Content Warnings in dark romance: examining shared responsibilities and reader reactions

Florence Euzéby () and Juliette Passebois-Ducros ()
Additional contact information
Florence Euzéby: NUDD - Usages du Numérique pour le Développement Durable - ULR - La Rochelle Université, ULR - La Rochelle Université
Juliette Passebois-Ducros: IRGO - Institut de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations - UB - Université de Bordeaux - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Bordeaux

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This research examines how content warnings (CWs) for dark romance novels are communicated and by whom, in a context where publishers, booksellers and social-media influencers share unclear responsibilities. The role of CWs in cultural goods remains understudied despite growing concerns about young readers' exposure to violent or sensitive themes. Using a mixed-method design, we map current disclosure practices across industry actors and influencer communities, then experimentally test how varying levels of CW explicitness affect readers' emotions, curiosity and willingness to engage. Findings reveal heterogeneous and spatially contingent practices. Gatekeeping over sensitive content is distributed across actors, with influencers emerging where booksellers' control weakens online. The experiment shows that a more detailed warning does not deter readers. It heightens their curiosity, mainly because it is perceived as more effective.

Keywords: Content warnings; Dark romance; Social-media influencers; Booktok; Harmful cultural content (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-30
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in The 18th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Jun 2026, Rio de Janeiro (BR), Brazil

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05670752

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().