Comparing Item- and Image-based Measurements in Online Surveys: A Systematic Analysis Using the Example of Acceptance for a Virtual Caregiver Avatar

Description

Visual stimuli are increasingly utilized in online surveys to measure judgments, attitudes, or decisions, while it is often assumed that they provide more valid results compared to conventional item-based measurements. Images may help mitigate systematic measurement errors due to the standardized presentation of information supporting respondents’ consistent retrieval of relevant information from memory. In our study, we challenge this assumption by systematically comparing responses to image and text stimuli using the example of the acceptance for an avatar as a virtual caregiver. Data come from an online access panel survey on technology acceptance in healthcare in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (D-A-CH region) in 2023. Using a split-ballot experiment, 5,538 adult respondents were randomly assigned to different conditions and evaluated the quality of various avatar environments operationalized either through pictures or conventional items. Results from multiple regression analysis including interactions effects substantiate the assumption of distinct cognitive processing. On average, the surroundings are perceived better in image-based as compared to item-based presentation. A robust interaction with response time was evident: while acceptance remains similar in the image-based presentation, it decreases with respondents’ higher response time in the itembased format. If respondents tend to answer spontaneously (in the form of satisficing), both presentation formats deliver comparable results. In a more reflective response processing mode (in the form of optimizing), however, different cognitive adaptation processes may be initiated. In addition to these findings, prospects for future methodological research are discussed.

Period	30 Aug 2024
Event title	ESA - European Sociological Association: Tension, Trust and Transformation
Event type	Conference with scientific content
Conference number	16
Location	Porto, PortugalShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International