Emotional Responses Towards Unity YouTube Videos: Experts vs. Viewers Perspectives

Abstract

YouTube video is one of the most popular social media channels used to attract people’s attention as it has its own “communication power” through the broadcasted videos. With the right approach to create an influential video that embeds emotional elements, YouTube video could be used as a medium to disseminate information that could influence people’s emotion. The study as reported in this paper attempted to understand people’s emotional responses towards videos posted on YouTube and how it could influence people’s unity. The study conducted an in-depth interview with 3 experts, to determine valid specimen for the investigation, and then elaborate the cause and effect of each specimen from their expert point of view. A Thematic Analysis (TA) was then performed to identify the concept of emotion and the video design elements that shaped the classification of emotion from the experts’ perspective. The study then performed a focus group study using the valid specimens with 6 viewers using the Evaluation Grid Method of Laddering (EGML) approach to discover the emotional concept and design elements in the videos from the viewers’ perspective. The results obtained from both sessions were synthesised to find agreements and finally conclude a taxonomy of Kansei Words (KWs) related to the concept of unity, and the video design elements that affect the concept. An in-depth interview with the experts has resulted in 17 valid videos reckoned to embed design elements that foster unity. The TA conducted then has identified 61 KWs and a total of 10 Items and 88 Categories of design elements. Meanwhile, EGML analysis has resulted in a total of 64-items of KWs and 14 Items and 76 Categories of design elements. The study then conducted a confirmatory analysis of both dataset and successfully synthesised 36 KWs, as well as 9 Items and 142 Categories of design elements. The final set of KWs and design elements are from the point of agreement/validation from both experts’ and viewers’ perspectives, and thus matches their implicit image of designs and the influential elements contributing to the implicit images. These become a sound clue and could be referred to as a reciprocal understanding of the concept of video design, which could lead to effective strategies to achieve people’s unity.