Living in a Material World: Sponsored Instagram Posts and the Role of Materialism, Hedonic Enjoyment, Perceived Trust, and Need to Belong

Previous studies have mainly demonstrated negative consequences for content labeled as sponsored. Despite this, recent industry findings indicate a growing trend for sponsored content on social media. In addition, an increasing number of users suggest that such paid content would increase their likelihood of purchasing items from social media. Nonetheless, little attention has been paid to what drives consumers’ purchase intention and engagement with sponsored content with a clear disclaimer such as “Paid Partnership.” Therefore, the present research seeks to provide insights into what drives consumer engagement and purchase intention with sponsored content and when and why such effects are observed. Conducted with an online survey, the results showed that individuals with high materialism showed greater purchase intent and higher engagement with sponsored content through hedonic enjoyment. The results also showed that the mediating role of hedonic engagement for the positive effect of materialism on purchase intent was only significant under high influencer trust. Furthermore, the mediating role of hedonic enjoyment was amplified when the need to belong was high.

Immersive and Interactive Awe: Evoking Awe via Presence in Virtual Reality and Online Videos to Prompt Prosocial Behavior

Awe is a widely researched, self-transcendent emotion with a robust ability to prompt prosocial behavior. Within the communication and media disciplines, however, the effects of awe have received only limited empirical attention. Moreover, extant research has ignored the role that media affordances may play in engendering awe and prosocial outcomes. This article presents two studies that explore the prosocial consequences of awe, as mediated by presence and when engendered by immersive features of various media, including virtual reality (VR). Study 1 (N = 154) found that awe content presented in highly immersive VR induced awe via an effect entirely mediated by presence, though impacts on subsequent prosocial outcomes were inconsistent. Study 2 (N = 188) attempted to replicate and clarify the prosociality results from Study 1, as well as contextualize them with respect to eudaimonic appreciation and hedonic enjoyment. Results demonstrated awe effects across all three measures of prosociality.

Correlational network visual analysis of adolescents’ film entertainment responses

This study aims to shed light on adolescents’ characterizations of their preferred film entertainment. It seeks to describe the psychological responses of youngsters from two European countries (Italy and Spain) to dramas from the European region about current social/human issues. The study also seeks to determine if the adolescents’ responses differ according to the film and the cultural context (country) to which they belong. For doing so, the research applies an innovative visual research technique in Media Communication: a correlational network analysis. A total of 234 Italian and Spanish adolescents watched three European dramas. Later, they completed four questionnaires measuring hedonic (enjoyment), eudaimonic (appreciation) responses and predictors of them (narrative engagement and perceived realism). The results present the visual intercorrelations of the studied variables, which give deeper insights into youngsters’ gratifications in film consumption. These results suggest that films appear to be more influential than country in adolescents’ responses. They also show there are specific models of responses for each film in each situation. The application of the visual quantitative tool broadens our knowledge on adolescents’ entertainment through dramatic film and on the role of the cultural context and the audiovisual stimulus in the entertainment responses. It also challenges empirical studies using a single stimulus.

Assassins, Gods, and Androids: How Narratives and Game Mechanics Shape Eudaimonic Game Experiences

Emerging research has suggested that digital games can generate entertainment experiences beyond hedonic enjoyment towards eudaimonic experiences: Being emotionally moved, stimulated to reflect on one’s self or a sense of elevation. Studies in this area have mainly focused on individual game characteristics that elicit singular and static eudaimonic game moments. However, such a focus neglects the interplay of multiple game aspects as well as the dynamic nature of eudaimonic experiences. The current study takes a novel approach to eudaimonic game research by conducting a qualitative game analysis of three games (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Detroit: Become Human, and God of War) and taking systematic notes on game experiences shortly after playing. Results reveal that emotionally moving, reflective, and elevating eudaimonic experiences were elicited when gameplay notes suggested a strong involvement with the game’s narrative and characters (i.e., narrative engagement) and, in some cases, narrative-impacting choices. These key aspects, in turn, are enhanced by clean player interfaces, graphically realistic characters, close camera perspectives, tone-appropriate soundtrack scores, and both narrative-enhancing (e.g., God of War’s health mechanic) and choice-enhancing mechanics (e.g., Detroit: Become Human’s flowchart). Eudaimonic experiences were also found to evolve throughout the game, with more powerful experiences occurring near the end of the game and some narrative themes fueling the eudaimonic flow of experiences throughout the overall game narrative. This study adds to academic research studying digital games by suggesting an innovative methodological approach that provides a detailed, integrative, and dynamic perspective on eudaimonic game experiences.

Analyzing Online Customer Satisfaction

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular in China. This study investigates factors that might influence customer satisfaction towards online shopping. A theoretical framework was established to explain causal relationships between perceived benefits, perceived risks, trust in online shopping and customer satisfaction. Data was collected from 402 respondents who had experience in online shopping in mainland China. Correlations and regression analyses were done to reveal that three factors of perceived benefits (i.e., shopping convenience, product selection, and hedonic enjoyment), product risk, and trust in online shopping were significant predictors of customer satisfaction. Implications for e-marketers were discussed, and limitations and future research were presented.

Analyzing Online Customer Satisfaction

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular in China. This study investigates factors that might influence customer satisfaction towards online shopping. A theoretical framework was established to explain causal relationships between perceived benefits, perceived risks, trust in online shopping and customer satisfaction. Data was collected from 402 respondents who had experience in online shopping in mainland China. Correlations and regression analyses were done to reveal that three factors of perceived benefits (i.e., shopping convenience, product selection, and hedonic enjoyment), product risk, and trust in online shopping were significant predictors of customer satisfaction. Implications for e-marketers were discussed, and limitations and future research were presented.

Beyond hedonic enjoyment: eudaimonia experience in craft consumption

Purpose This paper aims to explore the distinctions and similarities about Eudaimonia (a deeper pleasure beyond the hedonic enjoyment) and hedonic enjoyment, especially the influencing factors of Eudaimonia. Design/methodology/approach Survey and experiment are conducted to obtain the data. Structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of variance are used to analyze the data. Findings Three empirical studies support the idea that Eudaimonia, as a deeper-level pleasure, is a distinct construct from hedonic enjoyment. Like hedonic enjoyment, Eudaimonia can lead to satisfaction. Unlike hedonic enjoyment, Eudaimonia is driven by effort. Moreover, the effort impact on Eudaimonia is enhanced by the uniqueness of the craft task. Originality/value This paper shifts hedonic consumption studies from a product-based paradigm (e.g. utilitarian vs hedonic) to an experience-based paradigm (hedonic enjoyment vs Eudaimonia). The extension of pleasure to Eudaimonia domain successfully explains why prior hedonic consumption studies find that pleasure is more than the absence of effort and can be more inspiring than purely sensory.