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Videoconferencing has become an indispensable tool in everyday communication, with virtual backgrounds offering a way to enhance users’ virtual interaction experience. Guided by the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), Study One (N = 132) examined how virtual backgrounds affect users during videoconferencing. Participants using different backgrounds exerted greater attention control demands, which increased cognitive load and negative affect, leading to higher videoconference fatigue (VF) and more negative attitudes toward videoconferencing. Study Two (N = 144) employed a 2 (2D vs. VR) × 2 (nature-based vs. workplace-based background) design and revealed that 2D conferencing and workplace backgrounds required greater attention control than VR and nature-based ones. Consistent with Study One, lower attention control demands reduced cognitive load and negative emotions. Overall, the findings highlight attention fatigue as a central mechanism underlying VF and demonstrate that both videoconference format and background type shape users’ cognitive and emotional experiences in virtual communication.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.