The impact of casual gameplay on health attitudes and behaviors: examining persuasion in a branded game about nutrition through narrative, gameplay, and flow

ABSTRACT This project tests the ability of narrative and gameplay to persuade in a casual health game, through two experimental studies. Study 1 (N = 212) explores how independently manipulated narrative and gameplay factors can persuade people to have healthier attitudes and behavioral intentions; Study 2 (N = 353) also investigates how narrative and gameplay (difficulty) factors might improve attitudes and behavioral intentions toward an in-game brand. Both studies consider the role of flow, an immersive and inherently rewarding psychological state, as potential mediators between game factors and persuasive outcomes. In both studies, results show improvement in both attitudes and behavioral intentions toward health and the brand; however, the cause of those changes is not clear, as the manipulated narrative and gameplay factors do not influence the persuasive outcomes, and the mediating variable flow influences the persuasive outcomes inconsistently.