What
we see has a profound effect on what we do, how we feel, and who we
are. Through experience and experimentation, we continually increase our
understanding of the visual world and how we are influenced by it.
Psychologist Albert Mehrabian demonstrated that 93% of communication is
nonverbal. Research at 3M Corporation concluded that we process visuals
60,000 times faster than text. Further studies find that the human brain
deciphers image elements simultaneously, while language is decoded in a
linear, sequential manner taking more time to process.
Relatively
speaking, in terms of communication, textual ubiquity is brand new.
Thanks to millions of years of evolution, we are genetically wired to
respond differently to visuals than text. For example, humans have an
innate fondness for images of wide, open landscapes, which evoke an
instant sense of well-being and contentment. Psychologists hypothesize
that this almost universal response stems from the years our ancestors
spent on the savannas in Africa.(1)
People
think using pictures. John Berger, media theorist, writes in his book
Ways of Seeing (Penguin Books, 1972), "Seeing comes before words. The
child looks and recognizes before it can speak." Dr. Lynell Burmark,
Ph.D. Associate at the Thornburg Center for Professional Development and
writer of several books and papers on visual literacy, said, "...unless
our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in
one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are
processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about 7 bits
of information (plus or minus 2). This is why, by the way, that we have
7-digit phone numbers. Images, on the other hand, go directly into
long-term memory where they are indelibly etched." Therefore, it is not
surprising that it is much easier to show a circle than describe it.
When
it comes to quick, clear communication, visuals trump text almost every
time. Presented with the following textual and visual information,
would you pet this dog?
The
very same visual elements that we are indelibly drawn to and so quickly
absorb not only communicate data more efficiently and effectively but
also affect us emotionally. For instance, research shows that exposure
to the color red can heighten our pulse and breathing rates. What is
your reaction to the following picture?
How
do you feel when you look at this picture? How quickly did you feel
that way? Can you see how this image could be used to quickly elicit a
strong emotional response and influence the viewer? If I were to
textually describe this picture, your emotional reaction would not be as
strong and it would take more time to digest the information. J.
Francis Davis, an adult educator and media education specialist,
captured it well when he said, "...in our culture pictures have become
tools used to elicit specific and planned emotional reactions in the
people who see them." Visuals are not only excellent communicators but
also quickly affect us psychologically and physiologically.
Don
Norman, author of Emotional Design, said in a Discover magazine
article, "Beauty and the Beastly PC: The Graphics on Your Computer
Screen Can Affect the Way You Feel—and Think,"
"I
started out as an engineer, and I thought that what was really
important was that something worked. Appearance—how could that matter?
And yet for some reason, I would still buy attractive things, even if
they didn't work as well as the less attractive ones. This puzzled me.
In the last two years, I've finally come to understand that it's a
result of the extremely tight coupling between emotion and cognition.
Emotion is about judging the world, and cognition is about
understanding. They can't be separated."
How
many times have you heard, "I didn't believe it until I saw it."
Studies show that the old saying "seeing is believing" is mostly true.
Of course, we know that what we see can be manipulated but the point is
that visuals are persuasive. The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab
asked 2,440 participants how they evaluated the credibility of Web sites
they were shown. Almost half (46.1%) said that the Web site's design
look was the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the
presented material. The following are some of the captured participant
comments:
"This site is more credible. I find it to be much more professional looking." -M, 38, Washington
"More pleasing graphics, higher-quality look and feel ..." -F, 52, Tennessee
"Just looks more credible." -M, 24, New Jersey
"I
know this is superficial, but the first thing that struck me is the
color difference. The ... site is a soothing green (sort of like money)
while the [other] site is a jarring purple." -M, 56, Virginia
The
ability of visual stimuli to communicate and influence is undeniable
and inescapable. Through evolution, human beings are compelled to view
and disseminate visuals. Recognizing the importance of visual
communication is key to your success. Allen Ginsberg, poet and author,
stated, "Whoever controls the media—the images—controls the culture." As
early as the late nineteenth century, advertisers, based on their
collective experience, were convinced that illustrations sold goods.
World War II propaganda posters were very effective at manipulating
popular opinion.
The
Sunday New York Times published, "Good as a Gun: When Cameras Define a
War," an article that effectively dealt with how the images
photojournalists capture have influenced world affairs. Despite the best
efforts of politicians, commanders, generals, and others involved with
the war efforts, it was imagery that became the catalyst for some of the
most pronounced changes. Reading or hearing about a situation is very
different from seeing it.
In
1986, a 3M-sponsored study at the University of Minnesota School of
Management found that presenters who use visual aids are 43% more
effective in persuading audience members to take a desired course of
action than presenters who don't use visuals. The goal of the experiment
was to persuade undergraduates to commit their time and money to
attending time management seminars. Presenters of various skill levels
participated. Researchers found that average presenters who used visual
aids were as effective as more advanced presenters using no visuals. In
addition, the study found that the audience expected the advanced
presenters to include professional, quality visuals. What about you?
