IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v8y2019i1p19-d196848.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Experimental Examination of Binge Watching and Narrative Engagement

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah E. Erickson

    (Department of Communication, Trinity University, 1 Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA)

  • Sonya Dal Cin

    (Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, North Quadrangle, 105 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285, USA
    Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA)

  • Hannah Byl

    (Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, North Quadrangle, 105 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285, USA)

Abstract

Increasingly, audiences are engaging with media narratives through the practice of binge watching. The effects of binge watching are largely unknown, although early research suggests binge watching may be motivated by a need for escape and could be associated with some qualities of addiction. In this study, we ask whether the practice of binge watching impacts audience engagement with a media narrative. Using an experimental approach, we manipulate the format of exposure to media narratives (binge or nonbinge) and test the effect of this manipulation on audience engagement, specifically parasocial relationships with favorite characters and narrative transportation. Results suggest that binge watching increases the strength of parasocial relationships and the intensity of narrative transportation. Media engagement has been shown to increase media effects, suggesting that binge watching could change not only how audiences engage with narrative media but also the effect it has on them.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah E. Erickson & Sonya Dal Cin & Hannah Byl, 2019. "An Experimental Examination of Binge Watching and Narrative Engagement," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:19-:d:196848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/1/19/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/1/19/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacob Groshek & Sarah Krongard, 2016. "Netflix and Engage? Implications for Streaming Television on Political Participation during the 2016 US Presidential Campaign," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-18, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Forte & Francesca Favieri & Maria Casagrande & Renata Tambelli, 2023. "Personality and Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Systems in Behavioral Addiction: Analysis of Binge-Watching," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-9, January.
    2. Matthew Pittman & Emil Steiner, 2019. "Transportation or Narrative Completion? Attentiveness during Binge-Watching Moderates Regret," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-14, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Drina Intyaswati & Eni Maryani & Dadang Sugiana & Anter Venus, 2021. "Social Media as an Information Source of Political Learning in Online Education," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2019:i:1:p:19-:d:196848. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.