Thinking fast and slow in film reception: Cognitive spillover of consumer emotions across digital platforms

Digital audiences today engage with content across platforms that differ markedly in emotional intensity and cognitive demand. Drawing on Dual Process Theory, this study proposes a generalizable cross-platform framework to distinguish between Type-1 and Type-2 processing in digital consumer cognition. Integrating perspectives from the Formalist–Realist theory of film reception, the framework introduces the concept of cognitive-affective spillover, where rapid, emotionally charged reactions on visually immersive platforms influence slower, reflective evaluations on textually dense review-based platforms. The framework is illustrated using responses to a mainstream film release, treated here as an indicative media case, to demonstrate how platform affordances shape the tone and depth of audience reasoning. Employing sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and a novel Cognitive Processing Index (CPI), the study traces how emotionally driven content can influence evaluative discourse and consumer judgment across environments. The findings contribute to understanding how digital platform design modulates consumer thinking, offering practical implications for marketers, designers, and scholars seeking to navigate the psychology of cross-platform engagement in retail and cultural contexts.