ABSTRACT

Recent experiments showed that the valence of user comments (i.e., social information) presented alongside online videos can alter viewers’ enjoyment of videos. However, it is unclear how much attention video viewers pay to social information and whether the effects found in previous studies occur if participants are not forced to view the social information. Therefore, this study investigated how the valence of social information presented alongside online videos affects viewers’ enjoyment when viewers are free to determine whether and how much attention they pay to social information. Using an eye tracker, we found that most video viewers pay attention to social information which then elicits a valence effect on their enjoyment. Results also showed that a negativity bias occurred: Participants paid most attention to negative social information. Accordingly, the effect of social information on enjoyment was stronger for negative social information. This study is the first to show that social information of online videos affects the experiences of video viewers in settings where viewers are in charge of how much attention they pay to social information.

摘要

最近的实验表明，用户评论的价值（即社交信息）与在线视频一起显示可改变观看者对视频的欣赏度。但是，尚不清楚视频观看者对社交信息的关注程度以及如果不强迫参与者查看社交信息是否会发生先前研究中发现的影响。因此，本研究调查了当在线观看者可以自由决定是否以及对社交信息给予多大关注时，与在线视频一起呈现的社交信息的价位如何影响观看者的娱乐。通过使用眼动仪，我们发现大多数视频观众都关注社交信息，然后社交信息对他们的娱乐产生效价效应。结果还表明存在消极偏见：参与者最关注负面的社会信息。因此，对于消极的社会信息，社会信息对娱乐的影响更强。这项研究是第一个表明在线视频的社交信息会影响视频观看者的体验的环境，在这种环境中，观看者负责他们对社交信息的关注程度。