Formal features as a design factor of video segments in interactive video programmes

Video segments may be characterized by formal design features with respect to factors such as complexity of narration, mutual influence of picture and sound, use of superimposed texts, information load due to technical terms, and animation. The paper suggests ways to operationalize these factors and reports about an experiment in which the influence of these formal features was studied with respect to perceived information load of video segments by learners. The length of a segment was thereby counted as the number of information elements it contains. An information element is defined as one uninterrupted statement of the narrator about which one factual question can be presented. The experiment was carried out by using an experimental videodisc programme about cheesemaking that contains 252 information elements which form a connected discourse of 36 min if the programme is played linearly without stopping. Subjects had the task to divide this programme into segments by deciding for themselves how often they would stop before completing the programme. At every stopping place, the subjects were questioned about the content of the just completed segment.\ud \ud The results of the experiment suggest that: (a) subjects tend to perceive narrated sentences as one whole, regardless of the number of facts implied, (b) content-related technical terms seem not to determine difficulty level, (c) superimposed texts show a trend to help subjects who prefer short segments to choose longer segments and subjects who prefer long segments to choose shorter segments, (d) animation is positively (but moderately) correlated with mean self-chosen segment length

Video outside versus video inside the web: do media setting and image size have an impact on the emotion-evoking potential of video?

To explore the educational potential of video-evoked affective responses in a Web-based environment, the question was raised whether video in a Web-based environment is experienced differently from video in a traditional context. An experiment was conducted that studied the affect-evoking power of video segments in a window on a computer screen compared to presenting the same video materials on a television monitor. The study first demonstrates that affect-evoking power of video exists. Although not always significant, the results who that selected positive and negative video clips induce positive or negative affective responses and mood changes in participants, in a Web-based environment as well as in a television environment. Smaller window sizes, however, may do less well

Present it like it is here: Creating local presence to improve online product experiences

Advanced online product presentation technologies such as virtual mirrors enable consumers to experience products like they are actually present with them in the real world. This study is one of the first to address the mechanism underlying this phenomenon. Inspired by literature on media technology the concept of local presence is put forward and applied to the online consumer behavior domain. A key objective of this paper is to examine whether local presence adds to our understanding of how emerging product presentation formats influence online product experiences. To this end, a laboratory experiment (N = 366) was conducted with product presentation format as a three level (pictures, 360-spin rotation, and virtual mirror) independent variable, allowing for a comparison of the effectiveness of different presentation formats in creating perceptions of local presence. As a second objective, the influence of local presence on perceptions of product tangibility and product likability, two key facets of the online product experience, were assessed. The results, obtained with the use of analysis of variance and partial least squares modeling, show the superiority of the virtual mirror in creating local presence, and demonstrate that local presence is highly predictive of product tangibility and product likability. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed