Methodology

@tripadvisor, @crateandbarrel, @statefarm on Instagram

The research questions in this study aimed to explore American consumers likelihood to indicate purchase intentions for items displayed on an Instagram grid they perceive as aesthetically pleasing and for similar items displayed on Instagram in presentations they don't perceive as aesthetically pleasing. In addition, this study explored components of aesthetics implemented in a brands Instagram grid to analyze which components the American consumer responded positively to. The hypothesis states that American consumers are more likely to indicate purchase intentions for items displayed on an Instagram grid they perceive as aesthetically pleasing than for similar items displayed on Instagram in presentations they don't perceive as aesthetically pleasing. The survey methodology in this study aided in answering the two research questions and testing the hypothesis in this study because of its ability to express participants' feelings towards the aesthetics of Instagram in a cohesive manner with similar responses.

Since survey design allows researchers to administer identical questions to all participants, a survey such as this one asking repeat questions for different industries can be argued as a reliable measurement technique (Davis, 2017). This study does so with similar intentions than those ideals outlined by Davis (2017) of theory building or aiming to generalize conclusions about the population they are representative of. Additionally, survey methodology outlined by Davis (2017) involves a relatively straightforward approach, therefore leaving less room for confusion of aesthetically pleasing content that is being reviewed in this study. This method of data collection gave the study a baseline comprehension of where the typical American consumer stood at this point in time and made room for testing predictions about the relationship between components of aesthetics, positive emotional responses, purchase intentions, and perception of aesthetically pleasing Instagram grids.

Procedure and Participants

Responses in this study were collected from September 23rd, 2022 to October 23rd, 2022 through the self-administered questionnaire. The sample size of this study is 160. Of those who responded, 86.3% (n=138) of them were women, 13.1% (n= 21) were men, and 0.6% (n= 1) non-binary. Of those participants, 22.5% (n=36) indicated being 18- 25 years old, 23.8% (n= 38) 26-39 years old, 26.875% (n=43) 40-49 years old, 18.8% (n=30) 50-61 years old, and 8.1% (n= 13) were 62 or older. The sample is populated by 95.6% (n=153) of participants who had indicated their ethnicity as white or caucasian, 0.6% (n=1) Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% (n= 1) Black or African American, and 3.1% (n= 5) Multiracial or Biracial.

The target demographic for this study were individuals, over the age of 18 that primarily make purchases online and are users of social media, specifically Instagram. All genders were targeted in this study because of efforts towards equal representation that had also been made in past studies (Babin & Burns, 1997; Bashir et al., 2018; Bilgin, 2018; Huang & Ha, 2021; Karimova, 2020; Milakovic et al., 2020; Thömmes & Hübner, 2020, Valentini et al., 2018). This study did not exclude any individual because of income, education level, gender, race, or ethnicity. Participants who had started the survey were turned away if they indicated they were a student at Endicott College, indicated that they did not frequently make purchases online, under the age of 18 or did not sign consent for the use of their data. These limitations were put into place in order to advance the discussion held by scholars regarding the millennial consumer, ages 26-41, claimed by past studies to be predominant online consumers and their relationships that are enhanced digitally (Bashir et al., 2018; Ekhlassi, 2017; Huang & Ha, 2021; Karimova, 2020; Lynch et al., 2020; Milakovic et al., 2020; Valentini et al., 2018).

@tripadvisor, @crateandbarrel, @statefarm on Instagram

Non-random sampling and convenience sampling best describe this study's method of data sampling. The researcher administered the survey through a sharable link on social media and collected data from residents along the North and South Shore regions of Massachusetts relative to the region best known by the researcher In order to identify, approach, and encourage participation in this study, participants were recruited through digital social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram. A brief introduction to the researcher and the study, along with the linked survey were posted to a personal profile and on community forums or group pages to recruit participation. The study posed no physical, psychological, or social risk towards participants in order to have fully participated. To ensure confidentiality all identifiable information details were stripped from any answers provided and disregarded. This research did not require participants to be deceived in any way as the study aimed to review a baseline understanding; however participants may have felt confused or misled when exploring their level of knowledge on the aesthetics of an Instagram grid.