Exploration in Emotion and Visual Information Uncertainty of Websites in Culture Relations

Websites contain multiple visual stimuli. The visual complexes presented on webpages result in diverse levels of information uncertainty (IU) and induce viewers’ perceptive and cognitive responses (Eroglu, Machleit, & Davis, 2003). The inclination of one’s uncertainty avoidance (UA) relates to his/her emotional responses and adapts the information uncertainty in a contrary direction. (Marcus, 2006). Uncertainty avoidance, which refers to the tolerance of uncertainty from information, is one dimension of cultural difference. Uncertainty is a degree to which available choices or the outcomes of possible alternatives are free from information (Shannon & Weaver, 1963). It is also defined in psychological terms, such as novelty (Berlyne, 1974), ambiguity, and complexity (Berlyne, 1971c). Thus, an information rate model has been proposed to provide a psychological description of information uncertainty and to characterize the spatial complex and temporal arrangement of stimuli both within and across different settings (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974; Petrov, 2002). In addition, the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) emotional state model illustrated that participants’ three initial emotional responses are evoked by the psychological qualities of visual information in an environment (Mehrabian, 1996). They will have carry-over effects on their subsequent approach/avoidance behaviors toward websites (Deng, 2006). Based on the above arguments, a theoretical framework of the study was structured as shown in Figure 1. It was inferred that visual information uncertainty of webpages might be measured based on the information rate model, and the emotional responses induced in the viewers might be explained according to the following three emotional dimensions: pleasure, arousal, and dominance. Visual information uncertainty of webpages might have significant effects on the viewers’ ongoing perceptual and cognitive responses. An interrelation might exist between the visual information uncertainty of websites and emotions induced in viewers. Therefore, the primary research questions were addressed as follows: RQ1: Is the information rate applicable to measure visual • information uncertainty of webpages? RQ2: Does the visual information uncertainty of webpages • show significant effects on viewers’ emotional responses? RQ3: What is the relation between the visual information • uncertainty of webpages and the viewers’ emotional responses?