Spatial Audio in YouTube VR Videos and Its Impacts on Audience Engagement

Prior studies have indicated the lack of audience research on true impacts of spatial audio in virtual reality (VR) videos although more video producers started adopting the technology. Filling in this gap and applying the audience engagement theory, we collected viewer statistics from 1,116 360-degree videos on the official YouTube VR channel between 2015 and 2023 and conducted a content analysis of these videos to explore the impact of spatial audio on the number of views, likes, and counts. As a result of multiple regression analyses, spatial audio has statistically significant impacts on viewer statistics. Additionally, among videos featuring spatial audio, fictional videos appeared to be more favorably received than non-fictional videos. Furthermore, through a qualitative content analysis of comments, our study noticed several barriers that viewers encountered such as technical errors, a lack of proper hearing equipment, hearing issues, and discomfort feelings caused by mixed points of audition.