Present, empathetic, and persuaded: a meta-analytic comparison of storytelling in high versus low immersive mediated environments

Abstract

Immersive narratives—narratives viewed in immersive mediated environments—are a promising tool for increasing empathy and persuasion due to their presumed capacity to place viewers inside a story world. Empirical studies, however, have produced mixed findings. This meta-analysis synthesized findings on the effects of narratives viewed in high (vs. low) immersive environments on empathy and persuasion (k = 25). It also examined the impact of narratives viewed in high (vs. low) immersive environments on presence and narrative transportation, psychological constructs associated with two key mechanisms identified in immersive narrative research. Results showed that narratives viewed in high (vs. low) immersive environments had small positive effects on empathy and persuasion. The effect of immersion level on presence was significant, positive, and strong, but the effect on transportation was not significant, perhaps due to the limited sample size (k = 4). This study contributes to further understanding the potential of immersive narratives.

How to Tell a Story about Gender Inequality in 360°-Volumetric-Video to Virtual Reality Users?

“…Stories told via 360°-video or volumetric-video experiences in VR might increase some of these mechanisms, due to VR's immersive technological features and related effects on user states like presence (Cummings & Bailenson, 2016;Ma et al, 2024;Sundar et al, 2017). Indeed, the modality (e.g., text vs. 360°-or volumetric video) plausibly quali es how stories are told, how they are experienced by users, and how they affect users (Sundar et al, 2017;van Laer et al, 2014).Written stories are based on language and text, and thus inevitably leave much to the imagination of the user.…”

“…In addition, and probably more so than written stories, immersive environments that are featured in 360°-video formats trigger the sensation of spatial (i.e., feeling like being there), social (i.e., feeling like being co-present with social others), and self-presence (i.e., feeling like the virtual body was one's actual body) in users (Lee, 2004;Makransky et al, 2017). Presence can instigate persuasive effects, too (Breves, 2023;Ma et al, 2024;Sundar et al, 2017). One might thus argue that 360°-video stories combine the persuasive effects of both transportation (into a story) and presence (in a virtual environment).…”

“…Relatedly, how certain design principles, beyond shaping the user experience, affect users' attitudes and behavior towards topics advocated in 360°-video stories, remains an important research question. For example, both VR and stories have been addressed as offering immersive and engaging experiences: users commonly feel spatially present in 360°-environments and transported into the world of stories (e.g., Ma et al, 2024). This raises the question about the role presence and transportation play in effective and persuasive 360°-video storytelling (e.g., Breves, 2023), and how to design related experiences (Gödde et al, 2018).…”