FPT UNIVERSITY

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF MULTIMEDIA

COMMUNICATION

RESEARCH REPORT

TITLE:

A study on the relationship between

the influences of content in music videos and audience’s psychology

A case study of the circumstances of

MV “There’s no one at all” composed by Son Tung MTP in Vietnam.

RESEARCHER’S NAME

Vũ Thành Vinh - SS170704

Lê Hồng Hải - SS170924

Tống Ái Linh - SS170526

Nguyễn Trần Bâng Bâng - SS171045

Nguyễn Hải Hà Phương - SS17033

Đinh Thùy Linh - SS170523

Trần Gia Ánh - SS170523

Lecturer: Ms. Le Thi My Danh

FPT UNIVERSITY HCMC, 2022

 FPT UNIVERSITY

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF MULTIMEDIA

COMMUNICATION

RESEARCH REPORT

TITLE:

A study on the relationship between

the influences of content in music videos and audience’s psychology

A case study of the circumstances of

MV “There’s no one at all” composed by Son Tung MTP in Vietnam.

RESEARCHER’S NAME

Vũ Thành Vinh - SS170704

Lê Hồng Hải - SS170924

Tống Ái Linh - SS170526

Nguyễn Trần Bâng Bâng - SS171045

Nguyễn Hải Hà Phương - SS17033

Đinh Thùy Linh - SS170523

Trần Gia Ánh - SS170523

Lecturer: Ms. Le Thi My Danh

FPT UNIVERSITY HCMC, 2022

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
The study team is grateful for the assistance of Ms. Danh Le and Ms. Hien Nguyen,
who made a significant contribution to the successful completion of this article.
Furthermore, our research team would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to
the FPT University for providing us with the chance to perform this research in the
"Khoa Hoc Tinh Van" competition. Finally, our research team is grateful to Mr. Tai
Vu for his assistance in reaching out to our targeted survey participants.
TABLE OF CONTENT:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The current study of the influence of music on mass audience’s
psychology
2.2 Theoretical basis: the impacts of media on audience's cognitive
psychology based on Schema Theory
2.3 The influence of Music and Music Videos on adolescence:
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS
3.1. Schema (Script) Theory
3.2. An ANALYSIS of the case study from the psychology perspective
3.2.1.1 Effects of the music video on the adolescence
3.2.1.2 Son Tung MTP effect on the audience, especially the young
3.2.2 Music video release time
3.2.3 Not suitable for Vietnamese culture
4. RESEARCH METHOD
4.1. Survey
4.2. Research
5. RESULT
6. DISCUSSION
6.1. Analyze the survey results:
6.2. Strengths and limitations of this study:
7. CONCLUSION
8. REFERENCE
Abstract: It would seem plausible that the potential for learning social information
and the potential for psychological excitation and mood effects would be increased
in the medium because music videos give a dramatic visual dimension to the music
(Desmond, 1987). They evaluated the visual dimension because it gave the music
meaning (or contributed a different kind of meaning). Therefore, incorporating
music videos with music might have an impact on the psychology of the viewer. In
order to prevent harming society, it is essential to analyze the video's visual
components before publishing it thoroughly. This paper will study the unfavorable
elements of the music video "There's No One At All" by a Vietnamese singer
named Son Tung M-TP, which it has been agreed to sanction from an academic
standpoint. The paper also collects audience surveys regarding this sanction
decision and compares them to media psychologists' thoughts to see if there is an
agreement between the two.
Keywords: music video, media psychology, social network, media impact.

