Virtual reality videos increase environmental awareness

A group of media psychologists at the University of Cologne, led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar, has examined the effects of presenting environmental protection documentaries by way of 360° virtual reality (VR) videos compared with the use of other more traditional media forms. VR videos are interactive 360° videos that allow viewers to immerse themselves in a digital environment and explore it from different angles, often with the help of VR headsets or glasses. According to the study participants, virtual reality increased the feeling of being intensively involved in the narrative. This, in turn, led to an increased motivation to protect the environment and a greater willingness to donate. The psychologists published their findings in the article ‘Virtual reality versus classic presentations of mass media campaigns: Effectiveness and psychological mechanisms using the example of environmental protection’ in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

Convincing people to engage with issues and problems that seem geographically and emotionally distant is one of the biggest challenges for organizations working to protect the environment. Virtual reality is becoming increasingly important as a tool to promote charitable causes, such as fundraising campaigns. The researchers led by Professor Dr Dr Kai Kaspar from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cologne wanted to investigate this effect in detail. In this study, they showed three documentaries to 128 participants, who had been randomly assigned to four different groups:  one group was presented with the documentaries as 360° VR videos, a second group watched them as 2D videos on a TV, a third group only listened to the audio track, like a podcast, and a fourth group read a corresponding text.

After each documentary, the participants rated their subjective feeling of having been physically present in the depicted scene, their feeling of having been intensively involved in the narrative, and the affective impact of the documentaries. Participants were also asked about their own motivation for wanting to protect the environment and how much they would be willing to donate to the presented campaign.

The results of the experiment show that virtual reality evoked stronger feelings of being physically present in the depicted scene, of being transported by the narrative, and also a stronger positive emotional affect in comparison with the other forms of presentation.

The study therefore emphasizes the particular potential of virtual reality as a medium for presenting environmental protection campaigns and the importance of the narrative in this context. “Using virtual reality for storytelling, in this case for environmental protection campaigns, can have a significant effect. This immersive experience can potentially have a greater impact on personal attitudes and behavioural intentions than more traditional media,” says Professor Kaspar. “Our findings are therefore valuable for media experts and organizations but also for researchers because previous media impact models will need to be updated or expanded accordingly.”