Screen size effects in online data collections

Purpose: This paper aims to examine if the response device (smartphone vs computer) used by participants in online data collections affects their responses. The screens of smartphones and computers differ in size, and the main hypothesis here is that screen size is likely to be influential when stimuli with aesthetic qualities are shown on the screen. Design/methodology/approach: Two experiments, in which pictures of food items were used as stimuli, were conducted. In each experiment, the screen size of the participants’ devices used for the responses was a measured factor. Findings: Participants with large screen devices responded with a higher level of (a) positive emotions and (b) attractiveness perceptions than participants with small screen devices. Practical implications: The results highlight that the participant’s device can be a confounding factor in research projects comprising online data collections. Screen size thereby represents an additional factor calling for caution in the “exodus to cyberspace” that characterizes many contemporary researchers’ data collection activities. Originality/value: When data are collected online, participants’ can use devices that differ in terms of screen size (e.g. smartphones, tablets and computers), but the impact of this factor on consumer behavior-related response variables has hitherto not been examined in existing research.