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This study aims to explore the interdependent impacts of online word-of-mouth (WOM) and online ads on digital product adoptions, as well as their dynamic changes throughout the product life cycle.

This study adopted an empirical approach by using a unique data set of five mobile games launched between 2012 and 2014 provided by Renren Games Ltd. in China.

The results indicated that advertising generally has a positive impact on WOM. During the product life cycle, the influence on volume and variance gradually decreases, whereas the impact on valence increases over time. WOM (including WOM volume and WOM valence) and advertising both have positive impacts on game adoptions. They complement each other to shape adoptions throughout the product life cycle: advertising is more effective in encouraging adoptions in the early and later stages of the demand evolution process, whereas WOM has a greater impact on adoptions in the mid-stage.

This study provided detailed managerial recommendations on how to effectively integrate different types of marketing communication and optimize the investment strategy of online ads and online WOM in different stages of the product life cycle.

First, the study enriched the theory of digital marketing communication by studying the relationship between mass media (online ads), interpersonal media (online WOM) and product adoptions in the network context. Second, it provided an empirical basis for the inference of the dynamic development of media effect in the new product diffusion theory. Third, the results will be helpful to end the debate in current theoretical literature on whether there is a complementary or alternative relationship between the two effects. Last but not least, it enriched research on the antecedents and dynamic effects of online WOM.

The basic purpose of this study is to increase the installation rate of mobile games and their life cycle. Little research has been conducted into the competitive market of mobile games and word-of-mouth (WOM), advertisement and quality simultaneously. In this paper, the authors aim to assist developers with a better understanding of how to invest in the game industry.

The primitive modeling has been made based on the Bass diffusion model and its extensions using features related to the game industry. Modeling and simulation have been performed using the system dynamics method.

The results show that if game developers only focus on advertising at the introduction of the game to the market, and neglect quality features, uninstall rate of adopters increases and the game life cycle decreases. And if developers only focus on the quality improvement of the game, and ignore advertisement, they couldn't create enough WOM and thus game installation wouldn't grow enough to create revenue. Furthermore, as long as the pleasure of the game is high for its adopters, developers shouldn't give up on investing in advertising to create even higher WOM. And also in communities with higher levels of variety-seeking among game players, quality is important at the start and advertisement is vital in the following steps of the game life cycle. And if the contact rate among people is high, developers could focus on quality more than the advertisement.

Even though WOM in mobile game installation is crucial, fewer studies have been done in this area and they only address the problem using qualitative or statistical methods. The quantitative system dynamics approach based on the Bass diffusion model, used in this research, fixes the shortcomings of the previous studies. Moreover, due to serious competition in the mobile game industry, only those developers can remain in the market who can predict the future trend of the game market. Furthermore, game development is a creative process and its key factors include engaging the gamers and monetizing.

The computer gaming industry has today become bigger than the world music and movie industries. The influence of computer games over the youth of today is akin to that of the cultural influence of music, political movements and even religion on youth culture of the past. Of late, computer games have been attracting people of all kinds into using computers. They have driven the spread of computers into the lives of individuals who had earlier had no incentive to use them. Computer games are gaining unprecedented access to the homes, minds and souls of people today. Hence it has become increasingly important for game developers and educators to study the application of computers for enhancing the education offered to the next generation of students. Computer games can be used to give a better form of education and can even make computers become the unique tools of learning. The paper will present the current scenarios of computer games being used for the purposes of education and training. It will also dwell on areas in which the tremendous capabilities of computer games as an education medium can be utilized in educating a new generation of students weaned on computer games. New possibilities for computer games as tools of knowledge will also be projected.

Nearly every monograph and textbook that discusses the work of G. H. Mead considers the “game” as one of the important concepts with which he worked. Wittgenstein in his work too used the concept of game to illustrate his claim that the meaning of a word is its place in a language-game which is a “form of life.”

Over the last few years, technological developments have allowed new possibilities for fostering civic participation and engagement, as testified by various smart city experiments. In this framework, game elements are diffusely mobilized in order to develop responsible and active citizens with the aim of tackling urban problems. Gamification may be effective in nudging citizens and promoting various forms of participation, but fundamental ethical and political questions have to be addressed. This chapter develops the argument by interpreting gamification in light of the classic conceptualization of social justice proposed by David Harvey, arguing that participation through gamification potentially implies critical elements of injustice.

This chapter explores what video games can teach us in light of the ongoing sixth mass extinction in the history of our planet, allegedly caused by global warming and the over-consumption of vital resources. Games made and played by nonhuman actors can shed light on the situatedness and partiality of our knowledge regarding the boundaries that separate and differentiate human and nonhuman, interactivity and passivity, entertainment and boredom, and life and death. Nonhuman games help us to articulate the space and time in-between these dualisms and have the potential to re-route gaming (and game studies) from false myths of agency, interactivity, and instrumentalism, and the masculinism inherent in these notions. Nonhuman games are companions for earthly survival, and as such they can be taken as useful references when considering a more ethical approach to the ecological crisis of the Anthropocene. The chapter investigates notions of posthumanism, interpassivity, and contemporary critiques of the early assumptions of game studies on the agency of human players. It looks at video games that play by themselves, idle and incremental games, and the emergence of nonplaying characters in ludic and open-world simulations. It explores forms of automatic play and the use of bots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in online role-playing games, procedurally generated virtual environments, and games that far exceed the lifespan of their players.

The purpose of this paper is to explore in depth the special context and unique life experience of the online role-playing game and to provide insights regarding an interpretation of the situational context model.

This study uses netnography, online interviews, and the physical travel of researchers to the field for field participation and observations. The combination of netnography and online interviews combines online and offline studies to achieve more consistency in the data collection, analysis, and other processes. In-person participation in observations makes the research more realistic. The combination of these qualitative methods is helpful in achieving a more comprehensive and accurate research process.

The findings of the study can be classified into a three-stage situational context approach, which is presented in the form of propositions. Finally, the insight of the situational context model was developed.

This study only focussed on office workers and students in online role-playing game. Therefore, the samples should be extended to other massively multiplayer online games, including different nationalities and professions for comparative analysis and related studies. Through the expansion of the sample size, a representative and stable cyber model can be established.

The theoretical contribution of this study is to establish an interpretation of the situational context model and eight related propositions. The study revealed the mystery of female online role-playing games.