Multimedia effects on processing and perception of online news: A study ofpicture, audio, and video downloads

Do multimedia enhancements affect how much individuals learn from online ne ws websites? Do audio and video downloads generate positive impressions of the website ill the minds of users? A five-condition, between-participants controlled experiment (N = 60) was designed to address these questions. Eac h study participant read three news stories from a news website created for the experiment; he or she was given either a text-only version of the news site; a version with text pictures; ore with text and audio; one with text , pictures, and audio; or orle with text, pictures, and video. Following ex posure, participants filled a paper-and- pencil questionnaires assessing th eir memory and perceptions. Results suggest that pictures and audio are par ticularly powerful psychological cites. In general, multimedia tends to hin der memory for story conte,lt and leads to negative evaluations of the site and its content, but improves memory for advertisements. Theoretical and p ractical implications of these findings are discussed.