Framing Virtual Experiences: Effects on Environmental Efficacy and Behavior Over Time

In virtual environments (VEs), users experience visceral simulations that feel like the real world. Virtual experiences are proposed as a novel operationalization of gain and loss framed environmental messages. A 2 (gain vs. loss frame) × 2 (high vs. low interactivity) × 3 (pretest, posttest, delaye...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communication research 2015-08, Vol.42 (6), p.839-863
Main Authors: Ahn, Sun Joo (Grace), Fox, Jesse, Dale, Katherine R., Avant, J. Adam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Cognitive psychology
Environmental protection
Experimental psychology
Simulation
User behavior
Virtual reality
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Summary:In virtual environments (VEs), users experience visceral simulations that feel like the real world. Virtual experiences are proposed as a novel operationalization of gain and loss framed environmental messages. A 2 (gain vs. loss frame) × 2 (high vs. low interactivity) × 3 (pretest, posttest, delayed posttest) experiment was conducted. Immediately following exposure, virtual experiences promoted environmental behavior by reducing paper consumption by 25% compared to a control group. In addition, the gain framed experience of growing a virtual tree promoted behavioral intentions more effectively than the loss framed experience of cutting down a tree. Response efficacy mediated the relationship between framing and environmental behavioral intentions. One week after exposure, response efficacy heightened as a result of the gain frame. Participants in the high interactivity conditions also reported higher levels of environmental behavior than those in the low interactivity conditions one week following exposure.
ISSN:0093-6502
1552-3810
DOI:10.1177/0093650214534973