Visual matters: Connecting aesthetic appeal and production quality of photos, infographics and data visualization to credibility of social media posts

Salman Khawar, Yingdan Lu, Yilang Peng, Jiyoung Yeon (Ph.D. student) & Cuihua Shen. (2026). “Visual matters: Connecting aesthetic appeal and production quality of photos, infographics and data visualzation to credibility of social media posts,” paper to be presented at the ICA Annual Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. Abstract: Online visual media have grown exponentially in recent years, but there is a dearth of research on what factors are instrumental in influencing users’ credibility perceptions of visual content. This research experimentally tests the effects of two visual features - aesthetic appeal and production quality of photos, infographics and data visualizations on users’ perceived credibility of social media posts. Data were collected from a preregistered online experiment (N = 1200). The results suggest that visual social media posts, in particular photos and infographics, are perceived as more credible than text-only posts. Aesthetically appealing visual posts, especially those containing infographics and data visualizations, are rated as more credible than low aesthetic appeal posts. This finding is partially explained by processing fluency, as aesthetically appealing visuals are generally easier to process, thus perceived as more credible. The research has important implications for academia and industry, such as highlighting the importance of using visuals in posts, and also the positive role aesthetics play in enhancing posts’ credibility.