Effects of presentation order and communication modality on recall and attitude

Unnava, H. Rao, Robert E. Burnkrant, and Sunil Erevelles. 1994. Effects of presentation order and communication modality on recall and attitude. Journal of Consumer Research 21: 481–490.

In this article, the authors demonstrate how to develop effective communications by examining the ways in which consumers construct messages through memory based judgments. They discuss the differences between print and audio modes of communication, and argue that the order of presentation and recall affect the attitudes of consumers and hence the effectiveness of communication methods. Visual communication and audio communication have stimuli which consumers encode differently, so the authors compare the two, posing such questions as, “Should the most important information be placed first or last for enhanced effectiveness?”

The authors performed two separate experiments focusing on the modes of communication, consumer attitude, and recall. Experiment one proved that information presented first, or at the beginning of a message, is recalled first when presented auditorily but not when presented visually. Experiment two found that recall and attitude are positively correlated. The authors also found that consumers who hear information are affected by the order of presentation more so than those who see the information.

I believe this article provides useful information for those studying visual communication. The information would be a good supplemental source that may help deepen understanding of communication. In regards to real life application, the authors suggest their findings to be beneficial to copy editors, advertisers, teachers or salespersons. The authors also discuss the limitations of their study and offer suggestions to those who would like to further their research. The article is a bit dated, as it was published in 1994, but I believe the information discussed is fairly basic and still applicable to today.