1. INTRODUCTION:

Nguyen Thanh Tung (popularly known as Son Tung M-TP, born in 1994) is a
well-known singer, songwriter, and producer of the pop/hip hop genre in Vietnam.
Songs composed and performed by Son Tung, such as "Chắc ai đó sẽ về", "Lạc
trôi", and "Nơi này có em" were well received by the public, transforming his name
Son Tung into a phenomenon of music product release on social networks. Son
Tung, according to the Vietnamese and foreign Press, is a "pop phenomenon with
the largest effect on the Vietnamese music business" "brings huge revenues" and "is
one of the Vietnamese musicians in need who must be known". (VnExpress, 2018).
On April 28, Son Tung M-TP released a music video titled "There's No One At
All." This MV had approximately 6 million views and over 100,000 comments on
YouTube after only 18 hours of broadcasting. However, the premiere MV faced
substantial community complaints due to a defeatist attitude, which negatively
influenced young people (Yen,2022).
On the other hand, the Performing Arts Department sent a request to Google to
prohibit the newest MV of singer Son Tung M-TP on April 29, 2022. The
Department claimed that the music video would affect young people in society
today because of its dark imagery and depressing message.
The MV "carries a negative, non-educational message with many scenes of chasing,
beating, violence, and ending with the character's suicide image, which has a strong
impact on viewers' psychology, easily influencing, orienting negative behaviors of
society, especially children", according to the Department of Performing Arts and
the Department also determined that the MV contains the statement "contrary to
national norms and customs, negatively harming religion, ethics, public health, and
psycho socialism"(Hong,2022). The MV was therefore removed that day.
This paper aims to provide a general overview of the relationship between media
effects and audience psychology by analyzing and discussing some of the negative
content details in the MV "There's No One At All" with a focus on pointing out
whether this MV's content impacts negatively on viewers' psychology in general
and young viewers in particular. By conducting a survey on Facebook, the paper
examined responses from young audiences, hence comparing them with academic
perspectives to find out if there is an agreement between the two. The paper also
points out some limitations while carrying on the research, thus giving
recommendations that could be useful for future studies and implementations.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW:
2.1. The current study of the influence of music on mass audience’s psychology:
Some specific research has been conducted on the impact of music on adolescence
and children. However, those studies usually discuss the effects of lyrics or the
melody of the music video on viewers, so it is hard to find research that is
appropriately focused on the image's effect of MV. Besides, the negative topics
mentioned are often violence, sexuality, and drugs. However, the subject of suicide
still has some limitations.
2.2. Theoretical basis: the impacts of media on audience's cognitive psychology
based on Schema Theory:
Schema theory will be applied throughout this study to investigate the MV "There's
No One At All" case. A "Schema Theory" impacts the audience in theories about
media's influence on the viewer's cognitive psychology. About cognitive
psychology, this term is referred to as the study of individual-level mental processes
such as information processing, attention, language usage, memory, perception,
problem solving, decision-making, and thinking (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2002). A
schema is a "cognitive framework that reflects ordered information about a certain
idea or type of stimulus" that has been abstracted from earlier experience (Fiske &
Taylor, 1984, pg. 139). Furthermore, learning about these formal qualities and how
to interpret them is part of the socialization of the use of a medium like television
(Bickham, Wright & Houston, 2001; Calvert, 1998; Kraft, Cantor & Gottdiener,
1991; Lang, Geiger, Strickwerda, & Summer, 1993; Rice Houston, Wright, 1986;
Wilson, 1991). As in the content of Schema theory, it is stated that the audience
would tend to learn the knowledge they have and emulate the behavior after being
exposed to the media, which might be similar to the case of Son Tung's MV. In the
MV “There's No One At All”, a myriad of the audiences are concerned that the
visuals in the MV may drive viewers to commit suicide if they find themselves in
the same circumstances as the character in the MV. Therefore, the Schema theory
will be the scientific framework utilized to investigate the case of Son Tung in
particular and the influence of music videos on the cognitive psychology of the
