Benjamin Johnson Comments on the Popularity of Spoilers
Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising assistant professor, is quoted in “Spoiler Alert: Spoilers Can Be Good for Business” published on Morning Consult on Dec. 22.
![Benjamin Johnson](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ben-Johnson-New-732x1024-150x150.jpg)
The article focuses on entertainment programming spoilers. Many viewers seek them out to help them decide whether or not something is worth watching.
According to a August 2011 paper in Psychological Science, spoilers have very little impact on a viewer’s enjoyment of content, and that learning spoilers can help audiences better understand what they watch.
Johnson said that while spoilers can provide a sense of control over what people are watching – either to avoid content they may find upsetting or simply to make sure it appeals to them before they spend hours consuming it – his research has shown that viewers sometimes have “reactance” to spoilers.
“People feel like their choices are taken away,” Johnson said. “If you give me a spoiler, you can’t undo that damage. Things are out of Pandora’s box.”
In 2019, Johnson published “Spoilers Go Bump in the Night” in the Journal of Media Psychology. A summary of that research is available here: https://www.jou.ufl.edu/insights/spoilers-go-bump-in-the-night/.
Posted: December 22, 2020
Category: College News
Tagged as: Benjamin Johnson