The Rewardable Persuasive Model: A Mobile Exergame Conceptual Design Model that Facilitates Youths to Exercise through Mobile Gaming

Hasdina Lynn Hashim - Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Azrina Kamaruddin - Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Azrul Hazri Jantan - Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Puteri Suhaiza Sulaiman - Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia


Citation Format:



DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.62527/joiv.8.3-2.3461

Abstract


This study seeks to assess current design models to propose a conceptual design model for a mobile exergame that promotes physical activity among youths. Encouraging youths to engage in physical activity rather than remaining sedentary is essential due to the numerous health benefits associated with regular exercise. Exercise is a subset of physical activity structured for fitness. Exergames have the potential to inspire youths to be active by combining exercise and gaming engagingly and enjoyably. The proliferation of mobile gaming has further broadened the availability and accessibility of exergames. In this study, we conducted four stages of information gathering to assess and propose a mobile exergame conceptual design model: a literature review, a user survey, expert reviews, and in-depth user interviews. Based on the study's findings, we identified appropriate components and their rationale by adapting an existing design model to our conceptual design model for a mobile exergame. This conceptual design model is called the Rewardable Persuasive Model (RPM). This model aims to help youths achieve their weekly physical activity targets using an engaging and functional mobile application (app). The app incentivizes exercise by integrating it as a key element for unlocking gameplay. With the introduction of these components, an exergame can be designed to engage youths and facilitate physical activity effectively. In a future study, youths will use an app to assess the RPM's effectiveness over time. This assessment will ascertain its appropriateness for facilitating exercise during inactivity.

Keywords


Design model; mobile exergames; mobile gaming; persuasive; rewardable

Full Text:

PDF

References


Institute for Public Health Ministry of Health Malaysia, ‘National Health & Morbidity Survey 2023 - KEY FINDINGS’, 2023.

T. C. Lian, G. Bonn, Y. S. Han, Y. C. Choo, and W. C. Piau, ‘Physical activity and its correlates among adults in Malaysia: A cross-sectional descriptive study’, PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 1–14, 2016, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157730.

J. Norsham et al., ‘Heart Rate Variability and Muscle Strength in Young Male Adults with Sedentary Behaviour’, IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 65–71, Oct. 2021, doi:10.31436/imjm.v20i4.

J. Marshall and C. Linehan, ‘Are Exergames Exercise? A Scoping Review of the Short-Term Effects of Exertion Games’, IEEE Trans Games, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 160–169, Jun. 2021, doi:10.1109/TG.2020.2995370.

World Health Organization (WHO) Department for Health Promotion, ‘Primary Health Care: Promoting physical activity through A Toolkit’, 2021.

H. Yusoff, W. N. Wan Daud, and A. S. Rasyad, ‘Exergaming Improves Self-Efficacy in Sustaining Physical Activity Among Sedentary University Students’, Malaysian Journal of Movement, Health & Exercise, vol. 10, no. 1, Mar. 2021, doi: 10.15282/mohe.v10i1.489.

J. E. Lee, N. Zeng, Y. Oh, D. Lee, and Z. Gao, ‘Effects of pokémon GO on physical activity and psychological and social outcomes: A systematic review’, J Clin Med, vol. 10, no. 9, May 2021, doi:10.3390/jcm10091860.

D. W. Dunstan, S. Dogra, S. E. Carter, and N. Owen, ‘Sit less and move more for cardiovascular health: emerging insights and opportunities’, Sep. 01, 2021, Nature Research. doi: 10.1038/s41569-021-00547-y.

T. Volmut and B. Šimunič, ‘Effect of unstructured 15-minute active recess on children’s daily physical activity’, Journal of Physical Education and Sport, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 180–187, Jan. 2021, doi:10.7752/jpes.2021.01025.

J. Bowness, J. McKendrick, and E. Tulle, ‘From non-runner to parkrunner: Subjective athletic identity and experience of parkrun’, Int Rev Sociol Sport, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 695–718, Aug. 2021, doi:10.1177/1012690220942124.

P. Li and S. H. Hassan, ‘Mapping the literature on Gen Z purchasing behavior: A bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer’, Innovative Marketing, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 62–73, 2023, doi:10.21511/im.19(3).2023.06.

