Appreciation as audience response

This article elaborates upon the notion of media enjoyment in the context of film viewing by proposing a complementary type of gratification that we conceptualize as appreciation. Three studies were conducted to tap into the multidimensionality of viewers' entertainment gratifications with a special focus on the domain of more serious, poignant, and pensive media experiences typically associated with genres such as drama, history, documentary, or art films. These studies provide evidence of and measurement for gratifications related to fun and suspense, but also gratifications related to moving and thought-provoking entertainment experiences, with all three gratifications leading to perceptions of entertainment having a more long-lasting or enduring effect. The results are discussed with regard to the theoretical conceptualization of entertainment gratification

Listening to limericks: a pupillometry investigation of perceivers’ expectancy

What features of a poem make it captivating, and which cognitive mechanisms are sensitive to these features? We addressed these questions experimentally by measuring pupillary responses of 40 participants who listened to a series of Limericks. The Limericks ended with either a semantic, syntactic, rhyme or metric violation. Compared to a control condition without violations, only the rhyme violation condition induced a reliable pupillary response. An anomaly-rating study on the same stimuli showed that all violations were reliably detectable relative to the control condition, but the anomaly induced by rhyme violations was perceived as most severe. Together, our data suggest that rhyme violations in Limericks may induce an emotional response beyond mere anomaly detection

Interactivity, the global conversation and World Service research: Digital China

This paper examines the relationship between a broadcaster’s research methods and aspects of the environment in which it operates, specifically its accountability to its funders and the growth of interactivity by its users. It is concerned with (1) how the BBC World Service’s funding by the UK government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) means that it has to account for its activities to some extent in terms of the global conversation which it fosters; and (2) how the recent growth of interactive and social media enhances possibilities for worldwide engagement and conversation, but also increases the complexities of measurement. This is because users are dispersed across the globe (they are no longer confined to a geographical area of radio reception) and they are interactive: instead of merely listening or viewing, they talk back to the BBC, and they talk with one another. New tools and techniques are needed to measure these new flows and forms of interaction (and they also beg new professional and organisational practices). In a case study of the BBC’s Chinese service, the paper explores what the BBC knows of its audience or users; and, in a content analysis of online forums, it explores some of the issues and possibilities that arise in researching online interaction, the sort of research data and analysis that might be seen as necessary in the context of organisational accountability and the emerging interactive media environment

Fun Versus Meaningful Video Game Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis of User Responses

Emerging research on video games has suggested that feelings of both enjoyment and meaningfulness can be elicited from gameplay. Studies have shown enjoyment and meaningfulness evaluations to be associated with discrete elements of video games (ratings of gameplay and narrative, respectively), but have relied on closed-end data analysis. The current study analyzed participants’ open-ended reviews of either their “most fun” or “most meaningful” video game experience (N = 575, randomly assigned to either condition). Results demonstrated that “fun” games were explained in terms of gameplay mechanics, and “meaningful” games were explained in terms of connections with players and in-game characters

Zašto baš binge-watching? Istaknuti motivi i analiza motivirajućih hedonističkih i eudamonijskih elemenata emocionalnog zadovoljenja u iskustvu binge-watchinga

Binge-watching is a popular form of media consumption, and entertainment is one of the main drivers of this activity. This research aims to examine the prominent reasons for binge-watching by re-examining the established television viewing motives, by deepening the analysis of entertainment motives, and by introducing a new possible motive – the need for narrative understanding. Therefore, the researcher combines the factors of the established television viewing motives, the factors of hedonic and eudaimonic emotional gratification in an entertainment experience and introduces the motive of the ease of following storylines. The results of an online survey with 833 participants over the age of eighteen conducted in Croatia suggest that the motives of relaxation, fun (hedonic), habit, easier following of intricate storylines, escape, and thrill (hedonic) are prominent. Eudaimonic motives are less pronounced than hedonic ones, however, these clusters are positively related, which indicates the complexity of enjoyment in binge-watching entertainment.Binge-watching je popularan oblik medijske konzumacije, a zabava je jedan od izraženih pokretača te aktivnosti. Cilj je istraživanja predočenog u članku istražiti razloge binge-watchinga preispitivanjem etabliranih motiva gledanja televizije, produbljivanjem istraživanja motiva zabave te uvođenjem novoga mogućeg motiva: potrebe za narativnim razumijevanjem. Stoga istraživanje kombinira čimbenike već prije utvrđenih motiva gledanja televizije i čimbenike emocionalnog zadovoljenja hedonističkim i eudamonijskim elementima zabave te uvodi motiv lakšeg praćenja zamršenih linija priče. Rezultati internetskog istraživanja provedenog u Hrvatskoj na 833 sudionika starija od 18 godina pokazuju da su istaknuti motivi binge-watchinga: opuštanje, dobar provod (hedonistički), navika, laganije praćenje zapetljanih linija priče, bijeg i uzbuđenje (hedonistički). Eudamonijski motivi su slabije izraženi od hedonističkih, ali te su skupine motiva u pozitivnoj korelaciji, što upućuje na složenost uživanja u zabavi binge-watchinga

Digital Television and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Audiences in Wales

