Have you been hooked on any series lately? How many chapters have you seen in one go? The generalization of the new multimedia platforms has put an end to the type of television consumption we were used to: the thing of having to wait a whole week to see the next episode is over , now we can see several, or even an entire season, in one sitting .
Netflix has already coined a new term: binger-racer (something like a compulsive runner), which refers to that kind of extreme addict who is capable of spending sleepless nights watching one episode after another. We’re talking about true fans competing to finish a full season within 24 hours of its release. The platform claims to have about 8.4 million users with this profile, and the figure has multiplied by twenty between 2013 and 2016.
There is no doubt: watching series is a way to escape from everyday worries, as expressed by 76% of the people surveyed by Netflix for a study on the platform’s consumption habits. It makes us feel good, and the possibility of choosing what, how much and when we watch a series opens up many possibilities for us compared to the corseted programs of conventional television.
At the brain level, ‘hooking’ ourselves into a series activates the reward and pleasure-obtaining circuits. The fact of having several chapters available at once “helps our reinforcement nervous system, which poorly tolerates delay, is activated, and makes the person more easily hooked”, explains Diego Redolar, neuroscientist and professor at the University Open of Catalonia (UOC). A Netflix study corroborates this type of consumption: its members prefer to watch an entire season – on average in a week – than, for example, an episode per week. “Before a series marathon, the brain generates dopamine, a chemical signal related to pleasure,” confirms Redolar.
A very careful strategy
It is clear, streaming platforms have a careful marketing strategy behind them: they know what to give us and how to give it to us to become serial-addicts and retain us. For example, the big releases are almost always on Fridays, and several chapters or even the entire season are made available to the user. “The objective is clear: to generate the need to consume it as soon as possible, preferably that weekend ”, explains Elena Neira, professor of Information and Communication Sciences at the UOC.
According to Netflix, fiction, horror and suspense series are the most likely to be consumed in one go. “Due to their own narrative structure they facilitate the immersion-evasion of the viewer”, considers Neira. In addition, the chapters always leave things in the air, new stories that leave us with intrigue. ” The series that generate more expectation make the person tend to consume more episodes in a row, ” explains Redolar.
“On these platforms, more series are watched because they guarantee more hours of leisure than movies, a periodic instant gratification and more loyal audiences are created,” says Neira.
But don’t overdo it …
Has it ever happened to you that, after finishing the last season of your favorite series, you feel a kind of low? Or that not being able to see the next chapter creates anxiety and prevents you from concentrating on other tasks in your daily life? Dopamine, that neurotransmitter we talked about before, is released when we feel pleasure , whether with innocent activities such as listening to music or eating chocolate, as well as with more dangerous ones such as cocaine, alcohol or marijuana. We already know, there is a fine line between harmless pleasure and serious addictions.
“There are studies that warn about the cognitive and psychological detriment that the immersion generated by series marathons can cause. They can lead to isolation and even devaluation of daily personal experiences ”, explains Neira.
According to Redolar, some reports have suggested that after bingeing on series, people may feel physically exhausted and in an emotionally low mood. Along these lines, some users affirm that once the series is over they feel a void as a result of this immersion-evasion phenomenon. “It could be assimilated to a certain extent to the behavioral consequences of the consumption of some substances of abuse, ” warns Redolar.
