Embodied Relaxation among Adolescent ASMR Viewers on Bilibili: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study
Abstract
This study examines embodied relaxation among adolescent viewers of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) content on Bilibili, focusing on how audio-visual cues are interpreted by the audience and on the para-social interaction mechanisms that arise from them. An exploratory mixed-method design was adopted, combining a questionnaire with semi-structured interviews and approaching the material from the audience-interpretation perspective. Seventeen valid questionnaire responses were obtained through convenience and snowball sampling among viewers who were mainly aged 12 to 18, and a purposive subsample of respondents who volunteered was then interviewed. Questionnaire results indicate that low-intensity soft lighting, warm color palettes, minimalist solid-color backgrounds, close-up hand movements and cute plush props are widely accepted, whereas intense close-up shots that create direct eye contact carry individual acceptance thresholds and were reported as uncomfortable by a minority of respondents. Tapping sounds were treated as the core relaxation element by nearly half of the respondents, while a further group weighted audio and visual cues roughly equally, and soft human voices and ambient sounds were valued mainly for anxiety relief and sleep aid. Interview accounts suggest that ASMR is used as an active cognitive reappraisal strategy, and that role-play content builds one-sided intimacy through close-range audio-visual cues. Given the small sample, these findings are exploratory rather than confirmatory. The study applies emotion-regulation and parasocial-interaction theory to sensory short-video content and offers references for healthy ASMR content creation.
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