audience in general since it is compatible with the analytical aims of this study.
2.3. The influence of Music and Music Videos on adolescence:
In the article "Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and
Youth" by Darby. Southgate, V.J.Roscigno, a study on how popular music, which is
currently mostly sold as records and is created with the goal of being widely
distributed and purchased (Merriam. W, 2022), had investigated its effects on
schooling, social relationships, mood and affect, and especially behavior revealed
that music videos had downsides for children (Pediatrics, 2009). However, this
article, like most academic research on music, focuses primarily on the influence of
song lyrics on young children. Furthermore, according to the article "Listening to
Music and Watching Music Videos by the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry" children and adolescents often use music to explore their
identity and discover how they fit in. They often imitate what musical role models
do and say - trying on new roles as their identity develops. Music also allows youth
to express and explore their feelings and emotions. Besides, music is commonly
enjoyable for children and teenagers. However, some studies have shown that the
words and imagery in music may substantially influence how youngsters think, feel,
and behave (2017).
3. Theoretical framework for analysis The MV:
3.1. Schema (Script) Theory:
One source of schemas and scripts is media (Luke, 1987). The term "script" refers to
a schema concerning an action. For example, individuals may construct a mental
script for dealing with a particular incident after watching a T.V. drama about a
woman who discovers she has breast cancer. Viewers may learn specific behaviors
such as breast self-examination, notifying her partner about her disease, researching
various medicines, and dealing with a mastectomy and chemotherapy regarding her
self-image and sexuality. That abstract script is inferred and gradually becomes a
part of our permanent memory through exposure to samples of actions following a
specific script (Ahn, Brewer, & Mooney, 1992 ). Besides, the potential consequences
of learning script from media become especially clear when we consider a situation
for which readers or viewers have little prior knowledge or script from their own
life experience (Fred.S, Richard. J.H,2018). For example, assume a toddler learns
how to cope with muggers through watching T.V. adventure heroes deceive and
overcome the thief. If that youngster tried that script on a real mugger by making
the motions shown on T.V, the results might be terrible since it is only a science
fiction film. For instance, when confronted with a terrible villain, the superhero will
commonly morph and solve the situation. If those toddlers repeat the acts outlined
above, instead of seeking assistance from others, they will be forced to confront the
evil individual on their own, which may result in injury. A T.V. movie on child
abuse could be considered another example. In the narrative, a preteen is sexually
abused by her uncle and is distressed enough to seek help from a school counselor.
This revelation puts in motion a chain of circumstances that will bring this
occurrence to light, but inexorably. Because child abuse has remained taboo for a
long time, many viewers, including present and previous victims, may have had no
mental script to deal with it (Richard. J.H, Fred W.S,2013, pg 66). In this way, if
done gently but honestly, such a film might encourage victims to come forward and
seek support. It might include information on how to anticipate feelings about that
event and where to get support. It could also offer a scenario for the effects of such
a revelation.
In terms of MV “There's No One At All”, with the message conveyed in the music
video, viewers may form an amorphous narrative about depression and suicide.
These people will be able to imitate the MV's actions related to the doctrine
mentioned above.
3.2. An ANALYSIS of the case study from psychology perspective:
The Schema Theory will be the theoretical framework applied to analyze the case
study of MV “There’s No One At All”. Besides, this paper also gave other external
factors which could contribute to the sanctioning decision which will be presented
in the 3.2.2.
3.2.1. Analyze the effects of Sơn Tùng’s MV on the audience in terms of
psychology based on Schema (Script) Theory:
3.2.1.1. Effects of the music video on the adolescence:
Representing music through video cuts has fundamentally impacted how individual
tunes are created and advanced (Mariselda, 2001). The music video is one of the
most influential media forms that attract the youth and affect their beliefs over
periods. Unlike traditional recorded music, music videos can also tell a story and
make the songs' meanings easier to understand (Marjorie. H, Miriam B, 1996). As
