The Multisensory Feed: Ad Type, Social Proof, and Visual Attention on Instagram

Introduction

In a social media feed, brands increasingly utilize background music to capture consumer attention. However, the behavioral impact of these auditory cues is often conditional. This study mainly examines whether the influence of music tempo (fast vs. slow) on consumer behavior is moderated by social proof metrics (likes) and ad type (organic vs. sponsored).

Conceptual Framework

Cognitive Load Theory: The amount of mental effort being used in the working memory for processing information (Sweller, 1988).

Atmospherics: The intentional design of space to create emotional and cognitive effects that influence consumer behaviors, whether in a physical or digital landscape (Pieters, R, Wedel, M., & Batra, R, 2010).

Hypotheses

H1: Participants exposed to slow tempo music will exhibit longer Total Post Duration (TPD) on social media vs fast tempo music, causing shorter TPDs.

H2: Posts with high social proof (external engagement) will have an increase in consumer engagement (internal engagement), while posts with low social proof will have a decrease in consumer engagement.

H3: Participants exposed to organic ads will have an increase in consumer engagement vs sponsored ads having a decrease in consumer engagement.

H4: The interaction between organic ads and high likes will increase consumer engagement vs sponsored ads and low likes, decreasing engagement.

Methodology

Research Setting and Instrumentation

Data was collected in a controlled environment at Quinnipiac’s UX & Behavioral Insights Lab. Visual attention was recorded using a Tobii Pro Fusion screen-based eye tracker operating at a 60 Hz sampling rate.

Tobii Pro Lab software was used to collect eye-tracking data and create visual representations of eye-tracking data, Qualtrics was used to collect survey data, and SPSS was used for data analysis.

Stimuli

Stimuli consisted of high-resolution digital mockups of Instagram filler posts & ads of fictitious brands. Design elements were manipulated to create an Instagram environment with accounts, likes, reposts, shares, and captions. These fictitious brands were displayed as organic or sponsored ads. Fictitious brands were shown after every 2 filler posts. Background music was utilized while viewing the stimuli (one fast & one slow tempo).

Sample Characteristics and Data Integrity

A total of 76 undergraduates were recruited. Participants with gaze sample rates of less than 70% were excluded, resulting in a sample of N = 72 for the final analysis (Gender: 56% female, 44% male; M_age = 19.21, SD = 1.14). 

2 X 2 Mixed Model Design and Experimental Procedure

Results

H₁: Music Tempo

An independent sample t-test was conducted to assess the impact of the tempo of music on the total post duration.

H₁: The main effect of tempo on total post fixation duration of different ad types was not significant, t=1.071, df= 70, p= .144.

H₂ & H₃: Ad Type & Like Level

A 2x2 Within subjects ANOVA was conducted to assess the impact of social proof and ad type on consumer engagement.

H₂: The ad type by social proof interaction was significant, F= 7.190, p= .009, η_p² = .093. The impact of ad type on user engagement was contingent upon social proof.

H₃: The social proof by ad type interaction was significant, F= 11.963 p <.001 η_p² = .146). η_p² (partial eta-squared) had a moderate to high effect size with 14.6% of variance.

H₄: Interaction

*Test of social proof and ad type on consumer dwell time followed a similar pattern, F= 2.153, df=71, p<.147

A 2x2 Within subjects ANOVA was conducted to assess the interaction effect of social proof and ad type on consumer engagement.

H₄: The interaction effect of ad type and social proof was marginally significant, F= 3.672 p= .059.

Conclusions

Digital Engagement: Organic presentation acts as a contextual filter for social proof, capable of effecting engagement signaled by user metrics.

Digital Atmospherics Mechanism: Data reveals consumers allocate high engagement toward organic formats, rather than sponsored.

Expanding Cognitive Load Theory: High social proof yields low returns when an ad has the “sponsored frame,” and with low social proof posts are ignored.

Managerial Implications

Cognitive Load Theory: Allows us to analyze how the mental effort required to process the social media feed influences whether a participant interacts with the post (like) or move on (scroll).

Atmospherics: Allows us to explain how the digital environment we created (ad type & social cues) dictate participant engagement and behavior.

Limitations and Direction for Future Research

Pool of Participants: Had 76 participants, instead of 120. Future studies should involve more participants for the data to be considered significant.

Focus on Fillers: The current study focused on analyzing ads rather than the filler posts. Subsequent research could look at all posts as a whole.

Music Influence: Although results were not statistically significant, they yielded relative to our hypothesis. Given this was a pilot test further investigation of music tempo on social media engagement should be considered for future research.

References

Sweller, John. “Cognitive Load during Problem Solving: Effects on Learning.” Cognitive Science, vol. 12, no. 2, 1988, pp. 257–285, https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4.

Pieters, Rik, et al. “The Stopping Power of Advertising: Measures and Effects of Visual Complexity.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 74, no. 5, Sept. 2010, pp. 48–60, https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.74.5.048.

For Further Discussion

This serves as an overview of the project and does not include the complete work. 

Course Overview

In MK 328: Behavioral Research Fellowship, each Research Fellow designs and carries out an independent research study in conjunction with a faculty member. The course covers advanced research techniques using state-of-the-art technologies. Students gain valuable hands-on experience by administering a variety of studies in the Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab.

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