Have you noticed the increase in visual aids during presentations? Do
you prefer presentations with or without visuals?(2)
Human
communication has existed for about 30,000 years. In the beginning of
recorded history, the vast majority of what we communicated was not text
based.(3) Textual communication has been with us in one form or another
for only 3,700 years. With the invention of tools like Gutenberg's
movable type printing press in 1450, text took center stage. Graphics
were too costly to include. As printing costs dropped graphics soon
resurfaced and their frequency is rising. In 1995, Charles Brumback, the
chairman of the Newspaper Association of America, said, "as newspaper
penetration falls ... the culture itself moves from textual to visual
literacy."(4) Gunther Kress is a Professor of English and Education at
the School of Education, University of London. His research confirms
this change over. As an example, Kress compares science textbooks from
1936 and 1988 showing that textbooks have progressed from a majority of
text to a majority of graphics.(5)
The
change isn't limited to textbooks and newspapers. Signs, maps,
instructions, schematics, icons, symbols, and packaging sell products,
warn of possible hazards, and give visual direction when words alone are
not sufficient. Graphics are found on Web sites, TV shows, appliances,
and computers; in vehicles and books; and at museums, malls,
restaurants, and grocery stores. More and more professions that rely
heavily on communication and persuasion are embracing graphics as a tool
of choice. In the Boston Globe article, "Courtroom Graphics Come of
Cyber-Age," author Sacha Pfeiffer found that "... new technologies—and a
new willingness in legal circles to embrace them—have taken the use of
visual images in the courtroom to a level unimaginable even a decade ago
... The result is a slow but significant shift in the way many trial
lawyers, who historically have relied largely on their verbal skills to
sway juries, try cases ... More prosecutors see high-tech graphics not
as a luxury, but as a necessity."
Graphic
communication is more ubiquitous than ever before. Why? Because
graphics do what text alone cannot do. They quickly affect us both
cognitively and emotionally:
1)
Cognitively: Graphics expedite and increase our level of communication.
They increase comprehension, recollection, and retention. Visual clues
help us decode text and attract attention to information or direct
attention increasing the likelihood that the audience will remember.(6)
2)
Emotionally: Pictures enhance or affect emotions and attitudes.(7)
Graphics engage our imagination and heighten our creative thinking by
stimulating other areas of our brain (which in turn leads to a more
profound and accurate understanding of the presented material).(8) It is
no secret that emotions influence decision-making:
"(Emotions) play an essential role in decision making, perception,
learning, and more ... they influence the very mechanisms of rational
thinking."(9)
Behavioral
Psychologists agree that most of our decisions are based on intuitive
judgment and emotions. Herbert A. Simon, Nobel Prize winning scholar at
the Carnegie Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, studied corporate
decision-making and found that people often ignored formal
decision-making models because of time constraints, incomplete
information, the inability to calculate consequences, and other
variables. Intuitive judgment was the process for most decisions.
Neurologist Antonio Damasio studied research on patients with damaged
ventromedial frontal cortices of the brain, which impaired their ability
to feel but left their ability to think analytically intact. Damasio
discovered that the patients were unable to make rational decisions even
though their ability to reason was fully functional. He concluded that
reasoning "depends, to a considerable extent, on a continual ability to
experience feelings."(10)
Psychologists
Amos Twersky and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahnerman demonstrated that
decision-making also depended on how the problems were framed or
described, which results in predictable cognitive patterns and errors in
judgment. Consider the following example:
"A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?"(11)
The question is asked in a way that clouds the correct answer. If the question were worded as follows:
A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat cost $1.05. How much does the ball cost?
The
answer would be obvious: 5 cents. Much as phraseology influences the
response to a question, how and what you show influences the audience's
response.
So
visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text, graphics quickly
affect our emotions, and our emotions greatly affect our
decision-making. If most of our decisions are based on relatively quick
intuitional judgment and emotions, then how many decisions are
influenced by visually appealing, easily digested graphics? The answer
is no secret to advertisers.
Billions
of dollars are spent annually to find the right imagery to sell a
product, service, or idea. The United States Military spent $598 million
in 2003 on advertising to increase "brand identity" and meet their
annual recruitment goals. Nike spent $269 million in 2001 on its image
to sell their products. Anheuser-Busch spent $440 million to promote its
products in 2001. Pepsi budgeted over $1 billion in 2001 on its image.
Not to be out done, Coca-Cola budgeted $1.4 billion for its image in the
same year. Graphics help create "brand identity." Visuals paint the
picture of who the advertiser is, what they stand for, and how the
audience may benefit. Graphics sell because of their ability to
influence. How you use graphics greatly affect how you and your business
are perceived.
Study
after study, experiment after experiment has proven that graphics have
immense influence over the audience's perception of the subject matter
and, by association, the presenter (the person, place, or thing most
associated with the graphic) because of these neurological and
evolutionary factors. The audience's understanding of the presented
material, opinion of the presented material and the presenter, and their
emotional state are crucial factors in any decision they will make.
