Would You Eat This?
The Hidden Power of One Word
Response Bias
RESPOND TO THESE QUESTIONS IN YOUR SLIDESHOW
Definition of response bias
Why understanding response bias is important in surveys
Are people less likely to eat vegan pizza?
Unbiased
Surveys
Surveys
Biased
Hypothesis
Unbiased
Biased
Methodology & Participants
Volunteers surveyed in lobby
Coin flip →
Used my phone to enter their response.
Anonymous and I didn’t watch
Principles of the Experiment
Replication → 50 volunteers used for the survey
Random Assignment → Flipped a coin to see which survey
Control → Unbiased survey
Measurement → Recorded their responses on Google Form
Comparison → Compare % for each category
Results
Google Sheets
n = 50
(25 biased, 25 unbiased)
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Vegan
Pizza
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Results
Nearly twice would eat regular pizza (80%) compared to 48% who would eat “vegan pizza.
Vegan
Pizza
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Results
Nearly twice would eat regular pizza (80%) compared to 48% who would eat “vegan pizza.
52% wouldn’t eat vegan pizza, nearly double the 20% for regular pizza.
Vegan
Pizza
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Results
Nearly twice would eat regular pizza (80%) compared to 48% who would eat “vegan pizza.
52% wouldn’t eat vegan pizza, nearly double the 20% for regular pizza.
More people rejected vegan pizza.
Vegan
Pizza
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Results
Nearly twice would eat regular pizza (80%) compared to 48% who would eat “vegan pizza.
52% wouldn’t eat vegan pizza, nearly double the 20% for regular pizza.
More people rejected vegan pizza.
More people said yes to the
regular pizza.
Vegan
Pizza
Simulation
% yes to pizza = % yes to vegan pizza
if “vegan” doesn’t matter
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Simulation
% yes to pizza = % yes to vegan pizza
if “vegan” doesn’t matter
Could our difference of 32% (80%-48%) easily happen by chance?
YES!
YES!
No.
No.
Vegan
Pizza
32%
Conclusion
Wording matters!
A single word can change how people perceive a question.
Labels, like "vegan," carry different associations that can influence decisions.
Response bias can shape survey outcomes.
(important in marketing, politics, and social research)
Has vegan negativity changed over time?
Will it change in the future?