music videos portray messages, they use finely textured pictures and music to
provoke, sell, advertise, and tell tales. This kind of media is a thrilling, dramatic
form of art that is a fantastic source of learning in its own right as well as a
fascinating link to more traditional creative forms (Pamela, 2007). Therefore,
analysis of music video content is crucial since research has shown that exposure to
violence, sexual messaging, sexual stereotypes, and the use of drugs and alcohol in
music videos can create major changes in the actions and attitudes of young viewers
(Hogan & Bar-on, 2009).
3.2.1.2. Son Tung MTP effect on the audience, especially the young:
Son Tung is a well-known music artist in Vietnam. His Youtube Channel has more
than 9 million subscribers, making him the first Vietnamese music singer to reach
this milestone. His songs on this platform received huge figures, about 50 to 250
million views per song. Besides that, his followers on other social media platforms
such as Facebook or Instagram are exceptionally high compared with other artists,
with 13,2 million and 6,2 million, respectively. Moreover, most of his fans are
teenagers, with Son Tung MTP’s follower proportion of 10% from 13-17 and 85%
from 18–24 years old (Le, 2022). With that considerable influence, this will become
a significant issue if his products impart a negative message. Idols frequently hold a
significant position in the audience's hearts; in particular, the more well-known a
person is, the more of an invisible impact they can have (Dinh, 2020). Through his
music videos, Son Tung M-TP is considered to have significantly impacted today's
generation's culture and way of life (Linh, 2022). Therefore, if his music goods
contain offensive material for viewers, the results could be disastrous for a sizable
audience, particularly young people.
As for the MV "There’s No One At All" of the Son Tung M-TP, this MV contains
the lyrics entirely in English, which may cause many Vietnamese listeners not to
comprehend or be concerned about its meaning. Previous Son Tung songs have
been rated as "Million views yet confusing lyrics" (Phan, 2019) because they are
difficult to comprehend or have a sophisticated word. According to “Người đưa tin”
journal, similar to Son Tung's past contributions, such as the "Chạy ngay đi" MV,
while being evaluated as challenging to understand and weak in clarity, it still
receives views every second. It can be observed that, despite not understanding the
lyrics, the public enthusiastically accepts and supports these MVs, partially because
of Son Tung's impact and possibly because the music items are exceptionally well
invested with catchy melodies and high-quality images from his music video The
same applies to the MV "There’s No One At All" which earned many views even
though the audience did not comprehend the words.
Furthermore, the content and imagery portrayed in the MV may affect the viewers'
mentality, not the song lyrics. The MV is prohibited from being broadcast on the
YouTube platform, but it is still available on online music streaming platforms like
Spotify and Apple Music. It may be concluded from the preceding that the MV
"There's No One At All" was deleted and sanctioned at the request of the
Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information.
The potential problems with the content in the MV are said to be: "The image in the
MV is deadlocked, not suitable for young people. The way to solve the problem of
the character is too negative", according to Dr. Dam Quang Minh (2022). Besides,
images of violence, depression, and suicide from MV "There's No One At
All"might produce significant changes in the behaviors and attitudes of young
viewers, according to the argument of Marjorie, Mariam, 1996. MV "There's No
One At All" is about a boy with a miserable childhood. He was raised in an
orphanage. He became a rogue, rioter, and trouble-maker due to not getting love and
education from a proper family. At the end of the music video, he chose to end his
life after many incidents. The perception and impact of music-video messaging on
children and teenagers, as with popular music, are connected to the viewer's age,
developmental and emotional stage, and degree of exposure. Moreover, music
videos' visual images and narratives have more potential to form attitudes, values,
or perceptions of social reality than music alone because they add additional
information and rely less on imagination (Douglas, 2003).
According to the Schema theory, by exposing oneself to examples of actions that
follow a specific script, an abstract script is inferred and forms a part of our
permanent memory (Ahn, Brewer, & Mooney, 1992).Using Schema theory to study
the case study of "There's No One At All" it is clear that the content is built on a
scenario with a distinct tale centered on the main character. The plot is about a guy
