A study on sensibility evaluation of thumbnails on online video sharing services for tourism targeting Japanese elderly people

This study aimed to experimentally assess the sensibility of thumbnails on online video-sharing services for tourism targeting elderly people. A total of 100 males and females aged 60 and above participated in the experiment. There were 29 male participants: 1 in his 60s, 18 in their 70s, and 10 in their 80s. Of the 71 female participants, 19 were in their 60s, 43 in their 70s, and 9 in their 80s. This experiment was conducted at a welfare exchange center located in Saitama Prefecture. Four thumbnails with varying font types, font color, font sizes, and image edging were created and used in various conditions. The assessment included 11 items measuring the participants’ sensibility evaluation and 2 items measuring their comprehensive evaluation of thumbnails. Four types of experimental thumbnail conditions were prepared and randomly presented to the participants. In each condition, participants viewed thumbnails (10 seconds), answered measurement items (1 minute 30 seconds), and took a break (20 minutes). The main factors influencing sensibility evaluation were derived by conducting a factor analysis using principal axis factoring and varimax rotation on the results obtained from the experiment. Factor 1 included positive keywords such as “Enjoyable” and “Exciting.” Therefore, factor 1 was named “Curiosity.” Factor 2 included negative keywords such as “Unpleasant” and “Boring.” Therefore, factor 2 was named “Disgust.” Furthermore, in analyses using factor scores, participants’ sensitivity evaluation of thumbnails was influenced by gender. Therefore, it is important to consider gender differences when designing thumbnails based on sensitivity evaluations.