Analysing persuasive features and behavioural influences in online esports gambling platforms : a study applying the Cialdini's principles and PSD model

Abstract

This study explores the realm of online eSports gambling to identify what are the most commonly occurring persuasive technology features and whether they affect the traffic of eSports gambling websites through the lens of Cialdini’s 7 principles of influence (Cialdini, 2016) and the Persuasive System Design (PSD) model (Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa, 2009). This study investigates the persuasive features within technologies and whether they have a greater impact on the eSports gambling web traffic. To examine this, this study uses a mix of Quantitative and Qualitative methods, and conducts a Content Analysis of 12 high-traffic eSports gambling websites, focusing on assessing the presence of features based on Cialdini’s principles of influence and the PSD model. I predicted that more persuasive features would be associated with more web traffic. The study found that while most persuasive features had a strong positive association with web traffic, the correlations did not reach conventional levels of significance. Implications of these results on understanding persuasive technology will be discussed.