Persuasive Games Research Articles

Exploring the impact of game framing on the motivational appeal of persuasive strategies and their effectiveness in behaviour change games

ABSTRACT To enhance the persuasiveness of behaviour-change games, designers employ persuasive strategies. These persuasive strategies are intended to motivate the users towards the desired behaviours. Hence, the motivational appeal of these persuasive strategies can play an important role in the effectiveness of these behaviour-change games. Furthermore, research has shown that game framing can impact its effectiveness. Therefore, it is important to understand how the type of framing employed in the game impacts the effectiveness of persuasive strategies and their motivational appeal. To advance research in this direction, this paper explores the relationship between the perceived effectiveness of four popular persuasive strategies (reward, competition, praise and suggestion) and their motivational appeal in a persuasive game for healthy eating across the three different game framings: gain-framing, loss-framing or gain-loss-framing. In a study of 371 participants, our results revealed that all the persuasive strategies were perceived to be significantly effective across all game-framing versions. We also discovered that game framing had varying significant impacts on the relationship between the perceived effectiveness of persuasive strategies and their motivational appeal. We conclude by offering some insights on how to implement persuasive strategies to design games with better persuasive motivational appeal.

A Two-Stage co-Design Process of Battleship-AST Persuasive Game for Active School Transportation in Northern Sweden

This research delves into the dynamics of active school transport (AST) by utilizing a two-stage co-design process and leveraging persuasive technology within a game for promoting AST called Battleship-AST. The primary aim of this research is to thoroughly investigate the two-stage game co-design process employed in creating a Battleship-AST game. Moreover, our research aims to evaluate participants’ perceptions regarding the motivating and engaging potential of the persuasive technology and gamification features embedded within the final iteration of the game. This evaluation aims to understand how these features influence participants’ motivation to increase their usage of AST through gameplay. In pursuit of these objectives, the research builds upon the existing Battleship-AST prototype and actively engages school children in a collaborative two-stage co-design process. Their valuable insights and preferences were harnessed in refining the game, which was subsequently tested during a tech event in Skellefteå, Sweden. The findings shed light on various aspects of the game’s impact, from its reception to the gamification features integrated within. Notably, the research highlights the positive impact of the co-design process, with increased motivation and engagement observed among the participants. Their involvement in shaping the game’s design resulted in a more engaging and enjoyable experience. The persuasive technology features, encompassing competition, collaboration, auditory cues, a virtual reward system, and an emphasis on similarity, played a pivotal role in sustaining engagement and motivating players. Elements such as rewards, leaderboard progression, and badges proved highly effective in encouraging continued participation and fostering a positive feedback loop. However, the study also identifies areas for potential improvement, including the need to measure real-life progress and refine the game’s levelling system. The research indicates that refining feedback mechanisms and tailoring game content to individual preferences could create an even more engaging experience. Additionally, long-term playtesting is proposed to assess the game’s extended impact. The findings offer promising avenues for enhancing motivation and engagement in AST, which can contribute to the promotion of healthier and more sustainable transportation choices among school children.

Gaming [the] Systems: Critical Analysis through Tabletop Roleplaying Games in Humanities Classrooms

In its very designation, “role play” contains a productive tension: the expectations bound up in roles and the liberating potentiality of play. It comes as no surprise, then, that role play has found expression in the worlds of business, therapy, education, and even the military. Table-top games exist as our culture’s most familiar form of role play but among its least theorized. In this paper, I examine the rich potential of table-top role-playing games in humanities classrooms as a means to fuel cultural critique, critical analysis, class discussion, and self-reflection. My paper lays out a theoretical structure for analyzing games as multi-dimensional texts and a practical guide for bringing them into the classroom. In particular, I look at two free-to-access and permissively concise game systems which can easily fit into an open week of coursework. The games, “Lasers and Feelings” and “The Deep Forest,” depart from the cultural expectations of “Dungeons & Dragons” to rethink, adapt, and challenge our understanding of issues ranging from the formulation of the rational, Western subject to the politics of post-colonialism. I supplement conventional process-oriented pedagogy with Ian Bogost’s “Persuasive Games” and C. Thai Nguyen’s “Games: Agency as Art,” to establish a robust groundwork for students to analyze and critique how game design decisions make arguments about the world. Furthermore, in playing the games in the classroom and debriefing afterwards, students identify their internal systems that reflect and inform their own assumptions about the world.

What’s the News About Bad News? A Review of Bad News Games as a Tool to Teach Media Literacy

Abstract This paper examines the Bad News series of games, created by the Cambridge University Social Decision Making Lab and DROG Group, as an educational tool. More specifically, it considers Bad News as a persuasive game, within the umbrella of gamification. After considering the history and context of the game, the educational, motivational, and informational theoretical frameworks of the games, research, and criticisms, this paper concludes that the games are not, in themselves, transformative.

