Immersive gratifications and compulsive VR media engagement: a dual-process model of erotic content consumption in virtual reality

Introduction: Drawing on dual-process theory and uses-and-gratifications (U&G) perspectives, this study develops the Immersive Gratification Model (IGM) to explain compulsive engagement with erotic/pornographic content (EPC) in virtual reality (VR). Methods: The IGM distinguishes three distal gratification-seeking predictors: sensual curiosity (SC), VR self-efficacy (VSE), and excitement-seeking and EPC pleasure (ESEPCP) from two proximal immersive experience evaluations: VR sense of presence (VRP), representing an automatic perceptual pathway, and VR cognitive satisfaction (VCS), representing a deliberate evaluative pathway. Both proximal evaluations are theorized to predict compulsive VR-EPC engagement (VRA), with habit (Hbt) as an asymmetric boundary-condition moderator. Survey data from 388 adult VR-EPC consumers (aged 18+) were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results: All three distal predictors are positively associated with both VRP and VCS, which in turn predict VRA. Mediation analyses support sequential indirect effects through both pathways. Notably, habit amplifies the VRP → VRA path but not the self-sustaining VCS → VRA path, revealing an asymmetric dual-process moderation pattern. Discussion: These findings extend U&G theory to immersive VR media, advance dual-process accounts of problematic technology use, and carry implications for VR platform design and digital well-being intervention.