Aesthetics influence over respondents' answers: an online survey exploration

Abstract

This thesis is the first of its kind to explore how the presence or absence of aesthetic elements, such as background, font, and logo design, in an online survey may influence the answers of the respondents. We use the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC–SDS) to test and analyze our hypotheses to determine whether a survey’s aesthetics can influence the respondents’ desire to be part of, or feel included in, their society. Additionally, we explore self-consciousness theories, both public and private, and social anxiety. The objective of this is to observe whether they produce a moderation effect on the interaction between aesthetics and the respondents’ social desirability outcome. Our research suggests that the presence of aesthetic elements in a survey triggers a higher level of social desirability influenced by respondents’ social anxiety. In contrast, the absence of aesthetic elements suggests significantly lower levels of social desirability. Our study contributes to the research on consumer behavior theories and investigates how aesthetics can alter answers of the respondents in surveys. The potential implications are vast and could lead the way for other studies.