Foundations of interactive media use

Abstract #

Interactivity is at the heart of digital media, forming a central foundation for many media use processes. It can be described as a possibility of reciprocal influence and refers to the interactions between users via media as well as to the interactions between users and media. Interactivity can be conceptualised as a property of the medium, as a subjective perception of the user and as a form of the media use process. For media use research, the shift in the role of the media user associated with interactivity is of particular interest: Instead of being passive observers of media content, they become active users who must continuously make selection decisions. This shapes media use processes on multiple levels. On a cognitive level, interactivity has been found to influence the depth of information processing and the formation of judgements about a medium; however, these effects depend heavily on inter-individual differences. On a motivational level, interactivity has proven particularly conducive to intrinsic motivation and a resulting deep engagement with the media content. Finally, on an affective level, it has been shown that interactivity itself elicits emotions, but can also facilitate immersion in the media content, thereby intensifying emotional responses to the content. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the theoretical and methodological challenges that increasingly interactive media environments pose for media use research.

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