A content analysis of in-game microtransaction advertisements

This research analyzed microtransaction advertisements in free-to-play PlayStation 4 video games for the presence of enticement methods found in gambling advertisements and motivation factors previously assigned to the purchase of loot boxes (Abarbanel et al., 2017; Håkansson & Widinghoff, 2019; Close & Lloyd, 2021). Previous research found a correlation between problem gambling symptoms and expenditure on loot boxes (Gainsbury et al., 2017; Bender & Gentile, 2019; Close & Lloyd, 2021). To analyze the presence of gambling enticement methods in loot box advertisements, each method is coded and their appearance in the advertisements are counted. It was expected that loot box advertisements would contain one or more enticement methods present in gambling advertisements. The data suggests the only significant difference in enticement methods used for random and non-random reward microtransaction advertisements is in rapid reward messaging. Loot boxes were found to be ubiquitous within free-to-play PlayStation 4 games and future studies should investigate other consoles and include the displayed items within stores.