If You Quit Smoking, This Could Happen to You: Investigating Framing and Modeling Effects in an Anti-Smoking Serious Game

ABSTRACT

Various interventions have been suggested to aid in smoking cessation. However, little is known about the effects of message framing in narratives embedded in serious games. This study compares when an individual experiences unfortunate events from smoking (i.e., loss frame) versus fortunate results benefited from smoking cessation (i.e., gain frame) in a computer game through a model (i.e., virtual self-modeling) that looks like oneself or a stranger. An experiment (N = 64) using a 2 (Message framing: Gain vs. Loss) x 2 (Modeling: Self vs. Other) between-subjects design was conducted using an anti-smoking game. Results show that the gain frame induces stronger perceived susceptibility compared to the loss frame, and self-modeling is more effective than other-modeling. Results further demonstrate that the virtual misfortune experienced through one’s own face, compared to someone else’s face, is significantly more likely to increase one’s susceptibility to the negative consequences of smoking. The study also finds a significant mediating role of identification between framing and susceptibility. Overall, by demonstrating the effectiveness of the self-modeling and gain-framed messages in gameplay, the present investigation provides meaningful contributions to the use of technology for effective health communication.

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Correction

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2096529).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019S1A5A2A03035424).

Notes on contributors

Jihyun Kim

Jihyun Kim is an Associate Professor in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. Her primarily research focuses on the effects and implications of new media/communication technologies for meaningful outcomes (e.g., health, education). Her research also examines human-machine communication in diverse contexts (e.g., perceptions toward machine agents such as AI and robots).

Hayeon Song

Hayeon Song is a Professor in the Department of Human-Artificial Intelligence Interaction at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. Her primary research interest is to investigate ways to use new media as persuasive and educational vehicles for health promotion. Her broader research areas include media psychology, health communication, and human-computer interaction.

Kelly Merrill Jr.

Kelly Merrill Jr. is a Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University. His primary research interests are at the intersection of communication technology and health communication. In particular, his research investigates the use of communication technologies for health-related outcomes.

Younbo Jung

Jung, Younbo is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair (Academic) at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. His research interests include socio-psychological effects of interactive media such as video games, virtual reality systems, and human-robot interaction.

Remi Junghuem Kwon

Remi Junghuem Kwon received Ph.D. from Visualisation Group, WMG at Warwick University, United Kingdom in 2010. He has been an assistant professor in the Department of Future Technology at Korea University of Technology and Education since 2018. His current research interests include VR/AR based data Visualisation and HCI.