The Social Experience of Entertainment Media

People often look to others for guidance when selecting narrative entertainment. Previous work has demonstrated that this social guidance forms the basis of people’s expectations and subsequently affects people’s experience. The current work extends previous research by exploring the influence of peer evaluations of a story, on enjoyment of and psychological transportation in the written narrative. In two experiments, participants read peer evaluations prior to reading the story. Results of Experiment 1 revealed that social influence guides readers’ expectations, attention to elements in the narrative, reported enjoyment, and feelings of transportation in the narrative. This influence was particularly apparent when readers were given unfavorable reviews of the stimulus. In the second experiment, readers were given peer evaluations that were either confirmed or disconfirmed by other readers. Results indicated that valence of peer evaluations influenced both transportation and enjoyment. Additionally, inconsistent evaluations increased feelings of transportation, but consistency alone had no effect on reported enjoyment. Implications for social media experiences and future directions in research on entertainment media are discussed.