Hoover Institution

How the placement of an ebook image on a landing page impacts email acquisition

Experiment ID: #197165

Hoover Institution

Experiment Summary

Timeframe: 05/12/2025 - 06/30/2025

This experiment was conducted for the Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank based at Stanford University. Hoover is committed to advancing ideas that promote economic prosperity, individual liberty, and a constitutional government.

For this test, we focused on the content offer “Three Keys to Unlock the American Economy”, with a specific emphasis on mobile user behavior.

The core question we wanted to answer was: Does the visual placement of the ebook image impact performance for mobile users?

In the control, the ebook image was positioned further down the page, requiring users to scroll to view it. In the treatment, the ebook image was placed directly beneath the headline, making it immediately visible upon landing. Our aim was to determine if making the offer more visually concrete up front would increase conversions—particularly email acquisitions and donations.

Research Question

We believe that placing the ebook image directly under the headline on the landing page for Hoover’s mobile audience will achieve an increase email acquisition and donation rates because eading with a visual representation of the offer will capture attention more quickly, establish trust, and reinforce the value of the content before the user scrolls—ultimately making the landing page more persuasive. because eading with a visual representation of the offer will capture attention more quickly, establish trust, and reinforce the value of the content before the user scrolls—ultimately making the landing page more persuasive.

Design

C: Control

T1: Variation 1

Results

	Treatment Name	Conv. Rate	Relative Difference	Confidence	Average Gift
C:	Control	44.8%			$50.00
T1:	Variation 1	39.1%	-12.6%	57.7%	$0.00

This experiment has a required sample size of 591 in order to be valid. Unfortunately, the required sample size was not met and a level of confidence above 95% was not met so the experiment results are not valid.

Key Learnings

Key Learnings & Takeaways:

Visual Priority May Not Always Drive Action - While it’s often effective to lead with a visual cue—especially for mobile users—the results suggest that immediate exposure to the ebook image did not enhance performance. In fact, conversions were slightly lower in the treatment. It’s possible that the early image displaced other persuasive copy or created a “banner blindness” effect.
Perceived Value Comes From Message, Not Just Visual - This experiment suggests that copy structure and headline framing may carry more weight than visuals in persuading users to submit their email. Users might be more compelled by clarity around what they’ll gain from the ebook than the ebook’s image itself.
Small Sample Sizes = Direction, Not Decision - With limited traffic and low donation volume, this test doesn’t give us statistically significant answers, but it provides a useful signal that visual-first design changes on mobile should be introduced cautiously and tested against message clarity.

Next Steps & Future Testing:

• Test Hybrid Layouts: Consider a version where the ebook image is still visible early—but paired more tightly with benefit-driven subhead copy to retain persuasive momentum.

• Run Similar Tests on Higher-Traffic Offers: This pattern is worth validating at a larger scale, especially on mobile-focused offers with greater reach.

Experiment Documented by NextAfter

Question about experiment #197165

If you have any questions about this experiment or would like additional details not discussed above, please feel free to contact them directly.