Consuming transmedia: how audiences engage with narrative across multiple story modes

This thesis addresses the vast gap in research on audiences for transmedia storytelling by exploring the nature of transmedia consumption as it is practiced by fans. Transmedia storytelling can be defined as the telling of a single narrative across multiple story modes and this thesis argues that it accommodates multiple modes of media use. The thesis identifies four modes of media use, of which story/content-driven use involves transmedial consumption: the dedicated consumption of a narrative across multiple story modes. It is argued that story/content-driven use is adopted most often by fans, a unique subset of a broader audience. By way of mixed method research, the thesis explores how fans engage with commercial transmedia texts.