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Kreuzmair C, Siegrist M, Keller C. Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing, Decision Making, and Liking in an Eye-Tracking Study. Risk Anal. 2016;37(3):546-556doi: 10.1111/risa.12623.
Kreuzmair, C., Siegrist, M., & Keller, C. (2017). Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing, Decision Making, and Liking in an Eye-Tracking Study. Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis, 37(3), 546-556. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12623
Kreuzmair, Christina, et al. "Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing, Decision Making, and Liking in an Eye-Tracking Study." Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis vol. 37,3 (2017): 546-556. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12623
Kreuzmair C, Siegrist M, Keller C. Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing, Decision Making, and Liking in an Eye-Tracking Study. Risk Anal. 2017 Mar;37(3):546-556. doi: 10.1111/risa.12623. Epub 2016 Apr 18. PMID: 27089046.
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Risk Anal. 2017 Mar;37(3):546-556. doi: 10.1111/risa.12623. Epub 2016 Apr 18.

Does Iconicity in Pictographs Matter? The Influence of Iconicity and Numeracy on Information Processing, Decision Making, and Liking in an Eye-Tracking Study.

Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis

Christina Kreuzmair, Michael Siegrist, Carmen Keller

Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), Consumer Behavior, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

PMID: 27089046 DOI: 10.1111/risa.12623

Abstract

Researchers recommend the use of pictographs in medical risk communication to improve people's risk comprehension and decision making. However, it is not yet clear whether the iconicity used in pictographs to convey risk information influences individuals' information processing and comprehension. In an eye-tracking experiment with participants from the general population (N = 188), we examined whether specific types of pictograph icons influence the processing strategy viewers use to extract numerical information. In addition, we examined the effect of iconicity and numeracy on probability estimation, recall, and icon liking. This experiment used a 2 (iconicity: blocks vs. restroom icons) × 2 (scenario: medical vs. nonmedical) between-subject design. Numeracy had a significant effect on information processing strategy, but we found no effect of iconicity or scenario. Results indicated that both icon types enabled high and low numerates to use their default way of processing and extracting the gist of the message from the pictorial risk communication format: high numerates counted icons, whereas low numerates used large-area processing. There was no effect of iconicity in the probability estimation. However, people who saw restroom icons had a higher probability of correctly recalling the exact risk level. Iconicity had no effect on icon liking. Although the effects are small, our findings suggest that person-like restroom icons in pictographs seem to have some advantages for risk communication. Specifically, in nonpersonalized prevention brochures, person-like restroom icons may maintain reader motivation for processing the risk information.

© 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Keywords: Eye tracking; iconicity; information processing strategies; medical risk communication; numeracy; pictograph

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