DOI: https://doi.org/10.26758/14.1.7
(1), (2), (3), (4) Autonomus University of Baja California, Medicine and Psychology Faculty,
email: (1) arely.avila@uabc.edu.mx (2) diego.camacho@uabc.edu.mx (corresponding author)
(3) yaislas@uabc.edu.mx (4) strejo@uabc.edu.mx
Address correspondence to: Diego-Oswaldo Camacho-Vega, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Calzada Universidad 14418, UABC, Parque Internacional Industrial Tijuana, 22390 Tijuana, B.C.
E-mail: (1) diego.camacho@uabc.edu.mx
Abstract
Objectives. This study aims to characterize the exposure of Mexican young university students to internet audiovisual content and analyze their subjective experiences in consuming such content.
Material and Methods. A multiple case study design was employed utilizing content analysis as an analytical strategy. Data were collected through a 15-item semi-structured interview, validated by experts calculating the content validity coefficient (CVC) before initiating data collection.
Results. Sixteen participants were evaluated. Data analysis considered two general categories: A) Exposure to audiovisual content (types of media, initial devices used for viewing playful content, variations in consumption times, historical patterns of audiovisual content consumption); and B) Subjective experience of audiovisual content consumption (emotions associated with consumption, positive and negative perceptions). Category A yielded two main results: 1) Mobile devices facilitated access to audiovisual content, though television and video games remained the primary means of entry; and 2) participants exhibited a shift in interests towards more specialized content during their university years. Concerning category B, participants reported seeking audiovisual content to experience specific emotions such as fear and joy. Additionally, they highlighted benefits like social connection, entertainment, and learning. However, some reported negative effects, including experiencing negative emotions and a perceived lack of control over the time spent consuming audiovisual content.
Conclusions. This research contributes to the understanding of audiovisual content consumption habits in young university students. It seeks to identify how the consumption of such content positively and negatively impacts their emotions, entertainment experiences, learning, and socialization processes. Furthermore, the study aims to shed light on potential risks associated with problematic usage patterns.
Keywords: Audiovisual content, subjective experience, university students.
Introduction
Audiovisual content refers to any combination of sounds, visual images and text, that are intended to inform or entertain (Law Insider, 2023). Examples of audiovisual contents include videos, films, slideshows, presentations, animations, interactive content, and audio recordings (Kathirvel & Hashim, 2020).
The consumption of audiovisual content through the Internet has increased in recent years. (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones [IFT] [Federal Institute of Telecommunications], 2022) and the consumption of audiovisual content is changing rapidly, younger audiences are increasingly consuming audiovisual content through online streaming services such as Netflix or YouTube (Budzinski, Gaenssle, & Lindstädt-Dreusicke, 2020). This trend is also being driven by the increasing use of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, which allow people to consume audiovisual content not only in the living room at home but virtually anywhere and at any time.
This consumption of audiovisual content represents an important part of people’s daily lives (Center for Technology, Media & Telecommunications practice, 2018) since it influences their emotions (Huston & Bentley, 2010) and the creation of their routines (Feiereisena, Rasolofoarisonc, De Valckd, & Schmitte, 2019).
However, to identify how the consumption of this audiovisual content impacts the lives of university students, it is important to first describe how students approach audiovisual content and then characterize the emotions they elicit.
According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía [National Institute of Statistics and Geography] (2022), Mexico had 84.1 million Internet users in 2020, with a high frequency of use in young adults of 18 to 25 years old (90.5% usage). In addition, the state of Baja California is in third place at the national level in the states with the highest values in proportion of Internet users with 84.3%.
Due to this high rate of Internet use in Mexico, by the youth population, studies have been conducted on the understanding of the digital behavior of this population and their attitudes and emotions aroused from the consumption of audiovisual content. The results indicate that the use of the Internet is massive among the university students (Morales, Zacatenco, Luna, García & Hidalgo, 2020), and they use it to watch series on streaming services (Benavides & García-Béjar, 2021), playing video games (Morales et al., 2020), and communicating through social networks (Rivera & Carriço, 2019).
