Information selection and literacy competencies: The visually impaired perspective on loan offers for entrepreneurship

Often, we receive a tempting loan or financial offers from SMS e-mails. The offers would be more tempting and the messages are well-equipped with persuasive messages, when people need financial help. Such messages are also received by people with visual impairment and would require a certain information literacy capability for them to choose and filter these offers. This study attempts to dig information on how the visually impaired people would perceive loan/financial offers received from SMS and e-mails. We use a descriptive method with qualitative data extracted from in-depth interviews of the respondents. The respondents are visually impaired people that were selected using a purposive approach. The results infer that people with visual impairment have an awareness and caution in filtering information on financial offers they receive. We consider information more believable when received as testimony from peers and word of mouth rather than in promotion. The credibility of the financial institution would also be a considering attribute for the respondents. The study also identifies several persuasive words that would make people with visual impairment cautious of the offers they receive