Does the delivery format in which a message is communicated matter?: how consumers process alternative types of sensory data in working memory.

Abstract

Marketers often present the same information about a product in different media that employ alternative delivery formats (e.g., magazines often deliver information in a text format and radio in an audio format). However, little is known about how these different formats affect consumers' processing and assessments of the product information. Across two chapters containing four studies, I show that the format that will better accomplish one's objectives depends on whether the language employed in a message is image-evoking or primarily semantic. Due to limits of the resource pools that fuel two separate working memory pathways, information typically is better retained when messages draw on both, rather than only one, resource pool. Strategically selecting the format (text or audio) and language (image-evoking or semantic) of the message can accomplish this. Further, because information retention can mediate perceptions of the product, variation of these two factors can also influence both product perceptions and assessments. Finally, expanding working memory capacity provides additional insights into how working memory processes affect product assessments, producing outcomes that are the reverse of those observed in the first three studies.