EXPRESS: Down a Rabbit Hole: How Prior Media Consumption Shapes Subsequent Media Consumption

Consumers often become “stuck in a rabbit hole” when consuming media. They may watch several YouTube videos in the same category or view several artistic images on Instagram on the same theme, finding it difficult to stop. What contributes to this behavior, causing consumers to choose to consume additional media on a similar (vs. different) topic to what they just experienced? The authors examine a novel antecedent: the consecutive consumption of multiple similar media. After viewing multiple similar media consecutively, more consumers choose to view additional similar media over dissimilar media or complete a dissimilar activity entirely, even when the prior consumption pattern is externally induced. The rabbit hole effect occurs due to increased accessibility of the shared category—when a category is more accessible, people feel immersed in that category and anticipate that future options within that category will be more enjoyable. The authors identify three characteristics of media consumption that contribute to the rabbit hole effect by increasing category accessibility: similarity, repetition, and consecutiveness of prior media consumption. This research contributes to literature on technology, choice, and variety-seeking and offers implications for increasing (vs. slowing) similar consumption.