Predictors of Willingness to Participate in Survey Interviews Conducted by Live Video August 2021 [United States]

As people increasingly communicate via live video--even more since the COVID-19 pandemic--how willing will they be to participate via video in large-scale standardized surveys that inform public policy, many of which have historically been carried out in person? This registered report tests three potential predictors of willingness to participate in a live video interview: how (1) easy, (2) useful, and (3) enjoyable respondents find live video to use in other contexts. A potential survey-specific moderator of these effects is also tested: the extent to which respondents report that they would be uncomfortable answering a particular question on a sensitive topic via live video relative to other survey modes. In the study, 598 online US respondents rated their willingness to take part in a hypothetical live video survey that might ask about personal information, in the context of also rating their willingness to take part in four other survey modes, two interviewer-administered (in-person and telephone) and two self-administered (a text-only web survey and a “prerecorded-video” web survey in which respondents play videos of interviewers reading questions and then enter answers). Findings demonstrate that willingness to participate in a live video interview is significantly predicted by the extent to which respondents perceive live video as useful and enjoyable in other contexts and by their relative discomfort disclosing in live video vs. other modes.