Buffering Causes Negative Reaction, Disengagement Among Viewers, Akamai Reports

Viewers disengage with storylines and react negatively to low-quality streaming incidents such as buffering “regardless of the brand or interest in the content,” Akamai reported Wednesday. Negative emotions rise 16 percent and engagement falls 20 percent as a result of poor streaming as measured by biometric measurement tools including facial coding and skin conductance, said the company. Some 76 percent of participants said they would stop using a streaming service if issues such as buffering occurred several times, it said. The study, conducted by Sensum, used various testing procedures including sensory, implicit and explicit responses from more than 1,200 participants.