Disentangling real-world and virtual-world social norms: the persuasive elements and social psychological effects of a serious game
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Published version
Date
2023-01-01
Authors
Hong, Traci
Cabrera, Joshua
Beaudoin, Christopher E.
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
T. Hong, J. Cabrera, C. Beaudoin. 2023. "Disentangling real-world and virtual-world social norms: The persuasive elements and social psychological effects of a serious game" Telematics & Informatics Report, Volume 9, Issue 100038, pp.100038-100038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teler.2022.100038
Abstract
In the immersive environment of an online serious video game designed to depict social norms about excessive alcohol consumption, this study examines the effects of real-world and virtual-world social norms on alcohol use outcomes, centering on the persuasive elements of the One Shot game and its social psychological effects. This study implements a one-group, pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design. Using a national sample of young adults aged 21–25 (N = 550) who reported recent binge drinking, OLS regression analyses documented that virtual-world norms were more predictive of alcohol-related outcomes than real-world norms. Specifically, virtual-world descriptive norms paired with severe consequences of hazardous drinking predicted improvements from pre-game to post-game in drinking refusal self-efficacy and attitudes toward drinking. Likewise, virtual-world social disapproval had a similar effect on drinking refusal self-efficacy, but not on attitudes toward drinking. Neither measure of virtual-world social norms had a significant effect on changes in intention to drink less from pre-game to post-game. Real-world descriptive norms and social disapproval had no significant effects on any of the alcohol use outcomes. Each of the three alcohol use outcomes improved significantly from pre-game to post-game. Implications for norms-based research and online serious video games are discussed.
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License
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).