Abstract

Mobile gaming has been a huge emerging industry over the past few years, and the factors behind what drives engagement with these games are not well studied. Much of the psychological research around mobile gaming currently focuses on loot boxes, a form of virtual gambling. But other factors can drive people to spend excessive time and money on mobile games, such as feelings of investment and the sunk cost fallacy. The present study investigated if higher levels of feelings of investment in a game decrease the desire to quit and increase the desire to spend money. This study hypothesized that games that give the user free items as a hook will have higher overall investment ratings, and increased investment ratings over time compared to games that do not.

Advisor

Foster, Nathan

Department

Psychology

Keywords

gaming, sunk cost, investment

Publication Date

2021

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2021 Sadie L. Phillips