Whereas the positive impact of 360-degree video on user experience has been demonstrated, its persuasive potentials have not been fully investigated. A lab experiment compared proenvironmental 360-degree videos and unidirectional videos in their persuasive effectiveness. Environmental self-efficacy, the degree to which individuals believe that they can influence the outcomes associated with global warming, has been proposed as a moderator. In a lab experiment ( N = 76), higher environmental self-efficacy participants perceived the same video content as more fun and credible while using the 360-degree feature. They also displayed higher intentions to protect the environment after interacting with the 360-degree videos.

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The COVID-19 pandemic created a historic opportunity to study the link between identity threat and individuals’ temporary expansion of the boundaries of the self (TEBOTS) through stories. Concurrently, the relationship between eudaimonic entertainment processes and self-expansion, particularly feeling moved and self-awareness, was examined. A quasi-experiment was conducted with an online sample (N = 172) that was randomly assigned to watch either a tragic drama or comedy. Results showed that key TEBOTS predictions were largely confirmed for boundary expansion and the outcomes of narrative engagement and entertainment gratifications. Although identity threat was negatively associated with positive coping with the pandemic, this relationship turned positive when mediated by boundary expansion. Further, exposure to tragedy raised feelings of “being moved,” which, in turn, was linked to self-perceptual depth and expanded boundaries of the self downstream. The present findings suggest that self-expansion through story consumption could benefit viewers’ positive reframing of challenging life experiences.

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