The effects of visual formats on Facebook health-related posts: evidence from eye movement analysis

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to provide user-centered evidence for health professionals to make optimal use of images for the effective dissemination of health information on Facebook (FB). Design/methodology/approach Using an eye-tracking experiment and a survey method, this study examined 42 participants' reading patterns as well as recall and recognition outcomes with 36 FB health information posts having various FB post features. Findings The findings demonstrated that FB posts with text-embedded images received more attention and resulted in the highest recall and recognition. Meanwhile, compared to text-embedded images, visual only images yielded less effective recall of information, but they caught the viewers' attention; graphics tended to attract more attention than photos. For effective communication, the text features in FB posts should align with the formats of the images. Practical implications The findings of this study provide practical implications for health information disseminators by suggesting that text-embedded images should be used for effective health communication. Originality/value This study provided evidence of users' different viewing patterns for FB health information posts and the relationship between FB post types and recall and recognition outcomes.