Supplemental Material for Authenticity on display? How perceived scriptedness, production, and staging of microstreamers influence perceived authenticity and enjoyment.

Building on previous descriptive research, this study investigated the impact of three microstream attributes—scriptedness, production value, and stagedness—on the perceived authenticity and enjoyment of viewing microstreaming gameplay videos. Through an experimental design, N = 403 participants viewed bespoke microstreams and were asked about their perceptions of authenticity and enjoyment. Perceptions of scriptedness, production value, and stagedness served as independent variables in parallel mediation analyses across five authenticity factors (sincerity, truthfulness, visibility, expertise, and uniqueness), with enjoyment as the outcome. While the manipulations of microstream attributes did not notably alter content perceptions, variance in perceptions directly and indirectly impacts enjoyment, mediated by dimensions of authenticity. Content that appeared unscripted and unstaged was linked to enhanced sincerity and overall enjoyment, whereas content viewed as scripted and produced was associated with greater expertise and visibility, leading to increased enjoyment. These insights extend our understanding of perceived authenticity and its nuanced impact on viewer enjoyment for streaming content, offering implications for both content creators and the broader landscape of user-generated content.