The Influence of Interactive Elements on Entertainment : An Interactive Infographics Experiment on University Students

Sammanfattning: Objectives: Consequent to previous research indicating the positive influence of entertainment on attitudes, this quantitative study investigates which interactive elements more effectively augment entertainment and to which degree Gamification, Data Selection, Storytelling, and Motion augments entertainment through the beneficial components Emotional Arousal, Recovery and Regulation and Aesthetic Appreciation (Dobni, 2007). Method: A pre-study survey was conducted to determine a neutral topic for the interactive infographics used in the main study. The main study consisted of experiments on university students. The participants were asked to engage with four interactive infographics, each focusing on one interactive element, while consecutively answering a questionnaire. The results of the survey were analyzed by ​​descriptive analysis, while the questionnaire was analyzed by ANOVA, MANOVA, ​​descriptive analysis, and Pearson’s r. Results: The pre-study survey concluded that Wild Animals was the most neutral topic. Statistically significant differences in shown entertainment were discovered between all interactive elements except Gamification and Storytelling (p = 0.696) and Data Selection and Motion (p = 0.971). Statistically significant differences in signs of Emotional Arousal and Aesthetic Appreciation were discovered between the interactive elements, but none in Recovery and Regulation. A significant (p < 0.001), strong positive correlation (r = 0.744) between shown and self-reported entertainment level was identified. Conclusion: Four out of five null hypotheses were successfully rejected. The findings show that Gamification and Storytelling can be used to augment entertainment more effectively. All interactive elements augment entertainment mainly through Aesthetic Appreciation. Storytelling and Gamification secondarily use Emotional Arousal, while Data Selection and Motion use Recovery and Regulation. Practical implications include that teachers and creators can augment entertainment by choosing effective interactive elements when designing and selecting interactive infographics. Further research can be conducted through qualitative methods or investigating other interactive elements, populations or device environments.