Processing Play: Perceptions of Persuasion

This position paper by Mattias Svahn of the Stockholm School of Economics proposes a theoretical model for understanding how players perceive and process "play" when it blends with persuasive intent, such as in advergames, serious games, and pervasive games. Its central argument is that the dual-process theory of persuasion from social psychology, particularly the heuristic-systematic model, can be merged with Roger Caillois's continuum of play (Paidia to Ludus) to explain how playful experiences are cognitively processed. The author frames this as a response to a media-cluttered environment in which audiences filter persuasive messages, arguing that playfulness may be a state of mind advertisers seek to engender.

The model rests on a sufficiency principle, in which perceivers balance a drive toward cognitive economy against a desire for confidence in their judgments. The author predicts that games perceived as more complex or novel will be processed more systematically, while familiar or easy games, and the flow states they produce over time, will tend toward heuristic processing. These relationships are organized into a three-axis cube: the X-axis captures subjectively perceived game complexity and novelty, the Y-axis captures the processing mode (sufficiency), and the Z-axis captures the degree of integration between persuasive message and game, ranging from incidental to systemic. Eight corner points illustrate extreme configurations, with examples such as Tropicana Smash, Volvo's Strongest Truck, Mafia Wars, and Conqwest.

The paper is explicitly theoretical. It draws on prior dual-process research in advertising and on persuasive game literature, but it presents no empirical data, survey results, or experimental validation; the author acknowledges the model requires empirical testing, which is described as underway through prototype-based fieldwork. Its contribution is therefore conceptual: it offers a framework intended to inform game analysis, the design of persuasive games, and marketing strategy, while extending dual-process modeling into the domain of play.