The Design of a Persuasive Game to Motivate People with Asthma in Adherence to Their Maintenance Medication

The Design of a Persuasive Game to Motivate People with Asthma in Adherence to Their Maintenance Medication

Adolescents’ perceptions of active school transport in northern Sweden

Active school transport (AST) refers to using active means of transport such as walking, cycling, or riding a non-motorised scooter to school. It can help improve adolescents’ physical activity levels and create a more sustainable environment. The study involved 70 adolescents (45 boys and 25 girls) aged 13 to 14 from one school in Skellefteå, in Northern Sweden. In an online questionnaire, they were asked about their perceptions of cycling, walking, and riding a non-motorised scooter to school. This study used descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, and hypothesis testing with ANOVA to analyse the collected data and compare the perceptions of different types of transport on safety, environmental, and personal factors among adolescents in Northern Sweden. According to the results, more adolescents walked to school than cycled, and significantly few rode a non-motorised scooter to school. Most adolescents believe walking or cycling to school is a great way to exercise. Furthermore, the study also revealed that many adolescents avoid using AST due to the time it takes. Although the study showed that adolescents felt sufficient support for using AST from schools and parents, the number of adolescents using motorised transport is higher during winter than in summer. Additionally, most of them were more confident about cycling and walking to school than riding a non-motorised scooter and thought using AST was nice. Finally, most adolescents perceived having complete control over their transport options when going to school. The research indicates that it is crucial to implement interventions that inspire children to be interested and excited about using AST. These strategies should include fostering an AST culture that is fun and positive, as well as creating environments that are safe and supportive. The research results will guide the creation of a persuasive game that can motivate adolescents to use AST and measure its effectiveness.

A game of persuasion: influencing persuasive game appraisals through presentation frames and recommendation sources.

As games made with the explicit or implicit purpose of influencing players' attitudes, persuasive games afford a new way for individuals to reflect and elaborate on real-world issues or topics. While research points to effects of these games on their players, little is known about their practical impact. The current study focuses on the decision-making process that takes place between first hearing about a game and deciding to play it. Three elements in a game's presentation to potential players were explored: (1) the way it is framed as an entertaining experience, (2) the way it is framed as intending to persuade its players, and (3) whether it comes recommended by automated systems or through electronic word-of-mouth. These factors were chosen in line with theoretical arguments around framing, eudaimonia, and source credibility. A two (entertainment frame: hedonic versus eudaimonic) by two (persuasive intent frame: obfuscated versus explicit) by two (source of recommendation: system- versus peer-based) between-subjects experimental design was performed across (N = 310) randomly distributed participants. Measures were adapted from previous research and included selection and play behavior, attitudes, and obtrusiveness of persuasive intent, among others. Results show that frames need to be congruent to be effective, with the most effective stimuli being those where persuasive intent was clear and players could expect to engage meaningfully. Peer recommendations led to greater play intention than system-based varieties. While intention to play positively related to actual play behavior, this relationship was likely the result of avid game players displaying more interest in the game regardless of the study's manipulations. Implications are drawn from the advantages of being open about persuasive intent and the composition and drivers of a persuasive game's target audience.

Games for Change—A Comparative Systematic Review of Persuasive Strategies in Games for Behavior Change

Games for change is a growing research field and studies have shown that these games can promote positive behaviour change using various persuasive strategies. This paper presents a systematic review of 130 persuasive games from the literature published in the last 21 years (2001-2021), to (1) highlight the current trends in the field with respect to domains, year, country, technology platforms, and genre (2) identify what strategies are employed in the games and their comparative analysis across domains; (3) uncover various ways the persuasive strategies are operationalized in games; (4) explore for possible relationships between persuasive games effectiveness and the number of strategies employed; (5) highlight gaps and opportunities for future research in the area of persuasive games. Our analysis reveals the Reward strategy is the most popular persuasive strategy employed in the persuasive games research. We also uncovered that, even though persuasive games have been strongly effective at promoting behaviour change, there was a significant negative relationship between the number of persuasive strategies employed in persuasive games and their overall effectiveness. Based on these findings, we provide insights and design suggestions, operationalization, and assessment for persuasive games.

Public opinions about an older adult playing a persuasive game: Based on social media messages

Information and communication technologies (ICT), such as mobile games, can potentially decrease social isolation by facilitating online and offline connections. Pokémon Go uses persuasive game elements to encourage players to walk outside and meet with fellow players during live events. In this study, we take the preliminary step of examining public opinions surrounding mobile gaming by older people. We analyzed online social media comments from a news story about Mrs. Chen, a 79-year-old woman with terminal cancer who played Pokémon Go in Taiwan. Three major themes were extracted: logistics of Pokémon Go, opinions of emotion or attitudes toward the news story, and opinions relating to older people playing games. The public was positive toward older people playing mobile games, while age-related stigmatization was found. The study's generalizability was limited by presenting a single case from Taiwan. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings.

