Persuasive Effects of Narratives in Immersive Mediated Environments

Abstract

This dissertation proposed a theoretical framework to model the persuasive effects of narratives in immersive mediated environments (IMEs) and the underlying psychological mechanisms. Drawing upon previous research on narrative persuasion and immersive media, this dissertation hypothesized that narratives presented in immersive (vs. non-immersive) mediated environments would lead to higher levels of spatial presence, social presence, transportation, and identification. Spatial and social presence were hypothesized to mediate the effects of media format (i.e., IMEs vs. non-IMEs) on transportation and identification, respectively. Furthermore, media format was predicted to have an indirect effect on counterarguing through spatial presence, social presence, transportation, and/or identification. These psychological mechanisms were also predicted to mediate the effects of media format on story-consistent attitudes and behavioral intentions/willingness. In addition, trait empathy was proposed as a moderator to influence the relationship between media format and viewers’ spatial presence, social presence, transportation, and identification.

A controlled experiment was conducted to test the above hypotheses in two video contexts. Results provided relatively consistent evidence across the two contexts. In the driving under the influence (DUI) context, narratives presented in immersive (vs. non-immersive) mediated environments led to a higher level of spatial presence, which in turn promoted greater transportation. Media format had an approaching significant indirect effect on counterarguing through spatial presence and transportation. The model as a whole explained a large amount of variance in participants’ attitudes toward DUI and behavioral intentions to engage in DUI. Similarly, in the malaria context, narratives presented in immersive (vs. non-immersive) mediated environments led to higher levels of spatial presence and social presence. Spatial and social presence were found to mediate the effect of media format on transportation and identification, respectively. The indirect effect of media format on counterarguing through spatial presence and transportation was significant. The proposed model accounted for a relatively large amount of variance in attitudes and behavioral willingness to help people who need protection from malaria, as well. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, ethical issues, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.