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4. COMPANY MOTIVE — 15.5% OVERALL
We found that 15.5% of the comments in this study addressed the perceived underlying motive of the site or the institution sponsoring the site. These comments often referred to how Web Sites lost Web Site Credibility when the only purpose of a site seemed to be selling things or getting money from users. In other cases, Web Sites won Web Site Credibility by conveying motives that people found to be admirable. Sample comments are below:
- The fact that this site has a global conscience impressed me and made me feel it was more credible. — F, 40, New Jersey
- This site looks like its goal is to help you find what you are looking for. — F, 55, California
- I would trust this site because it's run by a religious denomination whose aim is socially responsible investing. — F, 54, New York
- Seems too "commercial" and therefore less objective. — M, 52, Texas
- This site says to me "Give us your money and get out." — F, 29, British Columbia
- Doesn't seem credible when they give a product a good review and give you a link to order it too. — F, 38, Texas
Company Motive comments, by site category
As shown in Figure 9, a sizable percentage (15.5%) of all site evaluations commented on the perceived motive of a company or organization behind the site. This occurred with far greater frequency in opinion or review (22.1%), finance (21.0%), nonprofit (20.2%) categories, and with less frequency in the search engines (14.2%), travel (12.8%), and news (5.9%) categories.
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