The Effectiveness of Knowledge Visualization for Organizational Communication in Europe and India

In recent years we are witnessing a growing interest and use of knowledge visualization for communicating ideas and insights. Companies are deploying diagrams and knowledge maps to convey crucial business concepts. Scholars are reporting successful company cases, theorizing on the topic and compiling classifications and best practices. Yet few studies have attempted to prove the effectiveness of visualization, nor have they based their hypotheses on theories with predictive power. We aim to provide a contribution for the advancement of the field of knowledge visualization by testing the effects of different visualizations on the attitude toward its content. Second, we assess if visualization effectiveness is universal or culturally-bounded. We have conducted an experimental study, comparing text and two knowledge visualization types. The results of 231 subjects in Europe and India demonstrate that knowledge visualization has the power to increase the effectives of the message compared to text, and that these benefits replicate across different cultures.