WWW.NATURE.COM/NEWS
This press release is copyright [email protected].
When covering this news story please mention [email protected] The form of words used in the article is covered by copyright, if you are interested in reproducing the article in full, please contact one of the New York Times Syndicate representatives below:
U.S. and CANADA DEBRA WEYDERT in New Jersey at Tel: +1 732 390 4480, E-mail:[email protected]
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA and INDIA: ALEX SEUR in PARIS Tel: +33 1 53 05 76 50, E-mail: [email protected]
ASIA and PACIFIC RIM: ALVIN CH'NG in Singapore Tel: +65 6735 0535, E-mail: [email protected]
LATIN AMERICA: ISABEL AMORIM SICHERLE in Brazil Tel: +55 11 3812 5588, E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
This release and the related news articles can be found on the [email protected] sections of the Nature journals press site: http://press.nature.com or at the [email protected] website: www.nature.com/news
News: Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye
A study by researchers in Canada has shown that the snap decisions Internet users make about the quality of a web page, in just a twentieth of a second, have a lasting impact on their opinions. The study, reported by [email protected] today, shows that the brain can make flash judgements in just 50 milliseconds. The discovery has come as a surprise to experts in the field, says Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University in Ottawa, whose team predicted that little could be taken in by a viewer in less than 500 milliseconds. The research is published in the journal Behaviour and Information Technology. Those first impressions are then solidified by psychological effects, say the researchers. People enjoy being right, so continuing to use a website that gave a good first impression helps to 'prove' to themselves that they made a good initial decision.
For background information please contact:
Michael Hopkin (Journalist, Nature)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4594; E-mail: [email protected]
Media contact
Ruth Francis, Nature London
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail [email protected]
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd, dedicated to serving the academic and professional scientific community. NPG's flagship title, Nature, is the world's most highly-cited weekly multidisciplinary journal and was first published in 1869. Other publications include Nature research journals, Nature Reviews, Nature Clinical Practice, and a range of prestigious academic journals, including society-owned publications.
NPG is a global company, with headquarters in London and offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Tokyo, Paris, Munich and Basingstoke. For more information, please go to www.nature.com
