（1998）The Effects of Differing Information Presentations of General Purpose Financial Statements on Users Decisions.pdfVIP

Journal of Information Systems Vol. 12, No. 2 Fall 1998 pp. 99-107 The Effects of Differing Information Presentations of General Purpose Financial Statements on Users Decisions Cynthia Frownfelter-Lohrke University of South Florida ABSTRACT: By examining the decision makers use of information across differing pre- sentation formats (tabular and graphical), this study attempts to identify the most useful format. It attempts to correct methodological deficiencies cited as reasons for conflicting results in prior research. Three issues are investigated : the leaming curve of the subjects performing the spatial task; the theory of cognitive fit; and the efficacy of using combination formats to support all tasks. The study failed to support the theory of cognitive fit for deci- sion accuracy. The presentation format predicted to support each task did not significantly affect accuracy. However, the combination format was superior to the graphical format when controlling for task type . In addition, the study supported the conclusions of prior research that leaming occurs . Key Words : Information presentation. Decision making. Cognitive fit. Graphs vs . tables . Financial statements. Data Availability : Contact author. I. LITERATURE REVIEW arly accounting research addressing the presentation of accounting information compared multi- dimensional graphics with tabular presentations. These studies using schematic faces concluded that the multi-dimensional graphic presentations were more efficient in communicating finan- E cial information than tabular presentations (Moriarity 1979; Stoc