The Effects of Surprising Events on Promoting Social Change in Unwinnable Persuasive Games

Surprising events can be beneficial for unwinnable persuasive games, especially since they can evoke players to reflect on their failure to win the game. Despite its presence in some titles, the usage of surprising events still lacks empirical support. This study aims to gain insight into it by comparing the effects of revealing the game’s context from the beginning to delaying it until the game ends. In addition, we also examine the interaction effects with playing duration since it is possible that longer playtime will lead to smaller effects for a game with surprising events, whereas longer playtime will result in greater effects for a game without surprising events. To do so, we conducted a 2 x 2 factorial between-subject experiment with an additional no-treatment control group. The results suggest that delaying the revelation to create a surprising event can promote the same level of donation from players, regardless of their playing time. On the other hand, longer playtime is important if players know the context from the beginning. Additional results about the effect of playing duration on donation and willingness to help were also discussed in this paper.

In-store assortment training to the distribution manpower of dairy companies using gamification

The aim of this study is to design and implement an e-learning course for distributors of fast-moving consumer goods using gamification. In the first step, the components of the in-store assortment are extracted using a systematic literature review, and customer preferences in each of these factors were determined as users’ opinions of 387 customers. In the next step, the game is designed based on the persuasive game design (PGD) model, and the mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics (MDA) of the game were determined by an experts’ panel, and a mobile app is designed as a learning tool. In the following step, the designed game was carried out by the distributors and the game prizes are awarded to the winners. Finally, the effects of the gamified e-learning are evaluated using the IMI questionnaire and analyzing the players’ points. Findings show that enjoyment, perceived competence, effort importance, pressure tension, perceived choice, and usefulness of this course are significantly higher than average. Besides, the average of points gets higher during repetition rounds while the dispersion of the points gets lower. As a result, it seems that gamification could be a valuable alternative to learning operational tricks for marketing staff, especially distributors.

Revealed Bayesian expected utility with limited data

This paper characterizes expected utility preferences with information acquisition and Bayesian updating using stochastic choice data on acts. This contrasts with research that uses state-dependent stochastic choices which is difficult to obtain outside of the laboratory. The characterization is in the spirit of the Wald-Pearce lemma and requires that there is no random deviation rule that improves ex-ante expected utility for all possible information structures consistent with the data. The result is extended to place bounds on an unknown prior and facilitate welfare comparisons in the presence of framing. These bounds are computable via linear programming. Moreover, we show that in special cases, the bounds can be found explicitly by solving a series of Bayesian persuasion games.

Persuasion for the Long Run

We examine a persuasion game where concerns about future credibility are the sole source of commitment. A long-run Sender plays a dynamic cheap talk game against short-run Receivers. Even with perfect monitoring, long-run incentives do not substitute for full commitment at the stage game. We show how a simple mechanism that we call a 'coin and cup' can better harness long-run incentives to retrieve payoffs identical to those under full commitment. We also examine how a mediator can approximate these payoff even when monitoring is imperfect. Neither mechanism affects play in the one-shot game. Finally, we discuss both actual and potential applications of these two mechanisms within finance, e-commerce, media, lobbying, cryptography, and central banking. The Sender benefits from better persuasion; Receivers can either benefit or suffer.

Ex-Ante Design of Persuasion Games

Ex-Ante Design of Persuasion Games

The War on Terror beyond the barrel of a gun: The procedural rhetorics of the boardgame Labyrinth

Utilizing Bogost’s procedural rhetoric framework in his book Persuasive Games, this article examines Labyrinth, a boardgame that simulates the conflict between the United States and global terrorism. The authors systematically integrate ludology (rules/gameplay) and narratology (narratives/representations) to illustrate how Labyrinth was intentionally designed so that players became active participants in a narrative about how good governance undermines the sources of terrorism and the counterproductive nature of militarized counterterrorism, as well as bear witness to the agency of the Muslim world and the region’s political dynamism on the tabletop. This is a very different account of the War on Terror than has previously been studied in the literature, which has focused overwhelmingly on first-person shooter videogames and, in turn, has provided a very limited range of how this conflict can be represented in ludic form. However, Labyrinth is not alone, and the wargames that many players grew up with have given way to a variety of boardgames which approach complex historical or contemporary situations and environments beyond simply killing one’s enemies. This represents a diverse, but largely untapped, resource already in the public space and ready to be investigated. Media studies can therefore benefit from considering how boardgames similar to Labyrinth present alternative ways in which the ‘real world’ has been, and indeed can be, translated through popular culture objects.

