I came across this really great article by Judy McFarland titled, The image of experience which comments on the use of Text and Imagery in design. Here is an excerpt,
“When compared to words, the meaning behind pictures can be vague and fuzzy… they can represent different things to different people. The same is true of words. Words conjure up mental images and pictures conjure up mental words (thoughts). Each is unique to the life experiences of the participant.”
Reference: McFarland J. (2003) The image of experience [Online] Available: http://www.experiencethread.com/articles/intel_artcl.cfm