Abstract:

It is a common strategy of advertising to show pleasant experience of users, but the effect may be opposite on game advertising. Most games are based on the principle of competition, which makes the result of the game a key factor. Success or failure would not only affect the motivation of game players, but also affect the observers. However, there are few researches on investigating how observing others' failure influences individuals' willingness to try a task, especially in the context of game. Would observing the failure (vs. success) of others in the ads of game improve observers' intention to download the game? If yes, what are the underlying psychological mechanism and boundary conditions? Based on social comparison theory and competition theory, the current research explored the influence of observing others' failure on observers' download intention of the games, and the serial mediation model of downward social comparison and competitive motivation, as well as the moderating role of difficulty and the observers' trait competitiveness were discussed.
The results of Experiment 1 provided evidence for the influence of game results on download intention. Experiment 1A (N = 310) was a 3 (game results: success vs. failure vs. control) between-subjects design, which proved that participants observing the failure (M_failure = 74.19, SD = 26.35) were more likely to download the game than those observing the success (M_success= 62.27, SD = 19.00; p = 0.001, η_p² = 0.06) and those in the control condition (M_control = 56.44, SD = 27.64; p < 0.001, η_p² = 0.12). Experiment 1B tried to replicate the main effect in a real-world context. Two visions of a game ad (success vs. failure) were put in a short video social platform. Before Experiment 1B, we conducted a pretest to ensure that our manipulation of game result was effective and did not differ in terms of credibility and understandability. Results of the analysis revealed that a consumer who viewed the failure ad (2.12%) was more likely to click on the ad than a consumer who viewed the success ad (1.24%; χ²(1, N = 9993) = 11.48, p < 0.001).
Experiment 2 (N = 250) measured downward social comparison and competitive motivation with a 2 (game result: success vs. failure) between-subjects design through another game ad. We hypothesized that the results of the game influence observers’ download intention through the serial mediator effect of downward social comparison and competitive motivation. A pretest was conducted to ensure our manipulation of game result was effective and did not differ in terms of credibility, understandability and difficulty. Results of Experiment 2 proved the serial mediator effect of downward social comparison and trait competitiveness in the impact of observing others’ failure on download intention (indirect effect = 0.33, 95% CI: [0.16, 0.58]; Figure 1), which verified hypothesis 2.
Experiment 3 (N = 250) was 2 (game result: success vs. failure) ×2 (difficulty: simple vs. difficult) between-subjects design. In experiment 3, we devised two levels in a same game that varied in their difficulty. Results of Experiment 3 suggested that for simple tasks, observing failure facilitated observers’ download intention (M_failure = 6.98, SD = 1.74; M_success = 5.19, SD = 2.53; p < 0.001, η_p² = 0.15; Figure 2), whereas for difficult tasks, this effect was no longer significant (M_failure = 6.21, SD = 2.39; M_success = 6.11, SD = 2.35; p = 0.808). In other words, task difficulty played a moderating role between observing failure and download intention, which confirmed hypothesis 3 and further verified the mediating effect.
Experiment 4 (N = 250) explored the moderating role of observers’ trait competitiveness with a 2 (game result: success vs. failure) between-subjects design through the same ad of Experiment 1A. Results of Experiment 4 supported that the observer's trait competitiveness played a moderating role between observing failure and observers’ download intention (F (1, 246) = 6.07, p = 0.014). For participants with high trait competitiveness (+1 SD), observing the failure of others would lead to higher download intention (p < 0.001). For participants with low trait competitiveness (−1 SD), this effect was no longer present (p = 0.241). The results of Johnson-Neyman analysis (Figure 3) showed that observing failure increased download intention for participants who scored > 4.37 on the 7-point trait competitiveness scale (Effect = 7.87, p = 0.05). Hypothesis 4 was supported.
Taken together, based on the game advertising situation, these studies confirmed the positive effect of observing others' failure on observers’ behavior intention, and expanded the research on the impact of displaying failed product experience on advertising in the field of consumer behavior. The findings of the current research also added an alternative perspective to the social learning literature.

Key words: game advertising, social comparison, competitive motivation, social influence, failure vs. success