Performance Effects of Noisy Relative Performance Information and Immersion Game Elements

We randomly assign participants to four experimental conditions: 1) immersion only, 2) noise only 3) immersion and noise, 4) control.

We combine an immersion and a noise treatment to create our 2x2 experimental setup:

1) With the immersion treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were prompted that they are playing the story of a detective. They selected a personal avatar with which to play this story from 40 pre-configured portrait busts. Participants then entered a (nick-)name for their avatar. Also before the start of the experiment, participants received a text with a narrative and complementary pictures telling the fictional story of the detective and loosely connecting it to the decoding task. During the breaks, participants received short texts complemented with pictures that continue the narrative. Participants’ avatars were also shown in each break.

2) The no immersion treatment represents the absence of the immersion game elements described above. Still, participants were asked to provide a (nick-)name.

3) With the no noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that their score equals the number of letters they decode correctly. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name. The ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing.

4) With the noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that because a random selection of fields counts double while another random selection doesn't count at all, their displayed score can be up to 80% higher or lower than their actual score. The resulting ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name.

2025-10-13

2025-10-17

Performance

Performance = the number of letters the participants decode

Identification with the avatar, enjoyment, perceived effort, group identity, gaming frequency and type, demographics

Identification with the avatar, i.e. extent the participants identify with their avatar
Enjoyment, i.e. how much the participants enjoy the task and the experiment
Perceived effort, i.e. participants’ perception of how much effort they put into the task
Group identity i.e. the extent the participants relate with their peers in the experiment
Gaming frequency and type, i.e. how much participants play video games (currently and in their teens) and what types (action, sports, ...)
Demographics, i.e. education, gender, age, work experience

Our experiment uses a 2x2 between-subjects design.

Our experiment uses a 2x2 between-subjects design. We complete the experiment online. Each session will last roughly 35 minutes. Each participant is randomly assigned to one of the four conditions.

The task involves 8 rounds of decoding numbers into letters using a decoding grid, with each round lasting 2 minutes followed by a 30 second break.
The scores of peers in the rankings are pre-established.

After the task, participants complete a questionnaire.

Each participant is randomly assigned to one of four conditions at the beginning of his/her session.

Individual

No

200 participants (no clusters)

200 participants

50