The effects of augmented reality on prosocial behavior intentions in the disaster news context: The mediating role of physical presence and empathy

Despite the increasing adoption of augmented reality (AR) in journalism, there is limited scholarly attention devoted to understanding its effects compared to traditional modalities. This study investigates user engagement with AR-enabled disaster news through a between-subjects experiment (N = 89), comparing AR, image, or text-only modalities. The results demonstrate that psychological responses to the technological affordances of AR (perceived vividness, interactivity, and novelty) did not mediate the effect of AR on physical presence. In addition, the positive indirect effect of AR on empathy was shown via physical presence. Furthermore, AR positively influenced intentions for news sharing through an increase in physical presence and empathy sequentially. These findings contribute to the growing body of research on immersive media in the journalism context, shedding light on the often-overlooked impact of AR compared to other leaner modalities, such as image or text.