Persuasive Gaming: Identifying the different types of persuasion through games

Authors

  • Teresa de la Hera Conde-Pumpido Utrecht University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v4i1.140

Keywords:

persuasive games, persuasive communication, serious games, theoretical framework, persuasion

Abstract

The academic study of persuasion through digital games started from a game-centric approach by trying to understand how persuasiveness can be structured within digital games. However, players' performances and the context in which games are played also have an important role in the process of persuasion. The role of these two factors has been the focus of attention in recent research on persuasive games through studies that try to find a balance between players’ preferences and needs and persuasive goals. The objective of this paper is to broaden the understanding of the potential of persuasive gaming practices by providing a theoretical framework that serves to structure previous theoretical approaches on how digital games can be used to persuade players. This theoretical framework serves to explain the different types of persuasion that can be established through digital games, which contributes to better understand how serious games should be designed to respond to different types of serious goals. The three types of persuasion proposed here are: exocentric persuasion, as a game-centric approach for persuasion; endocentric persuasion, as a player-centric approach for persuasion; and game-mediated persuasion, as a context-centric approach for persuasion.

Author Biography

  • Teresa de la Hera Conde-Pumpido, Utrecht University
    Dr. Teresa de la Hera is postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in New Media and Digital Culture at the Department of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University, where she is member of the Center for the Study of Digital Games and Play. She started her academic career in Spain in 2006 where she conducted research in the fields of new media and persuasive games. Later on, in 2011, she moved to the Netherlands where she obtained an International PhD Fellowship to finish her PhD “Persuasive Structures in Advergames” at Utrecht University. At this moment she is working on the NWO funded research project "Persuasive Gaming in Context" in which she explores the potential of digital games as media for persuasion. Her research interests and expertise involve the use of digital games for advertising and social inclusion of minority groups.

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Published

2017-03-22

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Articles

How to Cite

Persuasive Gaming: Identifying the different types of persuasion through games. (2017). International Journal of Serious Games, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v4i1.140