Investigating the effect of User Generated Content in pervasive games

Consumers use brand-related user-generated content (UGC), such as online consumer reviews, for their pre-purchase information seeking. However, previous research on consumer information seeking has scarcely explored how purchase situations and product type influence one’s use of brand-related UGC. The purpose of this study is to shed light on this area of consumer behavior. By utilizing linear mixed effect models, we examined several hypotheses relevant to relationships between four purchase variables (PDI, think purchase, feel purchase, online/offline purchase) and one’s reliance on brand-related UGC. The results indicate that all of the purchase variables are positively associated with the use of UGC. Furthermore, the study found several more associations between demographic factors and the reliance on UGC. Age, gender, marital status, number of children in a household, and employment status showed significant associations, whereas education, household income, and ethnicity did not. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are also noted.

Serious Pervasive Games extend the “magic circle” to the players’ surrounding environment. The blend of both physical and fictive game worlds provides a push in player engagement and promotes situated learning approaches. Space and time, as well as social context, acquire a more meaningful impact on the gameplay. From pervasive learning towards science communication with location-based games, this article presents case studies that exemplify their benefits and related problems. Pervasive learning can be defined as “learning at the speed of need through formal, informal and social learning modalities”. The BEACONING project aims to contextualize the teaching and learning process, connecting it with problem-based game mechanics within STEM. The main goal of this project is to provide the missing connection between STEM subjects and real-world interactions and applications. The pedagogical foundation is based on problem-based learning, in which active learning is in the center, and learners have to work with different tools and resources in order to solve problems (quests). Teachers create, facilitate and assess pervasive and gamified learning activities (missions). Furthermore, these quests are gamified in order to provide non-linear game plots. In a second case study, we demonstrate and evaluate how natural heritage can benefit from pervasive games. For example, in a natural park, a set of location-based games has been developed in order to provide enhanced experiences, as well as additional information about some species that are more difficult to observe or that are seasonal. Throughout the development of this project, we have encountered and identified several problems, of different natures, present in pervasive games. As a solution to some of these problems, we propose adaptivity, customizing the gameplay to the users’ profile and context.

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The aim of the artice. The article aims to investigate the impact of user-generated content (UGC) on social media marketing, analyze its effectiveness across different platforms, systematize approaches to utilizing UGC, and develop recommendations for optimizing marketing strategies to enhance audience engagement and brand recognition. Analysis results. The analysis results show that user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing are key elements of modern brand promotion strategies. UGC stands out for its authenticity and trustworthiness, as it is created by ordinary users, while influencer marketing allows brands to control content and leverage the influence of well-known individuals. Instagram remains the primary platform for UGC, but TikTok is gaining popularity due to its dynamic content. Both platforms effectively engage younger audiences, while YouTube and Facebook have their specific audiences and approaches to utilizing UGC. The analysis of brand collaborations with content creators highlights that significant reach can be achieved through high-quality and engaging content. Special attention should be paid to video content in the format of Reels and TikTok, which ensures high audience interaction. Conclusions and prospects for further research. It has been confirmed that user-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool in modern marketing, fundamentally changing the role of audience engagement and increasing brand trust. It has been found that different social media platforms have their unique advantages and specific impacts on marketing outcomes, emphasizing the importance of adapting UGC to the characteristics of each platform. Instagram and TikTok are optimal for creating visual content, while YouTube and Facebook are better suited for in-depth exploration of topics through detailed videos and texts. Recommendations have been developed to enhance the effectiveness of marketing strategies through the use of UGC, and approaches to its application across various social media platforms have been systematized. It is suggested that UGC increases conversion rates, as consumers tend to trust content created by other users more than traditional advertising materials. Brands are advised to actively integrate UGC into their marketing strategies to enhance security effectiveness and ensure sustainable growth in the digital market environment. Further research could focus on a detailed examination of the impact of different UGC formats on specific audience segments and develop optimal approaches for its use across various platforms.

Using an evaluation framework, this study sheds light on the organizational factors that influence the use of user-generated content (UGC) in radio newsrooms. Although communication research is consistently emphasizing rapid changes in technology and the need for journalists to adapt to their multi-platform environments, this study shows that some radio journalists and managers, at least, are still quite conservative in their innovative practices. Through the use of semi-structured interviews with radio managers and journalists in a major Canadian market, five main uses of UGC were identified in the newsroom. These factors were directly related to the perceived notion of the audience and its value to news reporting. Financial pressures, company policy and professional standards are the three main organizational factors that influence these uses and the extent to which the practices were observed. Age, language and sectorial differences did not appear to be influential in this study. These results, however, suggest that work still needs to be done to establish which factors are most relevant in overcoming fears and challenges with respect to innovative UGC use. A better knowledge of the audience could also influence future behaviour.

