Hedonic or Utilitarian: The effect of video and text styles on consumers’ visual attention, mental imagery quality, and purchase intention in online food ordering interfaces

Abstract

Given the substantial resources allocated to video and text presentations, indiscriminately applying video and text presentations regardless of information style may not improve sales or enhance the consumers’ ordering experience, and can even lead to unnecessary resource waste. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of video and text styles (hedonic vs. utilitarian) on consumers’ visual attention and subjective assessments. The results indicate that the utilitarian text style could be a favorable choice for online food ordering interfaces, as it not only captures greater visual attention but also enhances users’ mental imagery quality and purchase intention. Additionally, the selection of video styles should be guided by the specific objectives of the context: the utilitarian video style appears to be a more effective option for encouraging purchasing behavior, as it is associated with significantly higher fixation counts, while the hedonic video style may be more conducive to enhancing user engagement and extending online duration, as indicated by its longer average fixation duration. These findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of short-form video and text across different information styles, contributing to the design of more user-friendly online food ordering interfaces.