Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages

The causal chain from message exposure to reception to effects is widely accepted as the basic explanatory model for communication and message effects. However, the chain’s links were often studied in isolation, leaving measurement gaps that compromise the ecological validity and practical utility o...

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Main Authors: Hee Jung Cho, Sue Lim, Monique Mitchell Turner, Gary Bente, Ralf Schmälzle
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-01-01
Series:Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/hbe2/3619411
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author Hee Jung Cho
Sue Lim
Monique Mitchell Turner
Gary Bente
Ralf Schmälzle
author_facet Hee Jung Cho
Sue Lim
Monique Mitchell Turner
Gary Bente
Ralf Schmälzle
author_sort Hee Jung Cho
collection DOAJ
description The causal chain from message exposure to reception to effects is widely accepted as the basic explanatory model for communication and message effects. However, the chain’s links were often studied in isolation, leaving measurement gaps that compromise the ecological validity and practical utility of experimental research. Here, we introduce a VR-based paradigm that encompasses a realistic message reception context, that is, a simulated car ride on a highway flanked by billboards. We varied emotional salience as the core message factor as well as contextual distractions. VR-integrated eye trackers were used to capture participants’ incidental and self-determined message exposure dependent on their actual gaze behavior. Consistent with our predictions, results show that (1) exposure gates all subsequent effects, (2) distraction impacts the likelihood of exposure, and (3) both the manipulation of emotional content and distraction affect retention. This comprehensive research ecosystem for assaying the exposure–reception–retention chain can be broadly applied to a variety of message reception contexts.
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issn 2578-1863
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-e613cfefc52f49b3a2dd9ef3cec9dd632025-08-20T02:12:19ZengWileyHuman Behavior and Emerging Technologies2578-18632025-01-01202510.1155/hbe2/3619411Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard MessagesHee Jung Cho0Sue Lim1Monique Mitchell Turner2Gary Bente3Ralf Schmälzle4Department of CommunicationDepartment of CommunicationDepartment of CommunicationDepartment of CommunicationDepartment of CommunicationThe causal chain from message exposure to reception to effects is widely accepted as the basic explanatory model for communication and message effects. However, the chain’s links were often studied in isolation, leaving measurement gaps that compromise the ecological validity and practical utility of experimental research. Here, we introduce a VR-based paradigm that encompasses a realistic message reception context, that is, a simulated car ride on a highway flanked by billboards. We varied emotional salience as the core message factor as well as contextual distractions. VR-integrated eye trackers were used to capture participants’ incidental and self-determined message exposure dependent on their actual gaze behavior. Consistent with our predictions, results show that (1) exposure gates all subsequent effects, (2) distraction impacts the likelihood of exposure, and (3) both the manipulation of emotional content and distraction affect retention. This comprehensive research ecosystem for assaying the exposure–reception–retention chain can be broadly applied to a variety of message reception contexts.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/hbe2/3619411
spellingShingle Hee Jung Cho
Sue Lim
Monique Mitchell Turner
Gary Bente
Ralf Schmälzle
Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies
title Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
title_full Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
title_fullStr Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
title_full_unstemmed Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
title_short Eyes on VR: Unpacking the Causal Chain Between Exposure, Reception, and Retention for Emotional Billboard Messages
title_sort eyes on vr unpacking the causal chain between exposure reception and retention for emotional billboard messages
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/hbe2/3619411
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