Title: Examining the effects of self-efficacy, computerised sources and perceived source credibility in decisions to take online advice

Authors: Robin S. Poston, Asli Yagmur Akbulut, Clayton Arlen Looney

Addresses: Department of Management Information Systems, Fogelman College of Business and Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA. ' Department of Management, Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504, USA. ' Department of Management Information Systems, School of Business Administration, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA

Abstract: The web offers a seemingly limitless range of advice, which users consider during online activities. This study examines how characteristics of users and online advice sources affect decisions to take advice from web-based systems. This paper presents an experimental study that investigates the effect of self-efficacy, computerised sources and perceived source credibility on online advice taking. The findings show that those with high levels of task-specific self-efficacy are less likely to take online advice and highly credible sources are more persuasive than lower credibility sources. Importantly, online advice is most convincing when self-doubting users receive advice from highly credible sources. Online advice provided by humans and computers have similar effects. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: self-efficacy; source credibility; human-computer interaction; HCI; online decision making; online advice taking; website design; user characteristics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2009.027264

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2009 Vol.7 No.4, pp.321 - 347

Published online: 19 Jul 2009 *

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