Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify an effective display mode that best motivates software users to read the software installation agreements before downloading, thereby enhancing their understanding of intellectual property rights and preventing potential legal issues. This study randomly assigned the participants to enter either an eye-tracking or a computer-based experiment in which one of three display modes was presented. A computer-based pre-test and post-test related to intellectual property rights were given to the participants. The final results showed that the “keyword mode” was the most effective in keeping their attention on the key content. The results of a survey about software installation experiences and attitudes toward reading software installation agreements and the follow-up interviews confirmed the experimental findings. The study’s contribution lies in revealing to software providers the most effective reading mode that best enhances the software users’ understanding of the moral and legal concepts.
Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the help offered by the eye-tracking device technician at National Cheng Kung University.
Note: A small portion of this work was presented in the AIS SIGHCI Newsletter in the year 2016. https://sighci.org/uploads/AIS_SIGHCI_Newsletter_v15_n2.pdf
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Pei-Hsuan Hsieh
Pei-Hsuan Hsieh is an associate professor at National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. She is jointly appointed in the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Education. She has conducted human-computer interaction studies for more than 10 years to offer enterprises advice on website interface design and multimedia marketing.
Po-I Hsu
Po-I Hsu was Pei-Hsuan Hsieh’s thesis advisee when he studied at the Institute of Information Management at the National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.