An Experimental Examination of Binge Watching and Narrative Engagement

Abstract

Increasingly, audiences are engaging with media narratives through the practice of binge watching. The effects of binge watching are largely unknown, although early research suggests binge watching may be motivated by a need for escape and could be associated with some qualities of addiction. In this study, we ask whether the practice of binge watching impacts audience engagement with a media narrative. Using an experimental approach, we manipulate the format of exposure to media narratives (binge or nonbinge) and test the effect of this manipulation on audience engagement, specifically parasocial relationships with favorite characters and narrative transportation. Results suggest that binge watching increases the strength of parasocial relationships and the intensity of narrative transportation. Media engagement has been shown to increase media effects, suggesting that binge watching could change not only how audiences engage with narrative media but also the effect it has on them.

Transportation or Narrative Completion? Attentiveness during Binge-Watching Moderates Regret

“…This may be the product of specific content. Shows that require greater attentiveness to enjoy (HVAS) are often shows with greater narrative and textual complexity, which drives emotional and parasocial buy-in (Erickson et al 2019). Viewers motivated by SOC and EVE are more likely to find them in shows that they have to closely attend.…”

“…Despite its negative stigma (Downey 2018;Gregoire 2015;Hsu 2014), binge-watching clearly has benefits. Whether because of emotional modification , pleasure from enhanced viewing (Steiner and Xu 2018), being swept away into another world (Erickson et al 2019), aesthetic appreciation (Pittman and Sheehan 2015), or simply because it is entertaining (Sung et al 2018), viewers binge-watch all kinds of content for many reasons. The present study adds an important qualifier to this growing body of research: Whatever viewers binge-watch, they will probably regret it less if they actually pay attention.…”

“…Streaming technology and on-demand cultural expectations have made SOC a more attainable goal through CC (Tefertiller 2018). Similarly, EVE is a motive that exists in contrast to linear viewing; the viewing experience is enhanced by consuming more than one episode per sitting because of feelings of narrative transportation (Erickson et al 2019). Choi (2012) uses ephemeral language to describe binge-watching that transports the reader into what Pierce-Grove (2017) calls "a different state of consciousness" (p. 2).…”

Anxiety-Depressive Syndrome and Binge-Watching Among Young Adults

“…The characters of the series replace social connections so that individuals do not feel so lonely (Starosta et al, 2019;Bernhold and Metzger, 2020;Ort et al, 2021). The results gathered by Erickson et al (2019) highlight that people who binge-watch more are characterized by creating stronger parasocial bonds with the characters of the series. Moreover, research by Rosaen and Dibble (2015) points out that the desire to belong and attachment anxiety are predictors of parasocial relation formation.…”

Why Binge-Watching? The Prominent Motives and Analysis of the Motivating Hedonic and Eudaimonic Elements of Emotional Gratification in a Binge-Watching Experience

“…and Eyal (2018) establish that binge-watching was related to higher levels of identification with characters. Erickson et al (2019) show that binge-watching builds a stronger and lasting parasocial relationships with the characters than episodic viewing. Flayelle et al (2017: 466) find attachment to the characters to be an important part of the enjoyment of binge-watching, "reflecting the emotional investment that viewers placed in these stories".…”