibility perception is greater for the NG than for the CG and that the influence of usability perception on credibility perception is more for the CG than for the NG. Due to the fact that this only applied to the NG, Oyibo and Vassileva (2017) could not fully confirm their hypothesis that usability would moderate the impact of aesthetics on believability more strongly for a grid-based mobile website than for a list-based mobile website.
3. Shehzad et al. (2017) came to several important conclusions, one of which was that the usability of a website has a direct impact on the level of trust that users have in a particular website; specifically, the greater the usability of a website, the greater the level of confidence that users have in that website. This refers to doing business over the internet, where there is no face-to-face connection between the parties involved. Instead, the transaction’s success depends on the buyers' and sellers' confidence levels in the e-commerce platform. Both Akhmedova et al. (2021) and Shehzad et al. (2017) recognized the significance of trust in online business environments. This is because buyers and sellers on these platforms are typically total strangers, and there are frequently no physical locations where the participants can be located if something goes wrong. Another reason is that there are frequently no physical locations where participants can be located if something goes wrong. As a result, to facilitate transactions and following purchases, the websites in issue need to have a good reputation and be trustworthy. Shehzad et al. (2017) experimented with two distinct groups of end-users to establish the level of trust that end-users have in e-commerce websites and the degree to which such websites are simple to navigate and use.
B. Improves Customer/User Satisfaction
Website usability improves the satisfaction of customers (users) because it allows them to efficient...
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