Effects of immersive stories on prosocial attitudes and willingness to help: testing psychological mechanisms

From immersion to intention? Exploring advances in prosocial storytelling

“…Indeed, in research with a similar focus to the current study (the use of HMDs to show 360° videos designed to encourage action to prevent malaria), Ma (2019) found a significant main effect of the HMD technology on both spatial and social presence, but neither measure of presence had a direct impact on focal variables associated with “attitudes towards helping people” or “willingness to help people” (in their study, measured in parallel). Ma (2019) likewise found no direct impact of immersive technology condition on narrative engagement (theirs focused on transportation), but did find that increased transportation led to an increased willingness to help others.…”

“…That a person responds to events and scenarios in virtual spaces as if they are real (Sanchez‐Vives & Slater, 2005) is a critical factor, given that real‐life experiences are important to the formation of one's attitudes and beliefs (Fazio & Zanna, 1981). In a sense, inducing presence via the use of immersive technologies might serve as an experiential proxy for actual experiences with those same prosocial causes in one's “real world.” In fact, recent research has found that an increased sense of presence because of immersive technologies leads to shifts in prosocial attitudes (Aitamurto et al, 2018; Ma, 2019). Similarly, a study on tourism advertising found that experiences of presence stemming from virtually experiencing a destination city using HMD technology had a direct positive impact on attitudes toward and desire to visit the destination (Tussyadiah, Wang, Jung, & Dieck, 2018).…”

“…Thus, it is important to understand when and why to use these approaches. For instance, while emerging research in this area indicates that audiences often feel more involved and connected to the media (Ahn et al, 2016) and that technologies might impact attitudes and willingness to help (e.g., Ma, 2019), results are inconclusive (e.g., Breves, 2020; McMahan, Lai, & Pal, 2016). While some research suggests that cognitive processes such as presence are key to understanding how these technologies might work (e.g., Yoo & Drumwright, 2018), more research is needed to help organizations understand when the financial investment in this costly storytelling approach is needed.…”

“…Extant literature indicates that narratives can change attitudes through both increased presence in the environment portrayed on‐screen (Li, Daugherty, & Biocca, 2002; Lombard & Ditton, 1997; Steuer, 1992) and through increased narrative engagement with the story unfolding on‐screen (commonly referred to as the story world; Busselle & Bilandzic, 2008; Green, Brock,& Kaufman, 2004). Likewise, Ma (2019) argues that spatial presence is more a response to the media system itself, whereas narrative engagement is an emotional and cognitive reaction to the narrative content itself. The authors then employ the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical lens for understanding the persuasive power of presence and narrative engagement on attitudes and behavioral outcomes.…”

Transitioning from Transmedia to Transreality Storyboarding to Improve the Co-Creation of the Experience Space

“…They also found that the type of immersive technology only helped users to feel closer to the physical location of the narrative, but did not help them align with the behavioral intensions of the narrative [10]. Their study and other research support [12] that immersive technologies may help users to feel "in a mediated place" (presence) but not necessarily "in a mediated story" (narrative engagement) [10, p. 9]. We suggest that in many trans-mediated solutions will have historically applied a Transmedia Storytelling design approach.…”