E. Djafarova and S. Foots, ‘Exploring ethical consumption of generation Z: Theory of planned behaviour’, Young Consumers, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 413–431, Jul. 2022, doi: 10.1108/YC-10-2021-1405.

B. Shatto and K. Erwin, ‘Moving on From Millennials: Preparing for Generation Z’, The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 253–254, 2016, doi: 10.3928/00220124-20160518-05.

H. L. Hashim, A. Kamaruddin, P. S. Sulaiman, and A. H. Jantan, ‘User Personas: Discovering Factors That Influence Genz’s Sedentary Lifestyle for the Development of a Mobile Exergame Design Model’, Article in Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 2088–2093, 2021.

H. Jo and D. H. Park, ‘Affordance, usefulness, enjoyment, and aesthetics in sustaining virtual reality engagement’, Sci Rep, vol. 13, no. 1, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42113-1.

M. Kowal, J. Piskorz, and M. Czub, ‘Virtual Reality Could Improve Exercise Performance on a Stationary Bike’, Polish Psychological Bulletin, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 365–372, 2021, doi:10.24425/ppb.2021.139171.

T. Kojić, R. Spang, M. Vergari, L. Meier, S. Möller, and J.-N. Voigt-Antons, ‘Effects of user factors on user experience in virtual reality: age, gender, and VR experience as influencing factors for VR exergames’, Qual User Exp, vol. 8, no. 1, Dec. 2023, doi:10.1007/s41233-023-00056-5.

H. Jumareng, E. Setiawan, and Z. Németh, ‘Augmented Pokemon Go In Times Of Covid-19: Does It Have Any Effect On Promoting Teenagers’ Physical Activity?’, Physical Education Theory and Methodology, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 360–365, 2022, doi:10.17309/tmfv.2022.3.09.

H. Liang, X. Wang, and R. An, ‘Influence of Pokémon GO on Physical Activity and Psychosocial Well-Being in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review’, J Med Internet Res, vol. 25, no. 1, Jan. 2023, doi:10.2196/49019.

F. Valeriani et al., ‘Exergames in childhood obesity treatment: A systematic review’, Int J Environ Res Public Health, vol. 18, no. 9, May 2021, doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094938.

C. S. Fernandes, B. Magalhães, A. Lima, P. Nóbrega, M. Silva, and C. Santos, ‘Impact of Exergames on the Mental Health of Older Adults: A Systematic Review and GRADE Evidence Synthesis’, Games Health J, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 355–368, Dec. 2022, doi:10.1089/g4h.2021.0229.

L. M. Marques, P. M. Uchida, and S. P. Barbosa, ‘The impact of Exergames on emotional experience: a systematic review’, Front Public Health, vol. 11, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1209520.

Z. M. Liu, C. Q. Chen, X. L. Fan, C. C. Lin, and X. D. Ye, ‘Usability and Effects of a Combined Physical and Cognitive Intervention Based on Active Video Games for Preschool Children’, Int J Environ Res Public Health, vol. 19, no. 12, Jun. 2022, doi:10.3390/ijerph19127420.

N. Aldenaini, A. Alslaity, S. Sampalli, and R. Orji, ‘Persuasive Strategies and Their Implementations in Mobile Interventions for Physical Activity: A Systematic Review’, Int J Hum Comput Interact, vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 2292–2338, 2023, doi:10.1080/10447318.2022.2075573.

D. E. Melnikoff, R. W. Carlson, and P. E. Stillman, ‘A computational theory of the subjective experience of flow’, Nat Commun, vol. 13, no. 1, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29742-2.

H. Zhang, ‘Evaluating the Successful Factors of Arknights as a Mobile Gacha Game with GameFlow’, Advances in Economics and Management Research, vol. 9, pp. 50–57, 2024, doi:10.56028/aemr.9.1.50.2024.

A. L. Martin-Niedecken, T. Schwarz, and A. Schättin, ‘Comparing the Impact of Heart Rate-Based In-Game Adaptations in an Exergame-Based Functional High-Intensity Interval Training on Training Intensity and Experience in Healthy Young Adults’, Front Psychol, vol. 12, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.572877.