On the other hand, it is important to identify the subjective experience of young university students when consuming audiovisual content. The subjective experience could involve aspects such as the emotions evoked, the individual’s personal interpretation of the content, the impact on their mindset, and other qualitative elements that contribute to the overall subjective experience (Avalos, 2019). Studies carried out with participants from Tijuana in Mexico determined that they use the Internet and its content as entertainment tools, contributing to the construction of meanings (León, 2018; Avalos, 2019). This consumption could be attributed to the gratification from factors such as (1) instant accessibility through technological devices, and (2) the subjective process of the experience of young people (Avalos, 2019). Although some students reported negative effects derived from their consumption of content on the Internet (e.g., loss of time notion, which produces feelings of guilt for time consumed) (Cebrero, 2017), other studies have found that the subjective experience is determined by the positive and negative emotions associated with the consumption of audiovisual content (Blanco-Ruiz, Sainz-de-Baranda, Gutiérrez-Martín, Romero-Perales, & López-Ongil1, 2020) as well as the socialization needs satisfied by audiovisual media (Kwegyriba, Osei, & Ewusi, 2022).
Based on the above, this study aims to analyze Mexican university students’ exposure to internet audiovisual content and their subjective experience with it.
Material and methods
The study employed a multiple case study design, using content analysis as the analysis strategy. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews which were validated for content.
Sample
The sample consisted of 16 people whose inclusion criteria were to be a university student between the ages of 18 and 30 of any sex. Participants were volunteers and were identified using a snowball sampling strategy.
Material
The instrument used was a semi-structured interview developed by the researchers and subjected to a content validation process. To determine the content validity, the Content Validity Coefficient (CVC) was calculated. This coefficient is based on the evaluations of judges (experts not involved in the current research) according to established criteria (Hernández-Nieto, 2002).
In this study, the categories used for validation were adequacy and pertinence of the interview items. Additionally, the judges had the option of providing direct comments on each item to ensure optimal suitability for the research purpose.
Procedure
After the validation of the semi-structured interview format, university students from the Autonomous University of Baja California were invited to participate in the development of this study. Those people who decided to participate received an informed consent, previously approved by the bioethics council of the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology of the University. Their participation in the study was explained to them, as well as the risks, benefits, and management of the information they would provide. After signing the informed consent form, the volunteers were invited to participate in a virtual interview via Google Meet. Each interview session had an average duration of 25.66 minutes, being recorded with the prior consent of the participant and later transcribed.
Results
First, the instrument’s validity by the CVC procedure for the semi-structured interview was carried out. The original version of the instrument consisted of 22 items, subjected to the expert’s validation. Three experts evaluated each item on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest value and 5 being the highest value) in the categories of (1) adequacy (the question is easily understood) and (2) pertinence (it is pertinence to achieve the general objective of the investigation). In addition, the judges were asked for comments they considered pertinent on each item to improve the instrument.
Subsequently, the CVC was calculated for each of them following the formula:
where Mx represents the average of the element in the score given by experts, and Vmax the maximum score that the item could reach. Finally, only the items with a cut-off point greater than .80 were retained. In addition, for each of these items, the adjustments suggested by the expert judges were made, mainly in terms of drafting. This process resulted in the latest version of the semi-structured interview, with 15 items overall (see Table 1
Table 1
Items of the semi-structured interview by category and code and Total CVC index by item (to see Table 1, please click here).
A total of 16 participants (56% women) with an average age of M = 22.68; SD = 2.36 years were interviewed (There was no significant difference between the age of males and females). The average daily time spent consuming audiovisual content per participant was 4.6 hours (see Table 2)
Table 2
Descriptive data of each analyzed interview (to see Table 2, please click here).
