Behavioural Design and Consumer Psychology of Digital Overload and Emotional Balance Among Youth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63345/wjftcse.v1.i3.301Keywords:
Behavioural design, persuasive technology, digital overload, fear of missing out, emotional balance, youth, consumer psychologyAbstract
Persuasive design elements such as infinite scroll, autoplay, streaks, variable rewards, and push notifications are incorporated into the design of digital platforms used by young people. Although these design elements help in attracting and retaining attention, they can also result in overload and emotionality. This study aims to find the relationship between exposure to persuasive design and digital overload, FOMO, digital self-regulation, and emotional balance of people aged 18-25. For the purpose of this study, cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample size of 412 participants from three major Indian metropolitan cities. Emotional balance was measured with the use of Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE-B). Results from hierarchical regression analysis revealed negative associations of perceived digital overload (β = −.30, p < .001) and FOMO (β = −.17, p < .001) with emotional balance and positive association of digital self-regulation (β = .18, p < .001). Together, these predictors explained 28.1% of variance in emotional balance. Parallel mediation analysis results revealed that the indirect effects of exposure to persuasive design on emotional balance occurred via perceived overload (indirect effect = −1.73, 95% CI [−2.31, −1.20]) and via FOMO (indirect effect = −0.77, 95% CI [−1.19, −0.40]); while the direct effect was insignificant. Emotional balance also differed with the amount of time spent on screens per day, F(3, 408) = 8.59, p < .001, η² = .059. It can be concluded that emotional costs of persuasive design mainly occur due to the states they elicit and not because of exposure to them.
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