Mobile and in particular pervasive games are a strong component of future scenarios for teaching and learning. Based on results from a previous review of practical papers, this work explores the educational potential of pervasive games for learning by analysing underlying game mechanisms. In order to determine and classify cognitive and affective learning outcomes, the authors propose employing game design patterns for mobile games and context information. Context information, in the course of this article, is introduced as an additional characteristic feature of mobile game design patterns. With the proposed framework the authors aim to understand how pervasive game content may support learning. Findings from their research indicate that context information directs the use and presentation of content within a game and thus influences learning effects of individual patterns. This work concludes with a discussion on the shortfalls and potentials, which the authors’ framework for analysis provides.

Purpose: The article sought to answer research questions regarding investigated branded content generated by players in simulation video games. How does the process work in video games? What are the characteristics of branded user-generated content in video games? To what extent players are willing to participate in branded content creation? Methodology: I conducted 20 in-depth interviews among Polish players, with the application of snowball sampling. The study participants were adult users of chosen simulation video games: The Sims, Second Life, and Euro Truck Simulator 2. Findings: We can distinguish content based on game mechanism, official add-ons, or game modding. Players frequently check some brands from a set offered by game developers and create content (e.g. in The Sims users can design house interiors with IKEA furniture). Some players are not satisfied by what a game offers and generate content based on modding (e.g. DHL trucks or McDonald’s restaurants inside the Euro Truck Simulator 2). In this respect, the article refers to Smith’s, Fischer’s, and Yongjian’s content dimensions. Branded game modifications described by respondents are characterized by a high level of similarity towards real brands and positive brand sentiment (valence). I noted no statement about player and marketer (brand) communication in gathered material. The biggest challenge for practitioners in the field of UGC in video games is how to manage brand messages. Practical Implications: Brand-related user-generated content is an important phenomenon in terms of the brand-building process and its impact on brand reception, which all require marketers’ attention. For game developers, such a content is a source of information about customer expectations. Players show their personal expectations by game modding. Originality/Value: Brand-related content generated by users is frequently associated with social media. The scholarship shows a lack of knowledge of branded user-generated content in video games.

UGC involvement, motivation and personality: Comparison between China and Spain

With the spread of service platforms that enable users to generate content, people use user-generated content (UGC) to search for and access information on the web instead of search engines. Attackers can also use UGC on a service platform (UGC platform) to spread web-based social engineering (SE) attacks to a large number of people. In this paper, we focus on a type of web-based SE attack, called an event-synced navigation attack, which generates UGC with links navigating users to malicious websites and distribute it synced with a real-life event at a specific time. To understand the attacks in the wild, we propose a new system for detecting event-synced navigation attacks in real time by capturing the inevitable footprints left by attacks that affect a large number of users. We evaluate each of the three steps of the proposed system and finally find that the system can classify malicious and non-malicious UGC with 97% accuracy. Furthermore, we perform a comprehensive measurement study on event-synced navigation attacks spread from popular UGC platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit) and confirm that many event-synced navigation attacks are deployed in the wild.

This study analyses the effect of user-generated content (UGC) on the loyalty of UGC recipients in a European retail environment. An online experiment was conducted, which returned 1,074 completed questionnaires. Intensive involvement with UGC significantly increases the affective loyalty of retail customers, but no significant effect was found on conative loyalty. Furthermore, trust in UGC results in significantly higher conative and affective loyalty levels. Specifically, we reveal differences in the loyalty dimensions of millennials, with UGC significantly impacting affective loyalty in this age group. Our results suggest that UGC contributes to customer loyalty and patronage in a retail setting.

Pervasive gaming has been a field of exploration for the gaming industry the recent years. With the exceptional success of Pokemon GO and some others such as Ingress users are more than ever ready to experiment with games that are more focused into their actions and their playing contexts. In the serious game industry, the implementation of pervasive games is a very promising way to improve students learning process with a more cohesive and realistic experience. To take advantage of this opportunity we have developed a model for location-based serious games intended to be used along with other game genres such the adventure one. We have implemented this model in the uAdventure (uA) authoring tool, allowing non-experts for the simple creation for location-based adventure games without programming or complex geopositioning knowledge requirements. With uA we address to simplify the creation of gymkhanas, tours or guided visits with the added value of the adventure games. Finally, to improve the quality of the games, we have incorporated learning analytics into the system and tested the platform with a small experiment that showed promising results.

