The Effects of Informational Graphics Presentation and Cognitive Styles on Readers* Recognition, Browsing Time and Attitude in a Web-based Newspaper System

• Main Authors: Liu, Hui-chun, 劉慧君
• Other Authors: Chien Chou
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1998
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/79234635880530280761

碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 傳播研究所 === 86 === With the popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), web-based newspapers become prevailing rapidly in the recent years. Web-based newspapers are different from traditional printed newspaper in designing and packaging message effectively. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of informational graphic, or infographic, presentation modes and reader*s cognitive styles on their recognition tests, browsing time and attitudes in a web-based newspaper environment. Infographic in thisstudy is defined as information concisely presented in a visual form.A 4 * 4 two factors experiment was executed in this study. The two independent variables are: infographics presentation modes and readers* cognitive styles. The dependent variables include subjects* information recall, browsing time and their attitude toward the web-based newspaper.Two hundred and sixty-eight subjects were participated in the experiment stage 1. They were tested on the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ) developed by Kirby, Moore, & Schofield in 1988. Based on subjects* test scores, they are classified into four cognitive styles groups: verbal- oriented, visual-oriented, high verbal-visual and low verbal- visual. Among 268 subjects, 176 voluntary participants were randomly assigned to four versions of web-based newspapers in the experiment stage 2. The four versions of newspapers used in this study were designed by the researcher, and were different in terms of graphics presentation manner: no graphics (text- only), plain infographics, infographics with adornment and hidden infographics. Upon completion of reading all news, subjects received a recognition test and a five-point Likert scale questionnaire which assessed their attitude toward the reading experiences.The main results of this study are:1. Recognition performance: Readers* recognition scores were significantly better when message were redundant in both text and graphics those with only textual stories.2.Browsing time: Subjects who read infographics with adornment spent significantly more time in browsing the newspaper than the other three groups. The low verbal-visual group spent significantly more time in browsing newspaper than the verbal-oriented groups.3. User* Attitude:(1)All subjects expressed strong desire for graphics.(2)All subjects considered infographics to be useful tools helping them understand and remember the story, make them be more interested in reading news story.(3)Those who read plain graphic and adornment graphic thought the web- based newspaper more appealing than those who read text-alone stories.(4)When the graphics were hidden in a button, the reader expected decorative graphics when they were full-size presented.4.Although cognitive styles was thought to influence people*s information-processing performance, this study found that the cognitive style only had significant influence on browsing time. There was no significant interaction between graphic presentation modes and cognitive styles on any of the dependent variables.