Designing Immersive Stories for Health: Choosing Character Perspective Based on the Viewer’s Modality

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how different character perspectives (a main vs. supporting character) impact story-consistent attitudes and beliefs and how that effect varies as a function of modality (mobile phone vs. VR headset) in an immersive story for preventing binge drinking. Results of a controlled experiment (N = 147) showed that participants assuming the perspective of a binge drinker (the main character) reported less negative attitudes toward binge drinking and less perceived severity of binge drinking than those assuming the perspective of a non-binge drinking friend (the supporting character). Moreover, participants who watched the story in VR headsets (vs. phones) reported greater perceived susceptibility of binge drinking. A moderated mediation effect was found, suggesting that psychological reactance significantly mediated the effect of perspective on attitudes when the immersive story was viewed in phones. This study highlights the importance of character perspective and viewer’s modality when designing immersive stories for health.

Notes

1. Binge drinking refers to a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL, which usually occurs when women consume four or more drinks and men consume five or more drinks on the same occasion (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2014).

2. Note that while Greg and Stephanie’s race or ethnicity is not explicitly labeled in the immersive story, the research team concluded that Greg and Stephanie represent minority populations. Greg appears African-American or mixed race, and Stephanie appears Asian or mixed race.

3. A VR tourism video of New York City was used to help participants familiarize the viewing experience.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zexin Ma

Zexin Ma is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations at Oakland University. Dr. Ma conducts research at the intersection of narrative persuasion, emerging media, and health communication. Her current research projects examine how and why immersive stories promote health and prosocial attitude change.

Douglas Zytko

Douglas Zytko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Oakland University. His research applies user-centered design processes to study and create technologies for enriching social life. Specifically, he is interested in novel technologies to mitigate risk of harm in face-to-face social settings.