Mila Bujić, Mikko Salminen, Joseph Macey and Juho Hamari
This study aims to investigate how media content consumed through immersive technology may evoke changes in human rights attitudes. It has been proposed that our inability to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how media content consumed through immersive technology may evoke changes in human rights attitudes. It has been proposed that our inability to empathize with others could be overcome by stepping into another's shoes. “Immersive journalism” has been postulated as being able to place us into the shoes of those whose feelings and experiences are distant to us. While virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree news videos have become widely available, it remains unclear how the consumption of content through immersive journalism affects users' attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a between-subject laboratory-controlled experiment (N = 87) this study examined participant scores on the Human Rights Questionnaire before and after consuming 360-degree video immersive journalism content via VR (n = 31), 2D (n = 29), and Article (n = 27) formats. Collected data were analysed using statistical inference.
Findings
Results indicate that immersive journalism can elicit a positive attitudinal change in users, unlike an Article, with mobile VR having a more prominent effect than a 2D screen. Furthermore, this change is more strongly affected by users' higher Involvement in the content.
Originality/value
These findings are relevant for grasping the distinct effects novel and recently popularized technologies and media have on attitudinal change, as well as inform the current debate on the value of VR as “empathy machines”.
Details
Keywords
Our interactions with multiple selves are becoming increasingly complex through immersive technologies. We are not merely controlling our virtual representations through on-screen…
Abstract
Our interactions with multiple selves are becoming increasingly complex through immersive technologies. We are not merely controlling our virtual representations through on-screen avatars but can now look through their eyes and walk in their shoes due to the embodiment illusion in virtual reality. This chapter examines who is looking back when we look into virtual mirrors and the consequent implications of such experiences. Current research in this domain lacks coherence and frameworks, often relying on reductionist grounds, focussing on personality traits, user types or demographic characteristics like age or gender. These approaches become insufficient given the significant impact of interacting with virtual avatars on shaping cognition and behaviour. The chapter argues for examining embodying avatars as a highly interactive and dynamic social dyad rather than a sum of the user and the avatar. This approach will involve rearticulating game studies' player–avatar relationship (PAR) and social psychology expansion theory, particularly the inclusion of others in the self. Parallel exploratory studies of rich VR communities' experiences and discussions would open new perspectives and phenomena, expanding our horizons and future research. Ultimately, the chapter aims to enable the development of meaningful and grounded literature on VR avatars, addressing the complexity of the phenomenon and the lack of interdisciplinary conversations, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of our interactions with embodied virtual representations.