who is emotionally deprived and feels alone, deciding to terminate his life as a way
out of the current impasse. It can be observed that setting a precise screenplay can
help viewers remember the tale of the main character in this MV after seeing it for a
long time. As a result, if individuals see the MV and find themselves in the same
circumstance as the character in the MV, they are more likely to remember and learn
from the action in the MV.
In addition, Schema theory also implies that the possible effects of acquiring scripts
from media become especially evident when examining a circumstance in which
readers or viewers have minimal prior information or scripts from their own life
experiences. When applied to the example of Son Tung, this doctrine may be
interpreted as follows. According to the above data (mentioned in paragraph 1 in
3.2.1.2), Son Tung's audience is still mostly in their adolescent years, which is
between the ages of 18 and 25 - a phase in life when numerous changes occur, from
physical to psychological. Furthermore, that audience does not include all persons
with extensive knowledge and practical experience in confronting and resolving
severe life challenges. Mentioning the MV, although the scene of the male
protagonist jumping from the skyscraper is only a metaphor that leads to an open
ending for the MV, it can be observed from the perspective of the audience
mentioned above that those viewers are more likely to absorb and emulate what
they have learned from the MV. As a result, suicide is viewed as an efficient
approach to break the current impasse and assist the individual in overcoming the
dire difficulties he is experiencing, just as the character in the MV did. Besides,
"With celebrities, when explicitly playing bad characters, youngsters might emulate
and learn from them. There have been several similar incidents so far" (Bui, 2022).
Consequently, the acts of the character in the MV "There's No One At All" will
most likely become a lousy behavior pattern for young people when they are in
difficult situations, their body is fatigued. They feel that no one understands them..."
This study found that the content of Son Tung's music video has an influence on
children's cognitive psychology after utilizing the Schema theory to assess the
content of Son Tung's MV. By conveying a well-thought-out tale through the MV,
viewers, particularly teens, are more inclined to adopt the messages they perceive
and follow those behaviors. Based on the information gathered and processed in this
study, it is possible to conclude that there is a correlation between the content of
music videos and the cognitive psychology of mass audiences.
3.2.2: Other external factors:
Aside from applying Schema theory to examine the influence of MV content on the
audience's psychology, it is also required to consider a number of objective aspects
that profoundly affect the audience's psychology, such as:
3.2.2.1. Music video release time: Since the COVID-19 pandemic first
appeared two to three years ago, studies on how it has affected human health and
life are still relatively recent and have certain limitations. Vietnam is one of the
countries most affected by the pandemic and during the period of implementing
social distancing and measures to prevent the spread of the disease, people's psyche,
particularly that of children and teenagers, is also somewhat impacted. There has
not been any research or statistics on the impact of COVID-19 on Vietnamese
children's psychology, though, until this point. However, studies abroad have
revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic psychologically impacts people (Asmundson
& Taylor, 2020; Li et al., 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic could lead to increased
mental disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depressive and Anxiety
Disorders, and grieving-related symptoms in adolescents and children (2022). The
two statements above demonstrate how COVID-19 impacts adolescents' physical
and emotional health. "Given that several Vietnamese youths are struggling with
mental health, Son Tung's publication of a music video with negative content
targeting young people who show suicidal thoughts, lifestyles, and behaviors has
caused enormous harm. That picture becomes even more harmful after two years of
the pandemic", claimed Le Quang Tu Do, deputy head of the Department of
Communication and Information. Additionally, many student suicide instances were
reported across the nation before the debut of Son Tung's music video, one of which
was the unfortunate death of a male student in the 10th grade at Amsterdam High
School in Hanoi. When the video documenting the male student's suicide was
widely shared on social networking sites, this incident haunted Vietnamese internet
users. According to studies, disseminating information about suicide and detailed
