WCS develop high-end presentations for clients and use three-dimensional animated graphics to deliver the client’s message. “There’s evidence that images and words together are much more persuasive than words alone,” Pat Hough explained. “However, we believe it’s important to match the images to the audience’s personality type. That’s why we want to find out exactly what images and colors are most effective with each type.”
The UCC team is headed by Dr. Jurek Kirakowski of the Human Factors Research Group. He believes that harnessing the results from academic research can provide a significant advantage for commercial companies. “This research project has forced us to take a closer look at areas of research that are rarely connected together. It’s exciting to see how the pieces fit.”
Noirin Curran is the chief researcher on the project. She has already found evidence that the use of colour can impact on the cognitive resources used by the audience and she has even identified rare situations where black and white images can be more effective. She is also excited about the outcome of the project. “It’s particularly interesting to see how personality types and persuasion can impact on each other,” she said.
Unique Vision Limited, a subsidiary of WCS, is also involved in several other research projects including the use of Neuro-Linguistic-
