Lurion De Mello

The influence of textual presentation order and graphical presentation on the judgements of non-professional investors

The aim of this study is to examine the influence of textual presentation order and graphical presentation on the judgements of non-professional investors. Adopting an experimental approach and drawing on the belief-adjustment model, the study captures whether a recency effect prevails and whether this effect can be moderated by the inclusion of a graph. Additionally, the study utilises eye-tracking to provide a novel insight into the processes individuals use to assess financial information and form judgements. The results reveal that non-professional investors are susceptible to recency effects due to the strategic presentation ordering of narrative information. Non-professional investors give a lower performance rating if the negative information is presented last. The recency effect is not reduced through the inclusion of a graph.