Evolution of the Video Game Market

The videogame industry had evolved since its initial appearance, and along with it, so has target market. This study attempts to analyse the trends throughout the years through observation of marketing materials such as printed and video advertisement commercials. The analysis is done by applying standard practice values employed in advertising communication on chosen samples of said commercial ads from each era of video game history.

Framing Effects of Messages and Images on the Willingness to Pay for Pro-Poor Tourism Products

Pro-poor tourism (PPT) strategies enable the poor to benefit from tourism. This study applies economic and marketing theories in the exploration of PPT. It investigates behavioral economics in tourism by evaluating the framing effects of marketing materials on tourists’ willingness to pay for PPT products. It integrates framing and persuasion theories in the PPT domain and follows a 2 × 3 factorial between-subjects design. Strong messages alone and weak messages with positive or negative images are found to lead to greater willingness to pay. More than half of the study’s respondents were willing to pay more if certain fees went directly to the poor. Different framing effects were found between a tour focused on participation and a tour focused on capacity strategies.

Will E-Cigarette Modified Risk Messages with a Nicotine Warning Polarize Smokers’ Beliefs about the Efficacy of Switching Completely to E-Cigarettes in Reducing Smoking-Related Risks?

In the U.S., e-cigarette companies can apply for permission to use reduced or modified risk messages (MRMs) in their marketing materials. Because e-cigarette marketing materials should have a nicotine addictiveness warning, MRMs and a nicotine warning could appear together—resulting in a conflicting message. When reading a conflicting message, individuals assimilate evidence supporting their pre-existing beliefs and eventually develop stronger beliefs, diverging more from those with different pre-existing beliefs (i.e., polarization). This study examined if exposure to e-cigarette MRMs with a nicotine warning polarizes smokers’ initially opposing beliefs about the efficacy of switching completely to e-cigarettes in reducing smoking-related risks, and if this polarization depends on individuals’ need for closure. An online experiment randomized 761 U.S. adult smokers to either three MRMs with a nicotine warning or three control messages. People reported their perceived efficacy of switching completely to e-cigarettes at pre- and posttest and need for closure at pretest. Linear regression showed no polarization effects. Nonetheless, need for closure and pretest efficacy beliefs influenced message response: MRMs with a nicotine warning only enhanced efficacy beliefs of smokers with low pretest efficacy beliefs and low need for closure. Evaluation of e-cigarette mixed communication should consider individuals’ motivational and cognitive differences.

Barriers to and Facilitators of Recruitment of Adult African American Men for Colorectal Cancer Research: An Instrumental Exploratory Case Study

PURPOSE: Racial and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented in research and clinical trials. Better understanding of the components of effective minority recruitment into research studies is critical to understanding and reducing health disparities. Research on recruitment strategies for cancer-specific research—including colorectal cancer (CRC)—among African American men is particularly limited. We present an instrumental exploratory case study examining successful and unsuccessful strategies for recruiting African American men into focus groups centered on identifying barriers to and facilitators of CRC screening completion. METHODS: The parent qualitative study was designed to explore the social determinants of CRC screening uptake among African American men 45-75 years of age. Recruitment procedures made use of community-based participatory research strategies combined with built community relationships, including the use of trusted community members, culturally tailored marketing materials, and incentives. RESULTS: Community involvement and culturally tailored marketing materials facilitated recruitment. Barriers to recruitment included limited access to public spaces, transportation difficulties, and medical mistrust leading to reluctance to participate. CONCLUSION: The use of strategies such as prioritizing community relationship building, partnering with community leaders and gatekeepers, and using culturally tailored marketing materials can successfully overcome barriers to the recruitment of African American men into medical research studies. To improve participation and recruitment rates among racial and ethnic minorities in cancer-focused research studies, future researchers and clinical trial investigators should aim to broaden recruitment, strengthen community ties, offer incentives, and use multifaceted approaches to address specific deterrents such as medical mistrust and economic barriers.

Transmitting Insulin: The Design and Look of Insulin Delivery Devices as Technologies of Communication

In this article, we examine how insulin pens and pumps – two major devices for delivering insulin, the anabolic hormone used to treat Type 1 diabetes – are designed to conceal and fashion insulin delivery around their appearance as key communication technologies. Insulin pens and insulin pumps transform the aesthetics of insulin delivery away from the medicalized appearance of syringes toward that of beautiful technological artifacts. They both hide and draw attention to their status as technological artifacts and their medical use through a set of desirable, though sometimes incongruous, device aesthetics. Deliberately marketed around their resemblance to pens or pagers, insulin delivery devices are examples of skeuomorphs that “materialize the metaphor” of writing instruments and telecommunication tools into their design. We analyze how diabetes education and marketing materials present insulin delivery devices through skeuomorphic performances of use that uphold norms of concealment in diabetes self-management in conditions of social and medical surveillance. Drawing on patents, educational and marketing materials, and our own experiences with these devices, we argue that the skeuomorphic design of these devices morally regulates the embodied performance of diabetes.