This study draws on models of motivated news exposure and literature on affordances to examine how devices (i.e., PC or mobile) and paths to exposure (i.e., news homepages, search, or social referrals) relate to people’s behavior on news sites. Using behavioral data from seven local broadcast news sites, we assess how the device used and referral site affect whether people click on links to more news. We experimentally test four components of the presentation of links on news sites: content, labels, location on page, and images. Findings show that accessing news via social media and mobile devices reduces clicks relative to other paths and devices. Further, link presentation matters; for instance, links to Related content yielded more clicks than Popular content for those coming from search or a news homepage on PCs. We advance a conditional explanation of motivated news exposure and identify practical insights for news organizations. Lay Summary The devices people use (PC or mobile) and the paths they take to news (news homepage, search, or social referrals) relate to their behaviors once on a news site. Using data from seven local broadcast news sites, we assess how devices and referral sites affect whether people click on links to more news. We test four components of the presentation of links on news sites: content, labels, location on page, and images. We find that accessing news via social media and mobile devices leads to fewer clicks compared to other pathways to news. We also find that how links are presented matters. For example, the highest click-through rate we observed was when people using a PC and a search engine to visit a news site saw Related links at the end of a page accompanied by images and labeled in a way that appealed to social motivations. These conditional pathways are important for understanding news exposure and can provide practical insights for news organizations.

中文翻译：

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深入新闻参与的途径：影响新闻网站点击行为的因素

本研究利用动机新闻曝光模型和可供性文献来检验设备（即 PC 或移动设备）和曝光路径（即新闻主页、搜索或社交推荐）如何与人们在新闻网站上的行为相关联。使用来自七个本地广播新闻网站的行为数据，我们评估使用的设备和推荐网站如何影响人们是否点击更多新闻的链接。我们通过实验测试了新闻网站上链接呈现的四个组成部分：内容、标签、页面位置和图像。调查结果表明，通过社交媒体和移动设备访问新闻相对于其他路径和设备减少了点击次数。此外，链接呈现很重要；例如，对于来自搜索或 PC 新闻主页的内容，相关内容的链接比热门内容的点击次数更多。我们提出了对有动机的新闻曝光的条件解释，并为新闻机构确定了实用的见解。总结 人们使用的设备（PC 或移动设备）和他们获取新闻的路径（新闻主页、搜索或社交推荐）与他们在新闻网站上的行为有关。使用来自七个本地广播新闻网站的数据，我们评估设备和推荐网站如何影响人们是否点击更多新闻的链接。我们测试了新闻网站上链接呈现的四个组成部分：内容、标签、页面位置和图像。我们发现，与其他获取新闻的途径相比，通过社交媒体和移动设备获取新闻的点击次数更少。我们还发现链接的呈现方式很重要。例如，我们观察到的最高点击率是当人们使用 PC 和搜索引擎访问新闻网站时，会在页面末尾看到相关链接，并附有图像并以吸引社会动机的方式进行标记。这些条件路径对于理解新闻曝光很重要，并且可以为新闻机构提供实用的见解。