Worth the effort? Comparing different youtube vlog production styles in terms of viewers' identification, parasocial response, immersion, and enjoyment

• Published in: Psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts Vol. 16; no. 3; p. 426
• Main Authors: Stein, Jan-Philipp, Koban, Kevin, Joos, Sarah, Ohler, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington American Psychological Association 01.08.2022
• Subjects: Blogs; Comparative analysis; Digital video; User experience
• ISSN: 1931-3896; 1931-390X
• DOI: 10.1037/aca0000374

In recent years, online video blogs (vlogs) have become a highly popular form of media content, especially among younger audiences. While public interest has invoked a strong commercialization of vlog culture, research suggests that the concurrent loss of performer authenticity might pose a problem for the genre's appeal. Preparing the same vlog content in unedited ("amateur") and heavily produced ("professional") versions for an online experiment, we compare the viewing experience of 154 participants in terms of identification, parasocial responses, immersion, and enjoyment. Regarding most of these variables, we observe that the evaluations for the professionally produced vlog turn out much more favorable. Interestingly, the uncovered effects remain independent of the vlog's thematic focus, which is explored as an additional factor in our experiment. Concluding our statistical analyses, we report the results of an exploratory mediation analysis connecting the measured media psychological constructs.