photos of the suicide process can lead to many copycat suicides (Dinh, 2022). The
person intending to commit suicide will imitate the story or description of the
original suicide on television or other media. Sometimes, suicides spread through
the community, the educational system, or in waves after high-profile suicides. Son
Tung M-TP made a grave error by releasing an MV at such a critical time that
contained derogatory stuff about himself.
3.2.2.2. Not suitable for Vietnamese culture:
The MV "There's No One At All" was prohibited from being posted on YouTube
because it breached Clause 4, Article 3 of Decree 144 on performance art activities.
This clause states that the use of costumes, words, sounds, images, movements,
means of expression, and forms of expression that are contrary to the good customs
and traditions of the ethnicity, as well as harm ethics, public health, and
psychosocial well-being, are prohibited in performing arts activities (Báo Tuổi Trẻ,
2022). Another reason for the decision to punish this MV is that the content of the
MV is contradictory to Vietnamese social and cultural reality. This sanctioning
decision could be explained by one more reason: the MV content was inappropriate
for social practice and Vietnamese culture. Vietnam has endured many rough times
and losses throughout its history, so the Vietnamese value images of stability and
peace.
Additionally, because Vietnamese people usually strive to be cheerful and full of
life, positive, constructive, and solidaristic content is frequently preferred and
widely used in press products, the media, and popular culture. It could be seen that
the Vietnamese audience often prefers music videos with these factors, such as "Đi
để trở về" by Soobin Hoang Son (88 million views on Youtube) with content about
the meaning of union membership or the MV "Đi về nhà" a song by Den Vau (126
million views on Youtube) with a positive message: "Home is where I depart to step
into my life to discover accomplishments". Although Son Tung's products made a
bold move by publishing content that reflects a sensitive subject of society as an
image of an anti-social character, such images with violent elements are difficult for
Vietnamese audiences to accept, leading to banning MV.
The synthesis of the study given in sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 leads to the conclusion
that other aspects must be considered in addition to the employment of
psychoanalytic theories of mass media. External variables are used to get the most
objective judgments in the case "Whether Son Tung's MV influences the viewer's
psyche and the rationale for the decision to sanction this MV". The MV "There's No
One At All" illustrates the topic: there is a link between the content of the MV and
its influence on the viewer's psyche.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE:
4.1. Survey:
This study adopted both Descriptive and Qualitative research methods to research
the community's exposure and opinions towards the case study of administrative
sanction of singer Son Tung's music video: "There's No One At All" in general and
in specific.
Online Survey: Since Facebook is a site that many people in Vietnam use
(Wearesocial, 2022), conducting an online survey with a brief, simple, yet scientific
series of questionnaires on this platform will make it easier to receive a vast and
diverse response for this study. Furthermore, the primary goal of this study is to
collect opinions from teens and students aged 15 to 22, who are thought to be the
most influenced after viewing this MV. As a result, conducting an online survey will
also assist the research team in reaching this population. A self-administered
questionnaire was used and was conducted online in June. For the population of the
respondents, the sample was drawn from the author’s networks due to its
convenience. Then, the collected qualitative data were analyzed by using content
analysis.
4.2. Research:
Online research:
To ensure that the arguments in this research paper are objective, in addition to the
analysis based on observations and personal experiences of those conducting the
research, updating and using the most recent information on online newspapers will
assist the research team in gathering perspectives from the mass media such as
journalists and experts in the field of psychology to build the research paper. In
addition, scientific study papers on how viewers' cognitive psychology theories
have been impacted after exposure to media in general, as well as research on the
influence of music videos in particular have been collected, providing a scientific
foundation for developing this research paper.
5. RESULT:
Chart 1
The survey got 154 submissions in which 74% of respondents are between 15-18
years old, 20% are about 19-22 years old, and the rest are over 22 years old:
Chart 2

