Academic Research Experiment

Information & Consent Form

Thank you for participating in this study.

Study Overview & Purpose

Purpose of the Study: The aim of this experiment is to understand how readers interact with a fictive news app, named The Gazette.

Procedure: During the experiment, you will:
1. Complete a brief pre-study questionnaire regarding your preferences and news habits.
2. Freely explore The Gazette.
3. Complete a post-study questionnaire regarding your impressions and user experience.

Voluntary Participation & Confidentiality: Your participation is completely voluntary. You may withdraw at any moment without penalty. All data collected (reading times, article views, responses) is strictly anonymized, associated solely with your unique Prolific Participant ID, and stored securely for scientific analysis in accordance with GDPR regulations.

Pre-Study Questionnaire

Please answer the following questions regarding your news reading habits and preferences.

1. How often do you read online news?

1
Never or almost never 2
Less than once a week 3
A few times a week 4
Once a day 5
Several times a day

2. How interested are you in the following news topics?

Rate each topic from 1 (Not interested at all) to 5 (Very interested).

News Topic	1Not interested at all	2Slightly interested	3Moderately interested	4Interested	5Very interested
Politics and public affairs
Economy and business
Health
Science and technology
Environment and climate
Education
Culture
Lifestyle
Sports
Travel
Food
Crime and public safety
Local/community news
International news

3. When choosing news, what kind of article are you usually looking for?

Rate each from 1 (Not important to me) to 5 (Very important to me).

Article Type / Goal	1Not important to me	2Slightly important	3Moderately important	4Important	5Very important to me
An article that helps me stay updated
An article that helps me understand an issue
An article that gives me a broader perspective
An article that is entertaining
An article that is inspiring or constructive
An article that helps me follow current trends

4. When you decide whether to open a news article, how important are the following elements?

Rate each from 1 (Not important) to 5 (Very important).

Decision Element	1Not important	2Slightly important	3Moderately important	4Important	5Very important
The topic
The title
The short description
The source/publication
Whether the article seems useful
Whether the article seems original or different
Whether the article seems emotionally engaging

5. To ensure you are reading the questions carefully, please select 'Agree' in the following list of answers.

1
Strongly Disagree 2
Disagree 3
Neutral 4
Agree 5
Strongly Agree

6. How often do you use personalized recommendations online?

This can include news websites, video platforms, music apps, shopping websites, or social media feeds.

1
Never 2
Rarely 3
Sometimes 4
Often 5
Very often

News App Exploration Phase

News App Exploration Instructions

You are now about to interact with a news app called The Gazette.

Your Task

Freely explore the news feed as you normally would on your phone. You can scroll through the news using your mouse or trackpad.
Click on any articles that catch your interest to read them.
You can return to the main feed at any time using the back button.
Please spend at least 2 minutes exploring the interface. An exploration timer at the top will indicate your progress.
Once the minimum exploration time has passed, the button to proceed to the final feedback survey will be unlocked.

Exploration Time: 02:00

19:02

Article Title

🎉

Study Completed!

Thank you for your participation in our study.

Your responses and interaction have been safely recorded. Please copy the completion code below or click the button to finish your submission on Prolific.

Prolific Completion Code

C19X8A9L

Return to Prolific & Claim Reward →