The effect of presence in virtual reality video on handwashing intention

ABSTRACT

Virtual reality technology has been positioned as a useful tool for the promotion of public health. This study explored how exposure to a virtual reality handwashing promotion video influences users’ handwashing intention. Structural equation modeling analysis with data collected from college students in South Korea revealed that presence in the virtual reality environment was positively correlated with flow. We also found that flow played an important role in increasing levels of message acceptance and fear responses related to the content of the handwashing promotion video. Moreover, the greater the level of message acceptance of the handwashing promotion content, the more favorable users’ attitude toward handwashing. This, in turn, helped facilitate handwashing intention. The findings of the current study further our understanding of the psychological mechanism driving the impact of virtual reality as a health promotion tool for fostering people’s intention to engage in preventive health behavior.

KEYWORDS:

• Virtual reality
• handwashing
• presence
• flow

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Doo-Hun Choi (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea. His research explores the role of new media in our society.

Ghee-Young Noh (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is a Professor in Media School at Hallym University, Chuncheon, South Korea. His work focuses on interactive media, interaction design, and new media.

Notes

1 We did not use handwashing behavior as a dependent variable in this study. Rather, we included handwashing behavior (the frequency of daily handwashing) as a control variable. Instead, we measured handwashing intention after participants watched the virtual reality video content as a dependent variable; handwashing behavior (i.e., how many times participants wash their hands per day) was measured before participants were exposed to the virtual reality video content. Thus, in this study, due to a time-order relationship between virtual reality video content exposure and handwashing behavior, we looked at handwashing intention, not handwashing behavior, as a dependent variable.

Additional information

Funding

This material is based on work supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2018S1A3A2074932).