Humanitarian communication and virtual reality: Empathy and intention to share information

Past research has examined the role of technology in humanitarian crises such as those involving refugees. Scholars have also studied the relationship of feelings of empathy with attitudes and behaviors. In the current study, we investigated the effects of VR technology on people’s intention to share information about the Syrian refugee crisis. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two experiments. Participants for both studies were undergraduate students in the U.S. For both the pilot study and the main study, two experimental groups (VR vs. Non-VR) where participants were randomly assigned by Qualtrics were administered. We conducted a between-subject randomized lab experiment. The findings show that VR condition was associated with higher levels of empathy, and the increased levels were subsequently linked to a greater intention to share information about the Syrian refugee crisis. The current study highlighted the underlying mechanism leading to the intention to share information by general viewers, underscoring the effectiveness of using VR technology to tell stories of the suffering of the impacted communities. The important implications for humanitarian communication and refugee studies are discussed.

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Humanitarian communication and virtual reality: Empathy and intention to share information

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