In the literacy of respondents: In general, this survey engaged participants that are
mainly high school students (67%). The second figure is University students with
24% and secondary students with 5%. The other one is people who got jobs at 4%.
Chart 3
Most of the respondents know about Son Tung M-TP has a figure of approximately
99%.
Chart 4

The survey continues for the 99.4% of respondents who know about Son Tung
M-TP to know how often they listen to his songs. About 70% of all participants in
this category revealed that they always listen to his products. The “Usually” figure
recorded 25% and “Sometimes” was 5%.
Chart 5
All of the participants have watched the MV “There’s No One At All” by Son Tung
M-TP (100%)
Chart 6

There are nearly 50 participants who think the MV brings a negative impact on
youngsters (accounting for 32%), and the other 68% think that the MV has no
impact at all.
Chart 7
As seen in the pie chart above, about 72% of the participants think that the MV
negatively influences young people based on the image, while the second-highest
choice is sound (accounting for 16.2%). Besides, lyrics and melody also
considerably chose to create a destructive impact on youngsters (accounting for
10.3% and 1.5%, respectively). Therefore, it is clear that people claim the MV for
having a negative image which can lead to unacceptable behaviors for teenagers.
Chart 8

Despite many claiming the MV for its harmful influence, there are a variety of
opinions in terms of whether the MV should be prohibited and punished:
Chart 9
Most participants think that “There’s No One At All” agree with the decision to ban
and punish the MV (accounting for 83.7%). At the same time, 10.1% of participants
disagreed with the punishment, and the rest stayed neutral.
6. DISCUSSION:
6.1. Analyze the survey results:
As the survey was conducted on Facebook, aimed particularly at young audiences,
it can be shown that this survey mainly engaged participants from the age of 15 to
22 years old. According to the figure, at these ages, almost all of them knew Son
Tung MTP, and more than half of them always listen to his songs. This proved that
Son Tung MTP was really famous and his music products were popular with the
young generation. About the MV “There’s No One At All”, almost all the
respondents had watched it. On the contrary, about the negative effects of the MV
on young audiences, 70% of the participants disagreed with this statement.
Mentioning what factors impact the audiences’ psychology, the vast majority of the
respondents (about 72%) believed the image element caused negative effects. The
survey’s findings show that there is compliance between the participants and the
researchers regarding the sanctioning decision of the MV “There’s No One At All”,
in which the image elements would be attributed to that decision.
Along with the multiple-choice questions mentioned above, this survey also gave
the participants the short-text answer questions to investigate in detail the answers
from the respondents. Participants who disagreed with the sanctioning decisions
were asked the reason why the MV caused no negative impacts on young audiences.
Most of the answers were recorded positively from the participants (mainly the
students) that show empathy with the message in the MV, which is adverse from the
researchers’ perspective. There are some particular answers including words that
appeared frequently such as “misunderstand”, “normal” and “having enough
cognition to apprehend”, which means that almost all of the participants of the
survey showed an empathetic attitude and opinions toward the MV. As an outcome,
they illustrated that “There’s No One At All” was the same as other normal music
videos. Additionally, they found themselves having enough knowledge to realize
and look at the problems of the MV in many aspects. Besides, there are several
answers recorded differently. It contained repeated words like “negative” or others
but the same meaning. Therefore, this figure illustrated the agreement that MV
caused negative effects on youngsters.
Mentioning the impression of participants when they watched the MV for the first
time, words such as “empathetic” and “gloomy images but reflect the reality” are in
most of the answers. This result strengthens the statement that viewers show
empathy with the situation of Son Tung MTP MV. As can be seen from the survey,
although the MV “There’s No One At All” had a myriad of scenes containing the
antisocial behavior of the character, the evidence concluded that it did not affect the
youngsters negatively.
The next question “In the period before proposing the MV, there were lots of tragic
incidents that happened but he still decided to release “There's No One At All”.
What do you think about this case?”. Most of the answers illustrated that Son Tung
MTP was irresponsible with his audiences. In fact, the audience misinterpreted the
message Son Tung MTP expected to convey through the MV and lyrics in the song,
according to Son Tung in the Facebook post on April 29th. In order to prevent such
an unfortunate incident, the timing factor when releasing the MV is also one of the
