Measuring the appeal of mobility-augmented reality games, based on the innovative models of interaction: a case study

Abstract

This study presents the issues why gamers prefer mobility-augmented reality games to other types of game and what specific characteristics cause them to invest a large amount of their time on tireless game-play. Furthermore, the appeal of mobility-augmented reality games was studied to solve the above mentioned issues. Then, how human–computer interaction based on mobility-augmented reality games was promoted to create a new marketing mode was explored. Then, Pokémon GO, as the worldwide major mobility-augmented reality game, was selected as the research target in this study. The researcher interviewed 9 experts, collected 235 Knasei words from 33 articles, and surveyed 335 gamers through a questionnaire to collect the data about users’ preferences. A preference-based study was believed to disclose the motivated reasons for the appeal of mobility-augmented reality games. The researcher analyzed the gathered Kansei concepts and questionnaires using the two-stage procedures, including evaluation grid method (EGM) and Quantification Theory Type I. During the first stage the hierarchy of the relationship among the types of appeal factors, the reasons for users’ preferences, and the explicit design characteristics of Pokémon GO present the semantic structure of appeal and were determined using EGM through the accumulation of the review of articles and the interviews of experts. During the second stage the strongest two original evaluation items of Pokémon GO are determined as “social interaction” and “scenario interaction” based on the statistical analysis of Quantification Theory Type I, and their corresponding “upper-level” and “lower-level” considerations are proved to have influence on them. Finally, the paper found that the popularity of Pokémon GO can be ascribed to the design of the innovative models of game interaction, which targets the psychological preferences of gamers. This means that the interaction model between a customer and an enterprise can be developed outside the box and a new type of marketing can be formed. The study proved that the innovative models of interaction successfully drove gamers’ motivations to play Pokémon GO. Designers and researchers of mobility-augmented reality games can absorb important information through this study. This study enriches the field of mobile communication, online marketing, and human–computer interaction in cyberspace.