| Abstract [eng] |
The global amount of information is constantly expanding, and visual information accounts for a growing portion of data flow (about 54 %) (Sandvine, 2022). Visual information is emerging as one of the most crucial marketing that helps brands compete for the limited attention of consumers. It has been proven that approximately 65 % of consumers remember visual information better than text (Baumgartner, 2025) and identify visually presented messages faster due to a lower cognitive load (Tengku & Nur, 2025). At the empirical level, there is narrow research on the fluency of visual information processing (Storme et al., 2015; Orth et al., 2017), however, the limitations of scientific studies reveal that such research is necessary to ensure the development of effective marketing strategies (Yu et al., 2024). In the final master's project, the object of research is the relationship between visual information, its processing fluency, consumer brand trust, and attitude toward the brand. Given that it was not possible to find studies examining the connections between the named constructs in one model, the aim is to answer the following problematic question: what relationship exist between visual information, its processing fluency, consumer brand, and their attitude towards it? The aim of the project is to theoretically and empirically substantiate the relationship between visual information, its processing fluency, consumers' trust in a brand and their attitude towards it. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, this master thesis takes the view that visual information can be interpreted through themes of visual content (Zhou & Xue, 2021) and principles of visual design (Gordon, 2020), and information processing fluency is understood as a metacognitive experience. Consumers' trust in a brand is studied by dividing it into cognitive and affective types, while consumers' attitude towards a brand is considered a unidimensional construct reflecting a general assessment. After summarizing the results of the theoretical analysis, a conceptual model of the relationships between visual information, its processing fluency, consumer trust in a brand, and attitude towards it was created, which was empirically tested in the context of a fictitious sparkling tea brand, using two between-group (1x2) experiments. Experiment 1, designed to analyze the case of a website, manipulated the theme of visual content (reflecting a story about consumers or not) involved 145 participants. Experiment 2, designed to analyze the case of packaging, manipulated the principle of visual design (high contrast or low contrast is used) involved 160 participants. The empirical study's findings demonstrated that both visual content reflects a story about consumers and visual design with high color contrast increase the fluency of visual information processing, compared to experimental groups that did not experience these conditions. In both experiments, it was found that the fluency of visual information processing has a positive effect on cognitive and affective consumer trust in the brand. Both types of trust have a positive effect on consumer attitudes towards the brand. |
