I Got Spoiled: The Effects of Spoilers and Character Morality on Narrative Engagement and Enjoyment

• In Event: Media and Morality

Abstract

Although spoilers are commonly thought to ruin media experiences, the present study sought to determine whether this was actually the case and to examine the role of main character morality in narrative processing. A 2 (spoilers vs. no spoilers) x 2 (good character vs. bad character) factorial experiment was conducted in which workers from the Amazon Mechanical Turk marketplace watched a clip containing either a good or bad main character after either viewing spoilers embedded on a show fan page or not viewing spoilers. Results showed that spoilers did not have a direct influence on narrative engagement or enjoyment, but did when examined in conjunction with character morality. Implications for narrative theory and disposition theory are discussed.

Author

• Arienne Ferchaud, Pennsylvania State U