Based on the previously defined categories (“Exposure to audiovisual content” and “Subjective experience of consumption of audiovisual content”), the analysis carried out with the support of the Atlas Ti software in its version 23.1.1 from the speeches of the 16 participants is presented.
A. Exposure to audiovisual content
A.1 Format and modality of display
Although the devices for consuming audiovisual content are varied, all the participants referred to mobile devices as the main means of accessing audiovisual content. Television and video game consoles are the first devices that were voluntarily used by the participants to view playful content. The starting record was between 7 and 10 years of age for the voluntary search for consumption of cartoons and between 12 and 14 for video games.
According to the results, variations in the amount of audiovisual content consumed over time were associated with the content types and the ways of accessing them. The transition from the use of free-to-air television to the use of electronic tablets or cell phones, through platforms such as YouTube and Netflix, allows for on-demand management, unlike the programming established on television channels.
Entrances to undergraduate and postgraduate university programs were referred to as impact factors on the consumption of audiovisual content in two ways: (1) as a reducer of the time available to dedicate to the recreational consumption of audiovisual content, and (2) as a differentiator of new interests in content.
As the E1 participant refers, the same platforms are used to adjust to the new interests:
“But lately, or until two years ago, a year or so, I began to focus on those topics that were a little more interesting and, therefore, for example, Youtube channels that are a little more formal for news to things like that” (E1).
B. Subjective experience of consumption of audiovisual content
B1. Emotions associated with the consumption of audiovisual content.
Regarding the emotions associated with the consumption of audiovisual content, one of the participants verbalizes the search for specific content to experience certain emotions:
“I like to watch horror and suspense movies for the emotions that provokes you, how that feeling remains intriguing and how that’s where they’re going to scare me. […]. And I also like romantic comedies” (E5).
Other emotions reported were happiness, hope, satisfaction, stress, anxiety, frustration, and sadness. As can be seen, the emotions associated with consumption are both positive and negative; they also mention the intentional search for distraction from problematic situations.
B2. Positive perception of the consumption of audiovisual content
There is recognition of platforms as spaces for learning and entertainment. In addition, it was pointed out as an emotional benefit for consumers the perception of some content as a tool for connecting with society:
“Generally, it helps them a lot to see another perspective. Actually, you have your own senses, the media, and other daily events, but by watching audiovisual content you can learn different things and expand your knowledge” (E7).
B3. Negative perception of the consumption of audiovisual content
The negative perception of the consumption of audiovisual content refers to the lack of control over consumption time and, specifically, on some platforms such as TikTok and with the idealization of lifestyles, as discussed in E6:
“I feel that something is happening a lot with this, with my generation and the generations that follow, that they are comparing a lot with what they see and sometimes learn methods or take dynamics that can become toxic to themselves, such as comparing themselves with others” (E6).
Likewise, the possibility of social isolation by not controlling the time of consumption was recognized as a negative effect.
“The worst thing for me is the time it takes. When I feel like it’s too much I stop, sometimes it’s League of Legends that makes me quit the computer and do something else, but to rest from the extra time that I spent on that activity” (E7).
This is associated with the possibility of generating sedentary lifestyles and more profound effects on the “subject to information manipulation” (E8), such as the alteration in the perception of the context and the risk of doing things that cause them problems, such as taking on various challenges.
Two of the participants (E12 and E13) mentioned negative perceptions of the consumption of audiovisual content not suitable for all ages:
“Yes, as I mentioned earlier. When someone accesses content not suitable for his age and without adult supervision can give a wrong idea of reality (pornography, violence)” (E13).
Although it was not classified within the negative effects of consumption, it was interesting to find the identification of monetary cost, specifically in video game platforms, in the purchase of the most current devices and paying for services to consume them, as well as in the effects of marketing to consume what is promoted on the different platforms.
B4. Socialization
All the participants agreed that consuming audiovisual content affects socialization, and encourages various degrees of social interaction with family and friends.
