Designing a framework and validating a tool for evaluating the educational quality of serious games: a meta-synthesis

In recent decades, at the same time as the quantitative growth in the industry of serious games, its quality has also been the focus of investors, researchers, and developers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to design a framework and validate a tool for evaluating the educational quality of serious games. (i.e., a questionnaire). Evaluation frameworks and questionnaires are fundamental tools for designing and developing serious games. The method of this research was meta-synthesis with a mixed approach. Based on this, 5807 articles were identified during the years 1995 to 2021, and finally, 29 articles were selected for analysis. By analyzing these articles, basic dimensions, components, and indicators were extracted and turned into an evaluation tool using thematic analysis with the purpose of validation. First, the content validity of this tool was obtained by purposive sampling technique with the participation of 30 serious game experts. Then, for the validity of the constructs, a sample equal to the community was assumed, and the tool was sent to the members of the National Computer Games Foundation, and 537 people participated in completing the tool. Finally, the data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The findings of first and second-order factor analysis confirmed all dimensions, components, and indicators of the tool with a factor load (above 0.40) and a significant coefficient (above 1.96). Therefore, this meta-synthesis led to the design of the framework and the validation of the educational quality evaluation tool of serious games with 4 dimensions, 25 components, and 138 indicators. We argue that the proposed framework and tool are able to evaluate the educational quality of a serious game and cover its design project end to end. We thus propose them as a suitable resource for researchers and developers of serious games

Designing a Conceptual Model of perceived social media advertising deception: using grounded theory approach

The growing evolution of social networks with intensified role in the business world and consequently in the advertising in one hand, and the ease of deception in such emerging media on the other hand, have increased the prevalence of deceptive advertising and false claims in the communication and commercial media. In this way, it is difficult for the audiences of social media ads to distinguish between the truthful and deceptive advertising and this can lead to distrust to social media advertising and reduced sales. In this regard, the present research aimed at providing a model for the perceived deception of social media advertising using grounded theory. For the purpose, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were performed among 15 people who had past deception related experiences in their purchase from social networks. Data analysis was undertaken using open coding method and MAXQDA 2020 software. Finally, the research conceptual model was designed based on 8 main categories, 15 sub-categories, and 71 concepts, and it was revealed that social media perceived usefulness and social media ads characteristics as “causes”, and media characteristics as “covariance” were effective on perceived deception. In this regard, customer knowledge and perceived trust were considered as “contingencies”. Consumer attitude was recognized as “condition”, and consumer characteristics was presented as contextual factor for such a process resulting in the occurrence of consumer psychological damage known as individual consequence of social media ads perceived deception

Modeling Factors Affecting Perceived Deception of Advertising in Social Networks with a Structural-Interpretive Approach

he present research aimed at developing a model for perceived social media advertising deception. To attain the aim, the interpretive structural modeling approach was employed. The research sample included all of the lecturers and experts of social media marketing and advertisement field selected by the purposeful sampling method. Eventually, eight lecturers and experts of social media marketing and advertisement answered the considered questions. The selected experts had at least ten years of experience in studying, teaching, or working in the field of social media. The sampling continued up to the theoretical saturation point. To determine the reliability of the measurement instrument, the ICC value was confirmed in terms of its consistency and absolute agreement. The research results indicated that in relation to the research subject and the proposed model for perceived social media advertising deception, social media advertising attributes had the strongest effect, while the perceived usefulness, customer knowledge, perceived trust, customer attitude, customer attributes, and media attributes were mostly affected by and their own effects were trivial. In addition, the results revealed that the primary factor in the research i.e. social media advertising attributes, was among the influential or driving variables due to its high directional power and low dependency. Other factors were described with high directional power and high dependency. The variables were non-static and so classified as the hybrid variables