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Shock Tactics: Perceived Controversy in Molleindustria Persuasive Games

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Abstract

Shock tactics in the form of controversial messages are used in advertising to solicit viewer attention and as a persuasive tactic. Persuasive games are becoming increasingly popular, however the use of shock tactics in games have not been explored in much detail. This paper discusses how three Molleindustria games use potentially controversial mechanics and messages for persuasion. In a user study, we explored how the perceived controversy of these games influenced their efficacy. Overall, the results show that perceived controversy correlates significantly with the percentage of their study compensation participants were willing to donate. The findings point towards shock tactics as a potential tool for the design and evaluation of persuasive games.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://unmanned.molleindustria.org/.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Media Informatics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany

    Katja Rogers & Michael Weber

Authors
  1. Katja Rogers
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  2. Michael Weber
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katja Rogers .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Jaap Ham

  2. Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus

    Evangelos Karapanos

  3. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Plinio P. Morita

  4. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Catherine M. Burns

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Rogers, K., Weber, M. (2018). Shock Tactics: Perceived Controversy in Molleindustria Persuasive Games. In: Ham, J., Karapanos, E., Morita, P., Burns, C. (eds) Persuasive Technology. PERSUASIVE 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10809. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78978-1_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78978-1_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78977-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78978-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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