Seminar (Dept. of Marketing)

Theme：Picture or Text Superiority? The Impact of Text Size on User Engagement

Speaker：Yang Shi（Assistant Professor at Shenzhen University WeBank Institute of Fintech (SWIFT)/Shenzhen Audencia Business School SABS）

Time：2022-04-06 10:00

Address：Online meeiting, Room 1008, Mingde Business Building

Language：Chinese/English

Abstract：

Although image text is often inevitable, conventional wisdom largely recommends minimizing text without considering context-specific demands. Deepening the understanding of the interplay between text and pictorial content within images, this research stipulates the differential text-size effects based on a fit paradigm. Leveraging deep learning-based computer vision techniques, the authors analyze two large-scale datasets of more than 30,000 Instagram organic posts and Facebook cover photos. Empirical analyses show that enlarging image text (relative to its pictorial counterpart) produces more ‘likes’ and/or ‘comments’ for utilitarian products, economy brands, informational messages, and individuals with a disposition for verbal processing. Conversely, a negative effect on engagement is observed among hedonic products, premium brands, narrative messages, and those disposed to visual processing. Further mediation analyses and an experiment supplement the findings from the field, providing coherent support for the fit paradigm that the differential effects are contingent on the cognitive processes varying with text size and induced as a function of the extent to which the processes are suited for the demands of tasks at hand. In doing so, this investigation elucidates the boundaries of picture superiority and has strategic implications for visual optimization and content strategies. 

Keywords: text size, social media engagement, picture superiority, visual marketing, advertising