The effect of disfluency on consumer perceptions of information security

Abstract

Three experiments investigated the role of metacognitive experience in perceptions of information security. Fluency was manipulated via technical versus nontechnical product descriptions (Experiment 1) or via easy- or difficult-to-read fonts (Experiment 2). In both studies, perceived security was high when fluency was low (versus high), except when consumers focused on product ease of use (Experiment 2). Increasing awareness of the source of feelings of fluency reduced these effects (Experiment 3).