Large screens are more effective for promoting the hedonic (perceived attractiveness) and pragmatic (perceived control) qualities of smartwatches, while round and square screens are associated with hedonic and pragmatic quality, respectively, according to a study published online April 21 in the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication.
Ki Joon Kim, Ph.D., from City University of Hong Kong, examined how screen shape and size of smartwatches impacts their hedonic and pragmatic qualities and affects assessment of transmitted information. Data were included from 160 subjects.
Kim found that large screens positively influenced the quality of information by increasing the hedonic and pragmatic qualities of the smartwatch. The impact of round screens on quality of information was only mediated by the hedonic quality, while squares screens were more closely associated with the pragmatic quality. Presentation mode (text plus image versus text alone) moderated the effects of screen shape and size.
"This study extends the existing screen size literature to wearable media technology by validating that a marginal difference in screen size as small as a few tenths of an inch can, in fact, result in notable psychological differences in user perception," Kim writes.
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