Exploring the Tmpact of Color on User Ratings: A Personality and Culture-Based Approach

摘要

Prior research have shown that, different features (such as, color, neutral point, granularity etc.) of rating scales have significant roles to play in shaping consumers， rating behavior. While investigating the impact of color, researchers have revealed significant conflicting patterns of bias in users1 rating behavior, which indicate the inefficiency of the one-size-fits-all approach taken by them to investigate bias. In this paper, we address this gap by taking a personality and culture-based approach to explore the diversity in users' responses in relation to the influence of the color of rating scales. We designed an online survey by adopting five different rating scales and collected 176 participants' responses on a demographic and a personality assessment questionnaire and their ratings on different products. Our study shows that the use of colors in rating scales influences the responses of participants who are extrovert and from collectivist culture and provides the direction of score adjustment due to the bias. Taking the key findings into consideration, we also offer possible design guidelines to avoid potential rating bias.