Nature documentaries presented as 360° virtual reality videos have a stronger positive effect than other forms of media, including an indirect effect on donation intentions.
Nature documentaries presented as 360° virtual reality videos have a stronger positive effect than other forms of media, including an indirect effect on donation intentions.
A group of media psychologists at the University of Cologne, led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar, has examined the effects of presenting environmental protection documentaries by way of 360° virtual reality (VR) videos compared with the use of other more traditional media forms. VR videos are interactive 360° videos that allow viewers to immerse themselves in a digital environment and explore it from different angles, often with the help of VR headsets or glasses. According to the study participants, virtual reality increased the feeling of being intensively involved in the narrative. This, in turn, led to an increased motivation to protect the environment and a greater willingness to donate. The psychologists published their findings in the article ‘Virtual reality versus classic presentations of mass media campaigns: Effectiveness and psychological mechanisms using the example of environmental protection’ in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
Convincing people to engage with issues and problems that seem geographically and emotionally distant is one of the biggest challenges for organizations working to protect the environment. Virtual reality is becoming increasingly important as a tool to promote charitable causes, such as fundraising campaigns. The researchers led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cologne wanted to investigate this effect in detail. In this study, they showed three documentaries to 128 participants, who had been randomly assigned to four different groups: one group was presented with the documentaries as 360° VR videos, a second group watched them as 2D videos on a TV, a third group only listened to the audio track, like a podcast, and a fourth group read a corresponding text.
Read more at University of Cologne
Photo Credit: Pexels via Pixabay
