Impact of Domain Knowledge on Information Presentation Format Choice: A Cognitive Fit Perspective

Prior research has established the effect of presentation format on decision making performance. However, the effect of domain knowledge on presentation format choice has not been investigated. In the business context, reports are often generated by report designers who lack domain knowledge and the reports are used by decision makers who possess substantial domain knowledge. Drawing from the Cognitive Fit Theory and the domain knowledge and presentation format literature, this study argues that report designers and decision makers have different mental models of the problems and solutions due to differences in their domain knowledge. Hence, we posit that report designers will choose report formats that fit with their own mental models rather than the mental models of the decision makers. The lack of cognitive fit between the mental models and presentation format for the decision makers could lead to sub-optimal performances. Other implications for research and practice have been discussed.