Abstract:

ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos are a digital phenomenon that, through visual and sound stimuli, generate relaxation and a tingling sensation in users who consume it. This phenomenon is widely used by the new generations, especially by young university students, with the aim of combating the stress caused by having a heavy workload at their universities. Therefore, the consumption of these videos is used as a resource to motivate themselves in the context of the daily life of the students, thanks to the visual and sound aesthetics that these videos have. In this study, the way in which young university students from Lima use ASMR videos was examined, analyzing their consumption pattern of this type of content and their perception regarding the audiovisual language used in such videos. For this, an interpretive paradigm investigation, qualitative approach, phenomenological design was carried out and the semi-structured interview was used as a data collection technique. The sample consisted of 20 university students from Metropolitan Lima. The 20 interviews involved more than five hours of recording, 93 pages transcribed, and this material was considered confidential. Once transcribed, they were analyzed and coded with the Atlas.ti 7.1.5 program for qualitative data analysis. The results show that each student has a particular way of consuming, since the reasons for watching these videos vary from seeking to relax, fighting boredom or seeking concentration; however, most consume it at night or early morning, and they do it alone, mostly with headphones. Regarding the perception of this type of audiovisual content, the use of close-ups in most ASMR videos generates a feeling of closeness in students, since there is the illusion of being close despite the physical distance. Likewise, the colors that prevail in the videos, which depend on the lighting and the choice of color of the objects, have a great influence, since most of the students prefer low lighting and colors that are monochromatic, because this generates a calmer feeling compared to a very colorful and saturated color palette, which can be annoying to look at. In all cases, ASMR videos have shown great effectiveness as a form of motivation to be able to carry out their university activities more effectively and with less stress, demonstrating a positive influence on the lives of university students. The contribution of this study is to be one of the pioneers in exploring the phenomenon of the use of ASMR videos among university students. For future studies, it is recommended to analyze ASMR videos on YouTube that have a specifically educational nature, such as videos where they teach classes of different subjects, and that it is another digital medium to learn new topics.

Keywords:

Asmr, motivation, audiovisual, videos, youtube, students, university.