Socially-Oriented Persuasive Game to Promote Disease Awareness and Prevention

Persuasive games are widely implemented in the health domain to promote desirable behaviour change. Previous research shows that using persuasive games employing various strategies results in increased motivation and awareness that led to a positive change in behaviour. This paper investigates the efficacy of a competition-based persuasive game at creating awareness and motivating people to adhere to COVID-19 precautionary measures. To achieve this goal, we developed and evaluated a competition-based persuasive game to promote the awareness and adoption of COVID-19 precautionary measures. The results of our pretest and posttest study ( N = 67 ) followed by a semistructured interview of 18 participants show the efficacy of the game with respect to promoting a positive change in attitude, intention, self-efficacy, knowledge, and promoting motivation and positive player experience among participants. The qualitative results provide insight into how and why persuasive games promote desirable behaviour. The paper contributes to the knowledge of how emerging technologies in the form of persuasive games can be designed and used to contribute to solving problems in our society.

Designing Personalized Persuasive Game Elements for Older Adults in Health Apps

The use of gamification elements in health apps has been shown to promote healthy behaviors. However, one-size-fits-all gamification strategy does not have the best persuasive effect. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine how to select personalized game elements for older adults and use them in health education app design. Firstly, based on the DMC model, the Kano model was used to identify the demand attributes of game mechanisms, and three gamification mechanisms (winning, feedback and reward) preferred by the elderly were selected. Secondly, the corresponding gamification elements were selected by the focus group method, and nine virtual products were generated. Thirdly, the virtual products were rated and conjointly analyzed to obtain the relative importance of gamification mechanisms and the utility values of gamification elements, and a comparative analysis was conducted on four characteristics of older adults: age, gender, personal income, and education. The results obtained the best combination of gamification elements chosen by the elderly under different classifications. Finally, design guidelines on persuasive gamification elements were developed based on the characteristics of older adults, and a modified gamification model was proposed. The results of this study provide suggestions and guidelines for the design of persuasive gamification in health education apps, which will help improve the satisfaction of older adults with health apps.

What’s the Point? Balancing Purpose and Play in Rule-based Compositions

The paper applies theory drawn from game studies to music composition in order to consider ways in which rules and goals create environments that promote critical play and manage the balance between purpose, play and task subservience. It explores correspondences between rules in games and indeterminate music, and considers how constraints create agency for players through presenting them with choices and goals that can be linked to values. Game studies research shows that games rely on interactivity, goals, competitors and conflict (Crawford 2003), and consequently effort from its players so as to attach value to its outcomes (Juul 2003). In rule-based compositions, rules are used to present choices, allowing individual players to make autonomous decisions that are focused on achieving a specified goal. Some rule-based compositions, however, specify processes and actions that have no explicit purpose. A process is initiated, perhaps with an end condition, but there is no specified purpose, other than undertaking the tasks. Game studies research suggests ways in which games might create approaches for harnessing specific motivations of players in such contexts. Tasks in persuasive games (Bogost 2010) are designed to embody real-world challenges, while Flanagan and Nissenbaum (2014) propose an approach to game design that communicates embedded values. Such approaches translate to rule-based music, presenting models for linking tasks to purpose and play, and with it relationships with the world.

Optimal queue length information disclosure when service quality is uncertain

We investigate a server's best queue disclosure strategy in a single‐server service system with an uncertain quality level (which is assumed to be binary). We consider this problem from the perspective of a Bayesian persuasion game. The server first commits to a possibly mixed strategy stating the probability that the queue length will be revealed to customers on their arrival given a realized quality level. The service quality level is then realized, and the server's corresponding queue‐disclosure action is observed by customers, who then update their beliefs regarding service quality and decide whether to join the service system. We reformulate the server's decision problem as looking for the best Bayes‐plausible distribution of posterior beliefs regarding service quality. We demonstrate that the maximal expected effective arrival rate, as a function of the prior belief, can be graphed as the upper envelope of all convex combinations of any two arbitrary points on the two effective arrival rate functions of the revealed and concealed queues. We show that when the market size is sufficiently small (large), the server always conceals (reveals) the queue, regardless of the realized service quality. Numerically, we find that in a medium‐sized market, the server's optimal commitment strategy is often hybrid or mixed, that is, randomizing queue concealment and revelation. We also extend our analysis to a situation in which the server aims to maximize social welfare. We show that under certain conditions, it is always beneficial for the welfare‐maximizing social planner to randomize queue concealment and revelation, regardless of the market size.

Talking Over Time ‐ Dynamic Central Bank Communication

AbstractThis paper studies the optimal dynamic communication strategy of central banks using a Bayesian persuasion game framework. In a dynamic environment, financial market participants and the general public have misaligned interests because the present and future have different relevance in their optimization problems, leading to a novel trade‐off for the monetary authority. Compared to the static benchmark, I show that the central bank (CB's) optimal dynamic communication policy should put a higher weight on talking about the present state than the future. In addition, the CB should strategically send more noisy signals than in the static benchmark.