The impact of emotional cues on the information-gathering willingness of paid knowledge users

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of emotional cues in knowledge product descriptions on users’ willingness to gather information. It specifically focuses on how different types of textual emotional cues, including heuristic cues like “emotional titles” and systematic cues like “emotional synopses,” influence users’ information-gathering willingness and examines the mediating role of emotional arousal in this process. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model was developed by integrating the heuristic-systematic model with cue utilization theory. The experimental design employed knowledge product descriptions from the “Knowledge Column” section of the Zhihu platform. A controlled experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of varying emotional cues in these descriptions on participants’ willingness to gather information. Findings The study identified two types of emotional cues – heuristic cues, such as “emotional titles,” and systematic cues, such as “emotional synopses” – that significantly and positively influence users' information-gathering willingness. Additionally, emotional arousal was found to mediate the relationship between emotional cues and users’ willingness to gather information in the context of knowledge payments. Originality/value This study confirms that emotional cues in knowledge product descriptions, mediated by emotional arousal, can enhance the information-gathering willingness of knowledge payment users. The research deepens the theoretical exploration of information behavior among online knowledge payment users, providing valuable insights for knowledge producers on effectively leveraging emotional cues to attract potential customers as well as offering guidance for knowledge payment users in their information-gathering practices.