“I could get closer to the family or isolate myself from it, we have access to information that resonates with a family member and I can interact, but for that is important to put away cell phones and talk.” (E8)
Due to undeniable fact that it is practically impossible to avoid being exposed to audiovisual content, several participants have proposed finding functional forms of consumption that enable consumption regulation (E9), as participant E8 has stated:
“In young people I think it would be essential to create a habit of looking for other ways to consume any type of information.” (E8)
Some participants, who were video game users, highlight that one of the benefits of internet is being able to play online with their friends, as well as meeting people and being able to play in a group. One of the participants mentions the following:
“With my friends, this was a way to meet and interact with these people with whom I play and whom I met through this medium.” (E7)
Discussion
According to the conducted analysis, television was identified as the historically earliest device used by students to access audiovisual content. The data suggests that the use of television remains prevalent among young people, as indicated by the IFT (2022), which reported that approximately 95% of people in Mexico have a television set at home. Although television use appears to be widespread, it is essential to note that television is now an extension of computers and mobile devices. In other words, students tend to use television to consume content that is also accessible on mobile devices. Furthermore, the consumption of audiovisual content on televisions seems to be influenced by Internet access and the transition of traditional televisions to Smart TVs.
Video consoles are another device mentioned by participants for the consumption of audiovisual content. Therefore, we recommend a thorough analysis of the role of video consoles as a device for consuming audiovisual content.
Concerning the subjective experience of consuming audiovisual content, the analysis suggests that young people may use audiovisual content, such as videos, to evoke specific emotions. This finding aligns with the proposal of Yamamoto, Kawahara, and Tanaka (2020), who argue that emotional impact increases with age, deepening over time. Consequently, it is crucial to continue investigating this phenomenon in later age stages. It is worth considering that the consumption of audiovisual content, represented by movies and television series, is mounting, with YouTube and Netflix being the primary platforms, followed by Facebook and TikTok.
Reported emotions during the consumption of audiovisual content can range from positive to negative, supporting the hypothesis that audiovisual content elicits emotions such as happiness and sadness. However, it is essential to conduct cross-cultural studies, as the evocation of emotions can vary based on cultural, language, gender, and age differences (Blanco-Ruiz et al., 2020).
The results show that the content itself is usually seen in a positive way when it comes to the perception of audiovisual content use. This finding confirms the previous evidence that this kind of content has a powerful entertainment function (Asociación de Internet MX [MX Internet Association], 2022)
Additionally, participants highlighted the benefits of access to audiovisual content in their learning process, supporting Kwegyiriba et al.’s (2022) proposal that audiovisual content aids in the learning process by motivating students. Moreover, the consumption of audiovisual content appears to influence social interaction through sharing information and experiences in real-time, specifically through video games. However, this phenomenon lacks substantial evidence, and future research is recommended to delve deeper into this aspect, as participants suggested that this interaction extends to social networks and video games.
Regarding the negative impact of consuming audiovisual content, it is more associated with the loss of control over the time used rather than the content itself, which could even be translating into a problematic use of digital media (Wright, Heiman, & Olenik-Shemesh, 2021).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this research highlights the complexity of studying university students’ consumption of audiovisual content, emphasizing the elements that influence exposure to audiovisual content and the subjective experience of young people during this process. The design of this study and the investigation of characteristics, such as the time of use, the devices with the highest use, and the media platforms used, have provided the possibility of knowing the digital behavior of young university students and identifying its patterns.
This research is consistent with previous findings that suggest that consuming audiovisual content has a powerful emotional element. Although the consumption of audiovisual content can produce negative emotions (e.g., negative emotion from unregulated consumption), it can be inclined to produce positive emotions in the viewer, as well as a bridge that helps people in their socialization process with others.
Acknowledgements
A summary of this paper was presented at the online international conference: Individual, family, society – contemporary challenges, fifth edition, 4 to 5 October 2023, Bucharest, Romania, and published in the journal Studii şi Cercetări de Antropologie, No. 8/2023.
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