This study analyzes the effect of the development of the internet and mobile technology and the spread of social media on the search for user-generated content (UGC) and travel information.This study aims to investigate the effect of UGC's travel information quality (simplicity, timeliness, convenience, and accuracy) on information reliability, viewer satisfaction, and intention to visit tourist destinations.For this study, a survey was conducted for all viewers who had experience using usergenerated content.Smart PLS 4.0 was used for data verification.As a result of the empirical analysis, it was discovered that timeliness, convenience, and accuracy significantly increased information reliability and user satisfaction, and simplicity had little effect.Information reliability significantly improved user satisfaction, and satisfaction influenced the intention to visit tourist destinations.This study investigated the complex relationship between travel information quality through UGC and tourist behavior and found that accuracy and convenience are important in improving user experience.The study's limitation include sample limitations, incomplete measurement tools, subjective evaluation effects, time constraints, neglect of external factors, and insufficient clarity of causal relationships.If this is improved in future research, the generalization and reliability of the research results can be enhanced.

This paper reports the design of a pervasive game for children to demonstrate the design vision of Head-Up games, a genre of pervasive games that puts outdoors play center stage, combining the benefits of traditional outdoor games with the opportunities for richer experiences and innovation offered by new media. The design of the game, called HeartBeat, explores the use of physiological sensing and more specifically heart rate measurement as input to the game and as an approach to enhance the pervasive gaming experience. Evaluation with 32 children outdoors showed how the game promotes physical activity and social interaction between children in ways one would expect from traditional outdoor games.

Location based or pervasive games are played outdoors from users with GPS enabled smartphone devices and involve physical visits of various geographical locations by the player. The fact that the playing area combines both the digital and the natural world, gives unique advantages to location based games that were explored by the relevant literature in domains such as: education, marketing etc. Furthermore, financial aspects cannot be overlooked, given the success of certain genre representatives in the gaming market, especially in the youth target group. However, developing such games is far from being trivial requiring high programming skills, while the administration overhead induced by large scale deployment is also an impediment. Motivated by the above, in this paper we present an overview of the system architecture and discuss design concepts of the GeoMakeIt! platform, which targets at facilitating location based game development by lowering the gap between the background of potential game creators and the programming skills required. Contrary to efforts existing in the literature that target at customizing specific game plots, the proposed platform is designed in an open ended manner to act as a marketplace of plugin components whose customization and synthesis can output diverse game experiences. As such, we envision that GeoMakeIt! can attract the interest of both experienced game developers and amateurs. © 2020 IEEE.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use user-generated content (UGC) on social media platforms to infer the possible place brand identities of two famous metropolitan areas in Bangkok, Thailand, namely, Khaosan Road and Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown), both of which are famous for their street vendors and nightlife. These two places are interesting study sites because of recent identity conflicts among their stakeholders. The method developed in this research can help other places to better understand place brand identities and, as such, effectively plan for and manage those places.Design/methodology/approachThe author used content analysis to study 782 user-generated images on Flickr and 9,633 user-generated textual reviews of Khaosan Road and Yaowarat from TripAdvisor and Google Maps’ Local Guide. MAXQDA was used to code all the images. User-generated textual reviews were studied using Leximancer. The author also introduced a positivity of concept analysis to identify positive and negative components of place brand identity.FindingsThe author developed a place brand identity framework that includes three pillars, namely, place physics, place practices and place personality. Content analysis of the images generated 105 codes and a count of the frequency of the codes that represent place brand identity. Content analysis of textual reviews created the concepts in the three pillars and identified the positive and negative concepts for both places. The results of both image and text analyses showed that street food vending is one of the most salient components of place brand identity for both Khaosan Road and Yaowarat.Practical implicationsThe author suggested several place branding strategies for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration such as turning Khaosan Road into a music scene for both visitors and locals, controlling excessive and aggressive commercialism, sponsoring the production of creative and authentic content, initiating a compelling online campaign that focusses on the items sold in Yaowarat, hosting a spotlight event such as a seafood festival and improving hygiene and walkability.Originality/valueBoth the advancement of digital technologies and the complexity of stakeholders create a need for empirical studies on place branding involving the participation of the widest possible range of stakeholders and studies on the influence of social media. This research is the first to use both image and text analyses to study place brand identity from UGC. The use of both analyses allows the two methods to complement one another while mitigating the weaknesses of each.