Pathways to Deeper News Engagement: Factors Influencing Click Behaviors on News Sites

Jessica R. Collier · Johanna Dunaway · Natalie Jomini Stroud

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Media Studies and Communication Journalism and Media Studies Media and Digital Communication

Abstract

Abstract This study draws on models of motivated news exposure and literature on affordances to examine how devices (i.e., PC or mobile) and paths to exposure (i.e., news homepages, search, or social referrals) relate to people’s behavior on news sites. Using behavioral data from seven local broadcast news sites, we assess how the device used and referral site affect whether people click on links to more news. We experimentally test four components of the presentation of links on news sites: content, labels, location on page, and images. Findings show that accessing news via social media and mobile devices reduces clicks relative to other paths and devices. Further, link presentation matters; for instance, links to Related content yielded more clicks than Popular content for those coming from search or a news homepage on PCs. We advance a conditional explanation of motivated news exposure and identify practical insights for news organizations. Lay Summary The devices people use (PC or mobile) and the paths they take to news (news homepage, search, or social referrals) relate to their behaviors once on a news site. Using data from seven local broadcast news sites, we assess how devices and referral sites affect whether people click on links to more news. We test four components of the presentation of links on news sites: content, labels, location on page, and images. We find that accessing news via social media and mobile devices leads to fewer clicks compared to other pathways to news. We also find that how links are presented matters. For example, the highest click-through rate we observed was when people using a PC and a search engine to visit a news site saw Related links at the end of a page accompanied by images and labeled in a way that appealed to social motivations. These conditional pathways are important for understanding news exposure and can provide practical insights for news organizations.

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References

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2022News and Democratic Citizens in the Mobile Era 2022Reading a Snippet on a News Aggregator vs. Clicking through the Full Story: Roles of Perceived News Importance, News Efficacy, and News-Finds-Me Perception

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