This document summarises the main statistical findings from a survey of digital television viewing patterns and barriers to accessibility for deaf/hard of hearing audiences in Wales. The survey ran during the entire month of August 2013, and was part of a research project based at Swansea University, funded by Action on Hearing Loss Cymru, BBC Wales, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and S4C. The survey aimed to gain a better understanding of some of the benefits that digital television have brought to viewers in Wales and some of the barriers to enjoying television services that affect viewers who have hearing loss.This research firstly provided a general mapping of deaf/hard of hearing digital television audiences in Wales. Respondents to this survey are mainly elderly people, with more than 60% of the respondents aged over 65 and predominantly female. Audience members came from different parts of Wales. However, the predominant ethnicity for the survey respondents is White Welsh or White British. About 15% of the respondents understand spoken Welsh, 7% read Welsh and a further 5.8% could be regarded as fluent Welsh users. The majority of the survey respondents wear digital hearing aids (68%) and about one third lip read (30%). The findings also suggest that 5% of the survey respondents use British Sign Language and 8% use Sign Supported English.In terms of media consumption, 96% of the respondents use broadcast television for information, entertainment and education. Public broadcasters (especially the BBC) are regarded as the major sources of information. The average hard of hearing audience watches 3.39 hours television per day and more than half of respondents (57%) watch 2-5 hours television per day. We also identified a significant percentage of audiences (around one third) viewing television via online services and applications (such as iPlayer and Clic) or accessing recorded programmes stored on a PVR or DVD. Television via other platforms, such as paid on-demand services and social media sites such as YouTube, currently have a small percentage of users. However it indicates a rising alternative platform to the mainstream broadcasting. The traditional television channels remain the central information source for deaf and hard of hearing audiences. News, documentaries and drama are the three most preferred television genres.The provision of Welsh television content is welcomed by deaf and hard of hearing audiences in Wales. Both television programmes spoken in Welsh language and programmes provided with subtitles in the Welsh language serve to enhance the television viewing experience, deepen the audience’s appreciation of local culture and provide resources for the learning of the Welsh language.This study has established that subtitles are the most important facilitating tool for deaf and hard of hearing audiences in their understanding of television programming. Common problems associated with sound quality and subtitles affect both the wider audience as well as deaf or hard of hearing audience. However, for the deaf or hard of hearing audience, where a significant number rely on digital hearing aids (68%) and also lip read (about one third), the demand for better sound quality and better subtitling service is more acute. This survey has identified a number of barriers facing people who are deaf or hard of hearing in Wales in accessing information, education and entertainment via digital television. Barriers were identified mainly in the areas of sound quality and subtitles.Finally, we would like to make the following recommendations: Ofcom guidelines on the quality of subtitles should be further implemented. An awareness campaign is needed to help deaf and hard of hearing audiences to understand the full range of interactive services available on the digital television platform, including altering the size and colour of subtitles, and switching on Welsh language subtitles. Accredited deaf and hard of hearing awareness training should be ensured for public broadcasting staff as well as commercial programme producers. Such training should exemplify European standards such as the R128 Loudness specification and the best practice in dealing with issues such as background noise in news production. More opportunities for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to take part in media co-production. Broadcasters should consider the identified needs from people who are deaf and hard of hearing for more Welsh language subtitles

Predicting emotions and meta-emotions at the movies

Audiences are attracted to dramas and horror movies even though negative and ambivalent emotions are likely to be experienced. Research into the seemingly paradoxical enjoyment of this kind of media entertainment has typically focused on gender- and genre-specific needs and viewing motivations. Extending this line of research, the authors focus the role of the need for affect as a more general, gender- and genre-independent predictor of individual differences in the experience of emotions and meta-emotions (i.e., evaluative thoughts and feelings about one’s emotions). The article discusses a field study of moviegoers who attended the regular screening of a drama or a horror film. Results support the assumption that individuals high in need for affect experience higher levels of negative and ambivalent emotions and evaluate their emotions more positively on the level of meta-emotions. Controlling for the Big Five personality factors does not alter these effects. The results are discussed within an extended meta-emotion framework

The Winner Doesn’t Take It All: Analyzing Audience Responses to an Inspirational Sports Narrative

Applying a dual-process rationale, this study explored the cognitive and affective mechanisms involved in the processing of hedonic versus eudaimonic film clips and their putatively distinct inspirational effects. The two types of narratives were operationalized in terms of complete and incomplete goal satisfaction in the film endings. Participants either watched the final boxing match from Rocky, where the protagonist loses the fight, but achieves self-mastery and finds love (eudaimonic narrative) or from Rocky II, where he wins against his opponent (hedonic narrative). A combination of continuous measures of how pleasant participants felt (slider ratings) and psychophysiological measures (heart rate, galvanic skin response [GSR], pulse volume amplitude [PVA]) indicating cognitive load and arousal was used to track the audience responses while watching a compilation of the same intro and the different fight versions. Results revealed that arousal was more strongly associated with participants’ affective scores during the hedonic (winning) version than during the eudaimonic (losing) one. Furthermore, participants experience more positive affect and arousal after watching the protagonist win the match compared to those that watched him lose. Lastly, participants in the eudaimonic condition were more likely to be inspired to exercise afterward. Implications of our results are discussed

The Psychology of Marathon Television Viewing: Antecedents and Viewer Involvement

This study focuses on the expanding trend of marathon (“binge”) television viewing. It examines the personality antecedents of such media consumption (attachment style, depression, and self-regulation deficiency) as well as the psychological experiences of marathon viewers relative to the narrative (transportation, enjoyment) and its characters (parasocial relationship, identification). In a two-study design, theoretical models of media use and involvement, on one hand, and models of media addiction, on the other hand, are applied to predict the extent of marathon viewing and to compare it with “traditional” viewing. Results advance understanding of enjoyment and involvement theory and support cognitive theories of media addiction. At the same time, the study’s findings reveal that marathon television viewers are active both cognitively and emotionally during and after the media exposure, thus alleviating some concerns about the “problematic” nature of the “binge” viewing phenomenon