How to Achieve Ethical Persuasive Design: A Review and Theoretical Propositions for Information Systems

Persuasive system design (PSD) is an umbrella term for designs in information systems (IS) that can influence people’s attitude, behavior, or decision making for better or for worse. On the one hand, PSD can improve users’ engagement and motivation to change their attitude, behavior, or decision making in a favorable way, which can help them achieve a desired outcome and, thus, improve their wellbeing. On the other hand, PSD misuse can lead to unethical and undesirable outcomes, such as disclosing unnecessary information or agreeing to terms that do not favor users, which, in turn, can negatively impact their wellbeing. These powerful persuasive designs can involve concepts such as gamification, gamblification, and digital nudging, which all have become prominent in recent years and have been implemented successfully across different sectors, such as education, e-health, e-governance, e-finance, and digital privacy contexts. However, such persuasive influence on individuals raises ethical questions as PSD can impair users’ autonomy or persuade them towards a third party’s goals and, hence, lead to unethical decision-making processes and outcomes. In human-computer interaction, recent advances in artificial intelligence have made this topic particularly significant. These novel technologies allow one to influence the decisions that users make, to gather data, and to profile and persuade users into unethical outcomes. These unethical outcomes can lead to psychological and emotional damage to users. To understand the role that ethics play in persuasive system design, we conducted an exhaustive systematic literature analysis and 20 interviews to overview ethical considerations for persuasive system design. Furthermore, we derive potential propositions for more ethical PSD and shed light on potential research gaps

Swiss video game firms : an analysis of existing and required support measures for the video game industry in Switzerland

A significant development of the video game market could be observed over the last few decades. Back in the day, playing video games was generally considered to be a leisure activity predominantly practiced by young men. However, this activity has expanded to include other target groups, most notably women as well as parents and seniors. Not only the user base of video games has changed significantly, but also the importance of the industry itself. According to a report by PwC analyzing the future of global entertainment and media, between 2017 and 2022, consumers will allocate a significant portion of their free time dedicated to entertainment and media activities to playing video games (27.8 percent CAGR). More specifically, consuming video games comes only second to communications with 28.5 percent. Moreover, the video game industry currently generates higher revenues than other entertainment industries, such as motion pictures and music

Spontaneous Communities of Learning: Cooperative Learning Ecosystems Surrounding Virtual Worlds

This thesis is the culmination of a five year research project exploring online gamers and the cultures they engage with, both virtually in the many massively multiplayer games and virtual worlds online, and in the physical spaces they inhabit in various play spaces around the world. The primary research questions concerned social learning in such spaces, i.e. how do players learn from one another what they need to be successful, and what are the associated norms and practices for doing so? What sorts of peripheral skills are gained, and are they applicable to physical world contexts? Finally, what does participation in such spaces mean for individuals who may have lacked other mechanisms for social learning, and what impacts might such findings have on existing educational structures? I anticipate that this thesis will generate as many questions as it will answer, and I hope, that as a snapshot of a gaming culture in time, will be looked upon as a monograph in the classic ethnographic tradition

Working in Australia's digital games industry

The Working in Australia’s Digital Games Industry: A Consolidation Report is the outcome of a comprehensive study on the games industry in Australia by Dr Sandra Haukka from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) based at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. The study responds to concerns that Australia’s games industry would not reach its full potential due to a lack of local, highly skilled staff, and a lack of appropriately trained graduates with the necessary knowledge and skills. This is the first of two reports produced with the support of the Games Developers’ Association of Australia. Over coming months researchers will develop a future skills strategy report for the industry

Dasein online! a study of the experience of flow in the virtual playground

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, it aimed to present and understand the experiences of online gamers from the paradigm of positive psychology. To achieve this, the phenomenon of flow was investigated to see whether or not, it is experienced whilst gaming online and if present, how it is revealed in this context. The second purpose was to contribute to theory building and to respond to extant research recommendations. Aligned with a qualitative orientation, the method selected to achieve the objectives of the study was interpretative phenomenological analysis. A sample of four participants who met the criteria for inclusion in the research were selected and interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed and interpreted inductively and categorised into superordinate themes. These were presented as two sections: Section A explored the experience and meaning of online gaming through the following three superordinate themes; intention, pre-gaming rituals and gaming process. Section B discussed the social experience and meaning of gaming online through the superordinate theme, a gamers way. This study both challenged and supported theory and research in the field and introduced novel areas, such as pregaming rituals and the subthemes; marijuana and gaming space. This is a notable and promising "side effect" of a research design that is exploratory. Findings called for future multi-disciplinary research into flow, gaming and online relationships considering Csikszentimaihalyi‟s concept of autotelic relationships and Heideggers‟ philosophical framework

Persuasive Gaming in Context

The rapid developments in new communication technologies have facilitated the popularization of digital games, which has translated into an exponential growth of the game industry in recent decades. The ubiquitous presence of digital games has resulted in an expansion of the applications of these games from mere entertainment purposes to a great variety of serious purposes. In this edited volume, we narrow the scope of attention by focusing on what game theorist Ian Bogost has called 'persuasive games', that is, gaming practices that combine the dissemination of information with attempts to engage players in particular attitudes and behaviors.This volume offers a multifaceted reflection on persuasive gaming, that is, on the process of these particular games being played by players. The purpose is to better understand when and how digital games can be used for persuasion by further exploring persuasive games and some other kinds of persuasive playful interaction as well. The book critically integrates what has been accomplished in separate research traditions to offer a multidisciplinary approach to understanding persuasive gaming that is closely linked to developments in the industry by including the exploration of relevant case studies

Learning Race and Ethnicity: Hip-Hop 2.0

Part of the Volume on Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media In the twenty-first century, a hip hop music label becomes an indispensable source for learning: a young person's resource for information otherwise suppressed by industry regulation, federally censored, or not considered "news worthy" across corporate broadcast modes of distribution. This chapter, "Hip Hop 2.0," examines how hip hop music label Web sites (Guerrillafunk.com and Slamjamz.com) provide an educational space where young people can interact, learn, and discuss "real world" problems via their commitments to popular culture. These internet music labels "sell" more than music. They broaden how cultural entrepreneurial production and innovative citizen initiatives can be re-interpreted by non-broadcast based media, while constituting a counter-public sphere for political activism and learning through networked digital media. Through these practices, we may witness the realization of the Internet's democratizing possibility at a time when these freedoms are not ensured, both off and online

Paratextualizing Games

Gaming no longer only takes place as a ›closed interactive experience‹ in front of TV screens, but also as broadcast on streaming platforms or as cultural events in exhibition centers and e-sport arenas. The popularization of new technologies, forms of expression, and online services has had a considerable influence on the academic and journalistic discourse about games. This anthology examines which paratexts gaming cultures have produced - i.e., in which forms and formats and through which channels we talk (and write) about games - as well as the way in which paratexts influence the development of games. How is knowledge about games generated and shaped today and how do boundaries between (popular) criticism, journalism, and scholarship have started to blur? In short: How does the paratext change the text