Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America.
Sandage Department of Advertising, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 May 12;17(5):e0268194. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268194. eCollection 2022.
Flow (state of intense focus) during media use has been largely considered a desirable experience, with technologies developed to maximize the chance of encountering flow in computer-mediated environments. However, the total absorption of attention due to flow could be problematic in contexts where the user has multiple predetermined goals, and engaging with the flow-inducing media could cost them resources that may be otherwise devoted to other goals. When flow imposes a cost on the user's goal performance, it may also reduce their post-experience gratification with the flow-inducing media. The present study proposes a novel theoretical framework to begin understanding the potential cost of flow in media use with supporting evidence from two survey and vignette studies (N = 235 and N = 245). Its findings will extend human-computer interaction research by highlighting the double-edged impact that flow might have on media users' larger goal performance and downstream well-being.
在使用媒体时，沉浸（高度专注的状态）在很大程度上被认为是一种理想的体验，因此开发了各种技术来最大程度地提高在计算机介导的环境中遇到沉浸体验的机会。然而，由于沉浸体验会完全吸引注意力，因此对于那些有多个预定目标的用户来说，沉浸于引发沉浸的媒体可能会耗费他们本可以用于其他目标的资源。当沉浸体验给用户的目标表现带来成本时，它也可能会降低用户对引发沉浸的媒体的体验后满足感。本研究提出了一个新的理论框架，通过两项调查和情境研究（N=235 和 N=245）提供了支持证据，开始理解媒体使用中沉浸体验的潜在成本。其研究结果将通过突出沉浸体验对媒体用户更大的目标表现和下游幸福感的双重影响，扩展人机交互研究。
