Memory inception through gaze-contingent message exposure: using virtual reality to study media influence.

Media messages shape our knowledge about the world, but measuring individual exposure and attention remains challenging. Emerging media offer a solution to studying message reception in simulated real-world environments, which may soon become the actual media environments in which we encounter messa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Communication Vol. 76; no. 3; pp. 223 - 236
Autores principales: Cho, Hee Jung, Lim, Sue, Saenz, Miriya, Schmälzle, Ralf
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Jun2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
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      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
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        10.1093/joc/jqaf048
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        atl: Memory inception through gaze-contingent message exposure: using virtual reality to study media influence.
      aug:
        au:
          Cho, Hee Jung
          Lim, Sue
          Saenz, Miriya
          Schmälzle, Ralf
        affil:
          Department of Communication, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States
          Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
      su:
        Mass media
        Mass media influence
        Attention
        Virtual reality
        Collective memory
        Memory
        Media exposure
        Eye tracking
        Message processing (Telecommunication)
      sug:
        subj:
          Mass media
          Mass media influence
          Attention
          Virtual reality
          Collective memory
          Memory
          Media exposure
          Eye tracking
          Message processing (Telecommunication)
      ab: Media messages shape our knowledge about the world, but measuring individual exposure and attention remains challenging. Emerging media offer a solution to studying message reception in simulated real-world environments, which may soon become the actual media environments in which we encounter messages. Here, we utilized virtual reality (VR) and eye-tracking to investigate message processing in a realistic virtual city environment populated with billboards. We introduced an inception-style manipulation where billboards initially overlooked by participants were covertly reintroduced based on real-time gaze tracking. Our findings show this algorithmic manipulation, undetected by participants, significantly boosted message memory retention for the targeted messages. This study reveals a path of media influence, demonstrating how undetected algorithmic manipulations can shape individual and collective memory. The findings carry practical and theoretical implications for diverse communication contexts, from advertising and public health to political messaging in the emerging metaverse ecosystem.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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