Photo aesthetics as a factor in trust and interest assessments

Abstract

This research investigates the effect of photographic style on trust and interest in social media accounts. In a survey of 3,255 subjects, we asked them to assess their trust in a social media account’s post regarding dog food based only on a set of photos of dogs displayed in that account. Subjects reported significantly higher trust in and more interest in following accounts that posted well-composed, well-lit, more professional photos as compared with account with more casual photos. This suggests interesting future work on how aesthetic photo quality affects follower count and perceived trustworthiness and credibility on social media.