Gamification – A Novel Phenomenon or a New Wrapping for Existing Concepts?

Adding game elements to products and services has become a popular approach for enhancing users’ experiences. Accordingly, gamification is widely considered an important method for intrinsically motivating users toward a preferred behavior. But what exactly about gamification is actually novel? In a broad literature review, we compare and contrast gamification to similar concepts such as hedonic, persuasive and intrinsically motivating information systems. By decomposing and classifying game elements found in the literature, we distinguish between already existing elements and ones that can be considered new. In order to drive this area of research forward, we develop an extended framework for gamification, identify gaps in the literature, and propose future avenues for research

Raising awareness for water polution based on game activities using internet of things

Awareness among young people regarding the environment and its resources and comprehension of the various factors that interplay, is key to changing human behaviour towards achieving a sustainable planet. In this paper IoT equipment, utilizing sensors for measuring various parameters of water quality, is used in an educational context targeting at a deeper understanding of the use of natural resources towards the adoption of environmentally friendly behaviours. We here note that the use of water sensors in STEM gameful learning is an area which has not received a lot of attention in the previous years. The IoT water sensing and related scenaria and practices, addressing children via discovery, gamification, and educational activities, are discussed in detail

The game transfer phenomena scale: an instrument for investigating the nonvolitional effects of video game playing

A variety of instruments have been developed to assess different dimensions of playing videogames and its effects on cognitions, affect, and behaviors. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Game Transfer Phenomena Scale (GTPS) that assesses non-volitional phenomena experienced after playing videogames (i.e., altered perceptions, automatic mental processes, and involuntary behaviors). A total of 1,736 gamers participated in an online survey used as the basis for the analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to confirm the factorial structure of the GTPS. The five-factor structure using the 20 indicators based on the analysis of gamers’ self-reports fitted the data well. Population cross-validity was also achieved and the positive associations between the session length and overall scores indicate the GTPS warranted criterion-related validity. Although the understanding of GTP is still in its infancy, the GTPS appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing non-volitional gaming-related phenomena. The GTPS can be used for understanding the phenomenology of post-effects of playing videogames

Exploring Twitter as a game platform; strategies and opportunities for microblogging-based games

Recent years have seen the massive daily engagement of players with games that are integrated with online social networking sites, such as Facebook. However, few games have successfully created engaging experiences through integration with microblogging websites. In this paper, we explore the opportunities and challenges in using Twitter as a platform for playing games, through the case study of the game Hashtag Dungeon, a dungeon-crawling game that uses Twitter for collaborative creation of game content. Two studies were carried out. A quantitative user study with 32 participants demonstrated that players found the game engaging and rewarding. A follow-up qualitative study with 8 participants suggests that Twitter integration in this game is meaningful, but that there are concerns over the impact of the game on players’ Twitter profiles. Based on findings from both studies, we propose strategies for the design of Microblogging-based games, and discuss wider implications of social media integration in games

Eliciting Behavior From Interactive Narratives: Isolating the Role of Agency in Connecting With and Modeling Characters

A key component differentiating interactive storytelling from non-interactive media is agency, or control over character choices. A series of experiments show that providing agency over a character increased the user-character connection, which then increased engagement in a character-consistent charitable act. Findings were observed in technologically simple online narratives that controlled for navigation/controller differences, graphics, sounds, lengthy play, and avatar customization. Effects emerged even though users did not practice these acts by making their character behave charitably. Findings were robust across happy and unfortunate endings and across first-, second-, and third-person narrative perspectives. Findings suggest promise for developing inexpensive ‘‘storygames’’ to encourage supportive behaviors

Consumer engagement with football brands on Facebook

The growth of social media has forced brands to adapt the scope of their activities in terms of brand management, consumer engagement and customer communications. Football brands have recently started to understand the relevance of social media as a tool for exploiting the enormous potential they possess, much due to their well-established brand awareness, brand identity and, most of all, the passion they more easily trigger in fans. The goal of this research is to determine the most influential motivations that trigger consumers to engage with a football brand on Facebook. Furthermore, we want to understand if between brand love, brand image and consumer engagement influence brand loyalty towards football brands. To do so, we have collected data from 214 respondents that were questioned about this subject, after which we performed correlation analysis in order to test these relations. Our findings point out that entertainment, personal identity and social influence are the most influential types of motivations to engage with a football brand on Facebook. Trust in the brand, despite not showing the same relevance, also came out as a significant variable. Other results indicate that there is a positive relation between brand love, brand image, consumer engagement and, lastly, brand loyalty. Our findings and the respective managerial implications they might present are discussed, also providing indications and suggestions regarding future researches concerning this subject