Relevance and Immersion in Digital Games: Content and Personal Factors

Abstract

Previous studies have investigated the effects of diverse game design features on player immersion. The current study investigated the relationship between game content and immersion. When players are immersed in a game, they perceive that they are "into the game." If they process and thoroughly elaborate on their game experience, then they may become immersed. On the basis of the elaboration likelihood model, a theory in media psychology, an experiment was conducted to examine whether game content relevant to players influences their level of immersion. The results suggested that game content relevant to players' daily worries reduced their level of immersion. In addition, the results indicated that players' personal factors, particularly the number of years of playing video games, enhanced the perceived relevance of the game content, thereby increasing the level of immersion.