Not All Transparency Is Equal: Source Presentation Effects on Attention, Interaction, and Persuasion in Conversational Search

2025-12-13

AI Summary

The impact of source citation visualization on user cognition and behavior in conversational search remains unclear. This study conducts a large-scale, crowdsourced A/B experiment (N=394) comparing four presentation modalities—collapsible lists, hover cards, footer lists, and aligned sidebar layouts—using behavioral logs, pre-/post-test knowledge/attitude surveys, and fine-grained interaction analysis. Results show that high-visibility designs (e.g., sidebars) significantly increase source hover rates and shifts in viewpoint agreement but impede initial knowledge acquisition and engagement interest. Although hover cards elevate hovering frequency, they fail to translate into meaningful clicks or learning gains. Critically, this work challenges the “transparency-is-beneficial” assumption, demonstrating that **spatial placement** and **interaction pacing**, rather than mere visibility, are decisive factors governing source utility. These findings provide empirical grounding and a novel design paradigm for building trustworthy, cognitively supportive conversational search interfaces.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Conversational Systems for Recommendation & Retrieval
• Search and Optimization: Other Foundations of Search & Optimization
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Fairness-aware retrieval and ranking
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data visualization

Abstract

Conversational search systems increasingly provide source citations, yet how citation or source presentation formats influence user engagement remains unclear. We conducted a crowdsourcing user experiment with 394 participants comparing four source presentation designs that varied citation visibility and accessibility: collapsible lists, hover cards, footer lists, and aligned sidebars.High-visibility interfaces generated substantially more hovering on sources, though clicking remained infrequent across all conditions. While interface design showed limited effects on user experience and perception measures, it significantly influenced knowledge, interest, and agreement changes. High-visibility interfaces initially reduced knowledge gain and interest, but these positive effects emerged with increasing source usage. The sidebar condition uniquely increased agreement change. Our findings demonstrate that source presentation alone may not enhance engagement and can even reduce it when insufficient sources are provided.

Problem

• Examine how source citation formats affect user engagement in conversational search
• Assess impact of interface visibility on knowledge, interest, and agreement changes
• Determine if source presentation alone enhances or reduces user interaction

Innovation

• High-visibility source interfaces increase hovering behavior
• Interface design significantly influences knowledge and interest changes
• Sidebar presentation uniquely enhances agreement change