A. I. Wang, K. Hagen, and T. Høivik, ‘Evaluation of the Game Exermon – A Strength Exergame Inspired by Pokémon Go’, Advances in Computer Entertainment, vol. 7624, pp. 384–405, 2018, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-34292-9.

M. Altmeyer, P. Lessel, A. Krüger, A. Ur, and R. Waqar, ‘Design guidelines to increase the persuasiveness of achievement goals for physical activity’, in 5th International GamiFIN Conference 2021, Apr. 2021. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2107.12599.

S. Amagai, S. Pila, A. J. Kaat, C. J. Nowinski, and R. C. Gershon, ‘Challenges in Participant Engagement and Retention Using Mobile Health Apps: Literature Review’, J Med Internet Res, vol. 24, no. 4, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.2196/35120.

L. David and N. Weinstein, ‘Using technology to make learning fun: technology use is best made fun and challenging to optimize intrinsic motivation and engagement’, European Journal of Psychology of Education, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 1441–1463, Jun. 2024, doi:10.1007/s10212-023-00734-0.

N. Pindeh, A. Kamaruddin, N. M. Norowi, and R. W. O. Rahmat, ‘Exploring Design Guidelines of Mobile Exergame for Older Adults’, in Proceedings of 2022 8th International HCI and UX Conference in Indonesia, CHIuXiD 2022, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2022, pp. 71–76. doi:10.1109/CHIuXiD57244.2022.10009875.

V. J. Sotos-Martínez, J. Tortosa-Martínez, S. Baena-Morales, and A. Ferriz-Valero, ‘Boosting Student’s Motivation through Gamification in Physical Education’, Behavioral Sciences, vol. 13, no. 2, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.3390/bs13020165.

L. Han, Z. Pan, M. Zhang, and F. Tian, ‘A Pleasurable Persuasive Model for E-fitness System’, in International Conference on Cyberworlds, 2016, pp. 89–96. doi: 10.1109/CW.2016.20.

C. Ndulue and R. Orji, ‘Games for Change -A Comparative Systematic Review of Persuasive Strategies in Games for Behavior Change’, IEEE Trans Games, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 121–133, Jun. 2023, doi:10.1109/TG.2022.3159090.

B. Fogg, ‘A behavior model for persuasive design’, in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Persuasive Technology - Persuasive ’09, 2009, p. 1. doi: 10.1145/1541948.1541999.

J. Swain, K. Kumlien, and A. Bond, ‘An experiential exercise for teaching theories of work motivation: using a game to teach equity and expectancy theories’, Organization Management Journal, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 119–132, Jun. 2020, doi: 10.1108/omj-06-2019-0742.

S. ‘Adliana A. Halim, J. M. Khudzari, N. E. Yusoff, S. F. S. M. Fuzi, S. H. M. Amin, and N. H. Rahmat, ‘Exploring The Relationship between Learning Approaches and Vroom Motivation AMONG Undergraduate Learners at Malaysian Universities’, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1324–1342, 2023, doi: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i6/17182.

S. Adi, ‘Benefits of Sports Activities with FITT Principles During the Covid-19 Pandemic in a “New Normal” Life for Health’, in Advances in Health Sciences Research, Atlantis Press International B.V., 2021. doi: 10.2991/ahsr.k.210707.028.

C. L. Craig et al., ‘International physical activity questionnaire: 12-Country reliability and validity’, Med Sci Sports Exerc, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 1381–1395, 2003, doi: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB.

M. D. Olfert, R. A. Wattick, E. G. Saurborn, and R. L. Hagedorn, ‘Impact of COVID-19 on college student diet quality and physical activity’, Nutr Health, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 721–731, Dec. 2022, doi:10.1177/02601060221086772.

B. Klika and C. Jordan, ‘High-intensity circuit training using body weight: Maximum results with minimal investment’, ACSMs Health Fit J, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 8–13, 2013, doi:10.1249/FIT.0b013e31828cb1e8.

A. F. Machado et al., ‘Psychophysiological Responses of Exercise Distribution During High Intensity Interval Training Using Whole Body Exercise’, Front Physiol, vol. 13, Aug. 2022, doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.912890.