Visual presentation raises trust in election polls

Election polls are arguably the most visible signals of public opinion in modern democracies, yet how the design of poll reports shapes their appeal, perceived credibility, and informational value has not been systematically studied. In a preregistered visual conjoint experiment conducted during the 2025 German federal election campaign, 22,658 voters evaluated poll reports varying across format, reference values, and technical information, in 160 possible designs. All visual formats were rated as more attractive and trustworthy than text-only reports. Trust gains were greatest among respondents with lower data and polling literacy and less accurate beliefs about current polling, whereas the appeal of visualization was greatest among the most literate. Disclosing the margin of error made reports less attractive without affecting trust, and no format made expectations about the election outcome more accurate. Text, the dominant format in poll coverage, is thus the least effective at fostering trust and accessibility.