An investigation of the visual advantage effect on objective decision quality in choice tasks

Visual information had been found to be superior to textual information in enhancing processing ease, preference, attitude, and purchase intention. However, these visual format’s superior effects were mainly established for hedonic products (e.g. jackets, crackers) without a clear measure of objective decision quality. In complex decision environments (e.g. healthcare and credit card), it is unclear whether the visual advantage persists – especially when objective decision quality is a more important outcome than attitude or behavioral intentions. This research addresses this gap and examines the effect of visual vs. textual information on measures of objective decision quality in three different decision tasks (i.e. health insurance, credit card, jacket). The empirical findings suggest that the visual advantage does not extend to objective decision quality as measured by (i) the proportion to choose a dominant alternative within a choice task, and (ii) the proportion to remain with the chosen alternative when a change is allowed. Additionally, the findings show that an individual’s confidence in his/her chosen alternative was higher in the visual than textual condition for the jacket but not for health insurance and credit card decision tasks. The findings also provide evidence supporting the visual advantage effects on subjective measures of perceived time spent on task, attitude, and purchase intention.