Texting at a Child Helpline: How Text Volume, Session Length and Duration, Response Latency, and Waiting Time Are Associated with Counseling Impact.

This study investigated the association between formal features, such as text volume, session length and duration, response latency, and waiting time, and the impact of counseling. The analysis was based on 603 text message counseling sessions at a child helpline and connected information about the formal features of the sessions and the effects on clients. The results showed that sessions characterized by more text volume from the counselor in each message, but with fewer messages from beginning to end, were more effective than sessions without these characteristics. Furthermore, session duration was associated with a positive impact, whereas counselor response latency was not. This indicates that clients might benefit from the asynchronous affordance of texting as long as the counselor responds promptly and with dense messages. We also found that the impact measured at end of session predicted the impact measured 2 weeks after the child or young person received counseling.

An Empirical Investigation of Factors Affecting Perceived Quality and Well-Being of Children Using an Online Child Helpline.

Child helplines provide free, accessible, and confidential support for children suffering from issues such as violence and abuse. Helplines lack the barriers often associated with the use of many other health services; and for many children, the helpline is the first point of contact with any kind of child protection and an important venue to go to in times of socio-economic distress. For instance, more children attempt to call the helpline in times of high unemployment, and relatively more of those conversations are about violence. Empirical evidence is scarce regarding how to implement online chat communication to improve quality and the child's well-being. In this study, we focus on the impact of chat duration, number of words, and the type of support. The results show that for children seeking emotional support, a longer chat negatively influences the immediate well-being and the counsellor needs to listen (i.e., not type), as relatively more child words result in higher evaluations. We conclude that for emotional support, the counsellor should be prepared to listen carefully, but also manage the duration. However, for children chatting for instrumental support, the counsellor needs to type more to create positive perceptions of quality. Since the impact of chat share is different for children seeking emotional support (negative) versus instrumental support (positive), counsellors need to be sensitive to early indicators of the reason for the chat.

Making Online Products More Tangible: The Effect of Product Presentation Formats on Product Evaluations.

Although several studies have looked at the effects of online product presentations on consumer decision making, no study thus far has considered a potential key factor in online product evaluations: tangibility. The present study aims at filling this gap by developing and testing a model that relates different online product presentation formats to the three-dimensional concept of product tangibility. We test how the three tangibility dimensions influence perceived diagnosticity and, eventually, online purchase intentions. A between-subjects lab experiment (n = 366) was used to test the hypothesized effects of three common online product presentation formats (pictures vs. 360 spin rotation vs. virtual mirror). The results showed that out of these formats, virtual mirrors were superior in providing a sense of product tangibility, followed by the 360-spin rotation format and static pictures. Furthermore, in terms of predictive validity, two of the three tangibility dimensions significantly increased perceived diagnosticity, which, in turn, positively and strongly affected purchase intentions. Overall, our results add to previous works studying the relationships between online product presentation formats and consumer decision making. Also, they hold value for online practitioners by highlighting the potential benefits of applying technologically advanced product presentation formats such as the virtual mirror.

The influence of unemployment and divorce rate on child help-seeking behavior about violence, relationships, and other issues.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the influence of community unemployment and divorce rate on child help-seeking behavior about violence and relationships via a telephone and Internet helpline. METHODS: Time series analysis was conducted on monthly call volumes to a child helpline ('De Kindertelefoon') in the Netherlands from 2003 to 2008 and on the topics discussed (primarily Violence and Relationships) from 1994 to 2008 in answered calls and chats. RESULTS: As unemployment rises, the number of calls to the helpline increases. With increased unemployment, the share of conversations about violence and about relationships is found to be higher. When the divorce rate goes up, the number of calls to the helpline increases, but the share of Violence and of Relationships decreases. In addition, the share of contacts about Violence is increasing over time, while the share about Relationships is decreasing. Furthermore, the showing of violent movies is associated with fewer attempted helpline calls. Finally, seasonal variation in call volumes and the shares of calls about Violence and Relationships are found. CONCLUSION: Our data provide a unique and direct perspective on child help-seeking behavior. Our results suggest that more resources need to be devoted to resolving children's problems during times of unemployment as they seek more help particularly with respect to violence. Increased training of counselors with regard to children reporting incidents of violence is particularly important, as the share of contacts about violence is increasing over time and during a recession. Resources are especially needed as, on average, less than half of the calls to child helplines are actually answered.