Persuasive strategies embedded in games used by kids and teens: A literature review

The field of technology is rapidly growing and is applied to various settings in our everyday lives. The incorporation of persuasion within technology has been proven to be effective, and can be leveraged to alter the attitudes and behaviors of children and teenagers. This literature review focuses on the application of persuasive technology within games, and specific features that are able to have the most impact on attitudinal and behavioral changes. Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) has been used as a theoretical framework in order to characterize features across studies and sectors. It has been found that tailoring, self-monitoring, rewards, social comparison, and competition are the most optimal features for the encouragement of physical activity. For dietary health games, persuasive principles in the social support component were preferred by participants. Personalization made the experience of playing more enjoyable in self-management studies, and tunneling, self-monitoring, as well as rewards facilitated the preservation of learned skills. In the sector of education and learning, simulation was one of the strongest principles. In conclusion, social influence has a significant effect across all sectors, but proves to be more persuasive when combined with principles in both primary task support and dialogue support.