Information Assimilation as a Decisive Factor About Website User’s Behaviors

Abstract

The twenty-first century is the time of unlimited inflow of the huge amount of information, which the average person is no longer able to fully receive. That is why it becomes so important that the provided information have not only relevant content, but also be presented in a suitable and easy-to-interpret way. This aspect has influence on information assimilation among recipients, which is also one of the factors of useful information and besides it is explaining what work or costs must be borne by the user, to be able to take full advantage from provided information. This chapter presents analysis and methodology of information assimilation evaluation on websites, which is one of the factors determining the behavior of recipients and further use of the acquired information for decision-making, consumption, or informative purposes. Furthermore, the study describes the basic methodological assumptions, the research procedure of information assimilation evaluation, and the results of data analysis from the study conducted on a group of respondents. In order to determine the factors that have the greatest impact on information assimilation and learning newly learned content, the data obtained from the study were analyzed using cognitive walkthrough method, methodology for testing respondents before and after the research, and knowledge growth evaluation indicator. Results of research presented in the chapter can be useful in creating assumptions for ways of content presentation for the needs of websites.