The Effect of Characterization on Narrative Enjoyment: An Empirical Investigation of Personality Incoherence in Movie Characters – MSI

Working Paper

The Effect of Characterization on Narrative Enjoyment: An Empirical Investigation of Personality Incoherence in Movie Characters

Qiang Zhang, Yunhui Huang and Xiaoyan Deng

Nov 26, 2024

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Analyzes online ratings of entertainment characters and conducts online experiments to determine the role of personality coherence in generating audience engagement and enjoyment.

Topics

Competition & Markets Consumer Behavior & Insights

research recap

Coherent Characters Engage Audiences for Narrative Enjoyment

Movie and TV characters seem so real that many fans rate aspects of their personalities online. Widely dispersed ratings predict lower audience engagement and narrative enjoyment. This is less true for comedies where some personality incoherence may be expected, and this effect can be mitigated by making creators’ intentions explicit.

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