important pokes for the Government to penalize the MV. After the Covid-19
pandemic arrived, the psychology of the youngsters in general and Vietnam, in
particular, were partly affected a lot. Combining the events about children's suicide
in Vietnam in 2022 with the previous statement, the release of “There's No One At
All” could lead to various unexpected outcomes.
6.2. Strengths and limitations of this study:
By utilizing the most recent information on the case, applying Schema theory, and
evaluating the features in the MV, this study demonstrated that the reason why MV
was prohibited was primarily due to the negative imagery, which has resulted in the
possibility of influencing the psychology of viewers. This may be proved that there
is a connection between the pictures in the MV that can have psychological impacts
on the viewers. Moreover, with results from the action survey, this paper also
pointed out a discrepancy between academic perspectives and mass audiences'
attitudes.
Apart from the positive outcomes, this study currently has certain drawbacks. (1)
Firstly, this study has a specific limitation in the sampling technique, so the survey’s
participants were not as diverse as expected. The action research only converges
thoughts about the MV from young people, ranging from 15 to 22 years old, hence
lacking the opinion of older folks, especially the parents’ groups. (2) Since this
paper is based on the researchers' experience and an online survey, it lacks scholarly
opinions from proficients in the Multimedia Communication domain.
7. CONCLUSION:
Mentioning the impacts of MV “There's No One At All” on young audiences in
terms of psychology, the majority of the audience aged 15 to 22 believed that this
MV had no severe consequences. Nevertheless, from the standpoint of media
psychology, Son Tung's MV can potentially have many detrimental impacts on the
audience, particularly the youth (as mentioned in 3.2). Furthermore, a succession of
prestigious papers in Vietnam supports the government's sanctioning decision, as do
several arguments highlighting the adverse effects of MVs on the audience. These
shreds of evidence lead to the conclusion that there might be a divergence between
mainstream audiences and media psychology professionals.
Apart from investigating the feasibility of learning information, imitating behavior,
and psychological excitation might be increased when exposed to music's visual
dimension, this paper also pointed out the feasibility of the divergence in terms of
thought about media products between mainstream viewers and media psychology
experts. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that the approach to music video
material's effects on mass audiences' psychological component is plausible and
relatively practical. However, based on their responses in the online survey, the
respondents who were supposed to be impacted after watching the MV thought that
the negative visuals had a minor influence on them. Since this survey did not have
enough data from a wide range of individuals, including adults and specialists in the
field of psychology, this issue deserves additional investigation to get varied
viewpoints, thus contributing to the more scholarly literature on this topic. There
can thus be a scientific basis for implementing new regulations on music MV
production for artists, assisting in the reduction of terrible scenarios such as copycat
suicide.
Recommendations:
In terms of artists: Based on the investigation of Son Tung's case and the influence
of music videos in particular and media in general on audience psychology, this
study infers: Artists should use caution while creating products in general,
especially when creating visual material. Before launching a music product, the
artist must first grasp the demands and interests of the music industry while also
reconciling personal creative thinking with the Vietnamese community and cultural
norms to avoid unfortunate incidents such as Son Tung's case. Furthermore, the
artist's choice of timing, product launch background, and audience are all essential
considerations. Suppose the content of their music products contains delicate
components or requires viewers to have a specific level of understanding. In that
case, the artist must consider the age limit to get the desired result and deliver the
message successfully. Besides, when a product is published, it may have two
competing perspectives from the general public and professionals. Thus, the
products should have a consensus between the audience's point of view and experts
to get scientific guidance to avoid psychological effects on the community.
In terms of further research about this topic: As the scope of the survey’s
participants was only focused on adolescents and not diverse as expected, further
studies are recommended to investigate how different groups of ages think about
this issue. Furthermore, this topic should consider the perspectives of psychology,
communication, and academic specialists on the MV Son Tung problem. Since they
are highly qualified specialists and have expertise in these specific domains, their
information is frequently trustworthy.
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