Effects of product learning aids on breadth and depth of recall : An empirical investigation

Product learning aids, such as non-visual (e.g., text-based description) and visual (e.g., animated video), are common in mundane online shopping websites. The primary purpose of incorporating these tools is to enhance a consumer's impression and knowledge of a product category, which can reflect one's capacity to recall the product descriptions. In this research, we study the impacts of different product learning aids, ranging from text-based through text-and-image based to video-based, on a consumer's recall capacity. Recall is manifested in two aspects, namely the breadth (i.e., number of attributes recallable) and the depth (i.e., the articulation of the comparison of the product attributes during the decision making process). Through a laboratory experiment, we observed there is a differentiated impact of the product learning aid on breadth and depth of a consumer's recall capacity. More elaborately, while video-based product learning aid could increase the recall breadth, it yields the lowest in the depth of recall. Implications for research and practice are discussed.