Without a doubt, graphics greatly
influence an audience's decisions. Whoever properly wields this intelligence has a powerful advantage over their competition.
Larry
Tracy, who now trains corporate executives to make oral presentations
for government contracts, headed the Pentagon's top briefing team and
worked for years with the Department of State. He was aware that
graphics were so influential in the government's decision to purchase
goods and services that bad buying decisions were made based on the
quality of the visuals in the presented materials. This has in turn led
to the government, at times, putting constraints on presented graphics
by requiring black and white submissions, or even requiring that no
graphics be used in a presentation in order to reduce the likelihood of
high-quality, polished graphics unfairly persuading evaluators.
I
spent many years analyzing how the proposal industry works (an industry
that focuses on the submission of written and oral presentations to
secure work that will increase or maintain a company's revenue). I found
that the priority of graphic development increases as award value
rises. The industry understands the influence that graphics have on
their audience. It is common knowledge to companies like Northrop
Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin that graphics are an
essential part of winning new government business. In fact, it is not
uncommon, when exceptional graphics are used, for government evaluators
to commend the presenter on their use of graphics.
Flags,
eagles, and other symbols of patriotism are often included on proposal
covers simply because of the positive emotional influence patriotic
imagery has on government evaluators. Part of the cover's goal is to
instantly establish that the presenter is a supportive, trustworthy,
reliable patriot. As a result, the government evaluator is more likely
to be in a positive, agreeable state of mind when reading the proposal.
As stated earlier, emotions influence the very mechanisms of rational
thinking, so if the evaluator's mood is elevated by the visuals, the
more likely he or she is to agree with the presenter.
I
am not saying that graphic communication is better than text. The
combination of graphics and words has a communicative power that neither
singularly possesses.
"Pictures interact with text to produce levels of comprehension and
memory that can exceed what is produced by text alone."(12)
Without
graphics, an idea may be lost in a sea of words. Without words, a
graphic may be lost to ambiguity. Robert E. Horn, an award-winning
scholar at Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and
Information, said, "When words and visual elements are closely entwined,
we create something new and we augment our communal intelligence ...
visual language has the potential for increasing ‘human bandwidth'—the
capacity to take in, comprehend, and more efficiently synthesize large
amounts of new information."
Our communication paradigm is evolving.
(Learn more.)
1.
Stevenson Johnson, "Beauty and the Beastly PC, The Graphics on Your
Screen Can Affect the Way You Feel—and Think," Discover Volume 25:
Number 5 (May 2004): 20-21.
2. (Reworded but from) Jon Hanke, The Psychology of Presentation Visuals, www.presentations.com.
3.
Duncan Davies, Diana Bathurst, and Robin Bathurst, The Telling Image
The Changing Balance between Pictures and Words in a Technological Age.
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990).
4.
M. Fitzgerald, "NAA Leaders Disagree Over Value Cyberspace,"
International Federation of Newspaper Publishers Research Association
128(12) (1995): 48-49.
5. "English at the Crossroads: Rethinking Curricula of Communication in the Context of a Turn to the Visual"
6.
W.H. Levie and R. Lentz, "Effects of Text Illustrations: A Review of
Research," Educational Communications and Technology Journal 30 (4)
(1982): 195-232.
7.
W.H. Levie and R. Lentz, "Effects of Text Illustrations: A Review of
Research," Educational Communications and Technology Journal 30 (4)
(1982): 195-232.
8.
D. Bobrow and D. Norman, "Some Principles of Memory Schemata," (in D.
Bobrow and A.Collins [eds.]), Representation and Understanding: Studies
in Cognitive Science (New York: Academic Press, 1975), 131-149 and D.
Rumelhart, "Schemata: The Building Blocks of Cognition," (in R.J. Spiro,
B.C. Bruce and W.F. Brewer [eds.]), Theoretical Issues in Reading
Comprehension (Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate, 1980),
33-58.
9.
H. van Oostendorp, J. Preece and A.G. Arnold (guest editorial),
"Designing Multimedia for Human Needs and Capabilities," Interacting
with Computers Volume 12, Issue 1 (September 1999): 1-5.
10.
Jayme A. Sokolow, "How Do Reviewers Really Evaluate Your Proposal? What
the Cognitive Science of Heuristics Tells Us About Making Decisions,"
Journal of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals
(Spring/Summer 2004): 34-50.
11.
Jayme A. Sokolow, "How Do Reviewers Really Evaluate Your Proposal? What
the Cognitive Science of Heuristics Tells Us About Making Decisions,"
Journal of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals
(Spring/Summer 2004): 34-50.
12.
J.R. Levin, A Transfer of Appropriate Processing Perspective of
Pictures in Prose, (in H.Mandl and J.R. Levin [eds.]) Knowledge
Acquisition from Text and Prose (Amsterdam: ElsevierScience Publishers,
1989).
The above article is an excerpt from the book,
Do-It-Yourself Billion Dollar Graphics
