The interplay between emotion, cognition and information recall from websites with relevant and irrelevant images: A Neuro-IS study

Websites are increasingly used for information dissemination and web sites can include cues such as images that stimulate emotional responses in users and aid recall of information that can be utilized in decision making. However, these images may be more or less relevant in the context of the information provided. In such cases there is likely to be a complex interplay between users’ emotional and cognitive responses and the degree of information recall. This study used event-related electroencephalography (EEG) to shed light on these inter-relationships. Images providing emotional cues influenced emotions and EEG responses and these responses were in turn related to the degree of information recall. Importantly, the study shows that the neural correlates of emotion vary depending on whether the emotion-inducing image is relevant to the information provided or not and that these correlates are significantly related to recall.