Dynamic aspects of relevance: differences in users' relevance criteria between selecting and viewing videos during leisure searches

Introduction. Previous research has investigated the dynamic use of relevance criteria at different stages of the search process. These previous studies have been focused on academic contexts with the result that little is known about the dynamic aspects of relevance criteria use in leisure contexts, specifically for video content. This paper examines the differences in relevance criteria at the stages of selecting and viewing videos for leisure purposes.
Method. Twenty-four participants were asked to search YouTube for leisure purposes followed by a semi-structured interview to elicit relevance criteria usage.
Analysis. Qualitative content analysis was applied on the data to discover relevance criteria applied in each search stage. Chi-squared tests were carried out to examine significant differences between the stages.
Results. Findings showed significant differences between selecting and viewing stages in term of the use of relevance criteria with some criteria being preferred in the selection stage while others are more important at the viewing stage of video interaction.
Conclusions. Understanding the changes in relevance criteria during the search process provides new insights about the dynamic aspects of relevance judgment and aids the design of information retrieval systems.