Information-Processing Strategies: A Focus on Pictorial Information Roles

In this study, information-processing strategies that travelers use in information judgment and decision making were investigated. The study results indicate that individuals use certain information attributes (i.e., text argument quality, picture attractiveness) in different involvement situations. Low-involved individuals under a strong argument condition focused on picture attractiveness to quickly assess positive or negative values. High-involved individuals focused on both text argument quality and picture attractiveness for comprehensive evaluation. Three rules were revealed for high-involved individuals' interactive processing because of offsetting, redundancy, and negative-valence effects. Theoretical implications are discussed and marketing implications are suggested based on these findings.