The Attentional Mechanism of Short Videos’ Persuasive Effects

Short video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels are increasingly becoming key information sources, but how multimodal video information influences message processing and persuasion remains unclear. Grounded in the literature of Message Sensation Value (MSV), this study examines whether MSV of short videos––based on their multimodal features––attracts or distracts viewers’ attention and subsequently facilitates or hinders persuasion. This study presents an online survey experiment and an online eye-tracking experiment (combined N = 2,617) that tested the effects of varying levels of short video MSV on attention, message processing, message recognition, and persuasive outcomes across science and health contexts. Results suggest MSV attracts viewers’ attention linearly, but its impacts on subsequent message processing and persuasive outcomes follow a curvilinear pattern. Short videos with moderate MSV not only can maximize message processing, message recognition, and persuasion but also minimize psychological reactance. Leveraging sensational short videos with moderate MSV can be an effective message design approach to communicating critical science and health issues to the general public in the contemporary competitive media environment.