title: Do personally tailored videos in a web-based physical activity intervention lead to higher attention and recall? - an eye-tracking study.
abstract: Over half of the Australian population does not meet physical activity guidelines and has an increased risk of chronic disease. Web-based physical activity interventions have the potential to reach large numbers of the population at low-cost, however issues have been identified with usage and participant retention. Personalized (computer-tailored) physical activity advice delivered through video has the potential to address low engagement, however it is unclear whether it is more effective in engaging participants when compared to text-delivered personalized advice. This study compared the attention and recall outcomes of tailored physical activity advice in video- vs. text-format. Participants (n = 41) were randomly assigned to receive either video- or text-tailored feedback with identical content. Outcome measures included attention to the feedback, measured through advanced eye-tracking technology (TobiiX 120), and recall of the advice, measured through a post intervention interview. Between group ANOVA's, Mann-Whitney U tests and chi square analyses were applied. Participants in the video-group displayed greater attention to the physical activity feedback in terms of gaze-duration on the feedback (7.7 vs. 3.6 min, p < 001), total fixation-duration on the feedback (6.0 vs. 3.3 min, p < 001), and focusing on feedback (6.8 vs. 3.5 min, p < 001). Despite both groups having the same ability to navigate through the feedback, the video-group completed a significantly (p < 0.001) higher percentage of feedback sections (95%) compared to the text-group (66%). The main messages were recalled in both groups, but many details were forgotten. No significant between group differences were found for message recall. These results suggest that video-tailored feedback leads to greater attention compared to text-tailored feedback. More research is needed to determine how message recall can be improved, and whether video-tailored advice can lead to greater health behavior change.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physical Activity Studies, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University , Rockhampton, QLD , Australia.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alley
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta , Edmonton, AB , Canada.
authors.forename: Cally
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre, Central Queensland University , Noosa, QLD , Australia.
authors.forename: Nayadin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Persaud
authors.affiliation: Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, University of Newcastle , Newcastle, NSW , Australia.
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Plotnikoff
authors.affiliation: Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre, Central Queensland University , Noosa, QLD , Australia.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horsley
authors.affiliation: Centre for Physical Activity Studies, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University , Rockhampton, QLD , Australia.
authors.forename: Corneel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vandelanotte
keywords: eye-tracking; health promotion; physical activity; tailoring; web-based