Text and graphics: manipulating nutrition brochures to maximize recall

Abstract

This study examined how altering text and graphics of a nutrition brochure could affect the ability to remember the content of the message. Two theoretical models were used to guide alterations: dual-coding theory and the communications model. Three brochure formats were tested: the original brochure containing abstract text and abstract graphics, a modified brochure with relatively concrete text and abstract graphics, and a relatively concrete text brochure with concrete graphics. Participants (N = 239 women) were divided into four age groups: 20-30, 40-50, 60-70 and over 70 years. Women were randomly assigned into each of the three experimental brochure formats or a control group. Participants completed recalled materials from the assigned brochures (the no treatment control group did not include a brochure) at two different sessions, 30 days apart. Data were content analyzed and results were compared using analysis of covariance to test differences by age and brochure types. Younger women (20-30 and 40-50 years) recalled more information than women over 60 years. More concrete nutrition education print materials enhanced recall of information presented immediately after reading the material; however, this effect was transient and lasted less than 30 days after a one-time reading. The implications of these data for communicating nutrition messages with print materials are discussed.

Pictures and text in instructions for medical devices: Effects on recall and actual performance

“…At most, with a basic notion that pictorial information can aid readability of a brochure text, studies have simultaneously changed text and added pictures to concretize or make the information more interesting to readers [1,2]. However, from instructional design research we know that the presence of pictorial information allows readers to visualize relations in the text [3], enabling the formation of a mental model of the situation, which may enhance understanding of text [4][5][6].…”

Print Material Purchasing Decisions in Health Education Practice

“…1997, NIH, I992 Cooper & Nothstine, 1992Covello, 1992;Covello, 1993. Slater & Rouner, 1997Shepard, Sirns, Cronin, Shaw, & Davis, 1989;Sikora, 1998;AMC, 1994, NIH, I992 AMC, 1994NIH, 1992, Clark, 1999Buxton. 1999Slater & Rouner.…”

“…1992;Shepard et al, 1989, Clark, I999 AMC. 1994, Doak et al, 1996McGuire, 1984;Sikora, 1998;Clark, 1999, Buxton. I999 1998, NIH, 1994, Buxton, I999 AMC, 1994NIH, 1992;Giordano.…”

“…With increasing frequency, many have identified the core of health education to be health communication (Clift & Freimuth, 1995;Downie, Fyfe, & Tannahil, 1990). Of all communication strategies used in health education, perhaps none is as pervasive as print material products (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 1992).…”

“…For a printed health message to be persuasive, the public must receive an acceptable form, read it and understand it, believe it, and then act on it (Clark, AbuSabha, von Eye, & Achterberg, 1999;Schooler, Chaffee, Flora, & Roser, 1998). The appropriate development of effective print material includes, but is not limited to, a review of message content, message construction, readability, cultural context, and a general awareness of literacy among the target population (NIH, 1992).…”