Gamified market research in digital social media for brand management decisions; first funding period: Valuation of branding options for hedonic media products using virtual prediction markets

在第一个融资阶段，我们开发并验证了一种新的方法，通过将实物期权分析与虚拟股票市场(VSM)相结合来评估品牌延伸。该项目通过提供对品牌延伸的货币估值的第一种方法，明确考虑此类投资决策中固有的期权价值，为品牌文献做出了贡献。此外，它通过开发一种方法来使用VSM来推导期权标的资产的价值及其波动率(在实践中使用实物期权分析时最难推导的两个参数)，从而有助于实物期权分析。此外，该项目使用来自娱乐业的广泛的次要数据集，分析了作为品牌延伸价值的重要驱动因素的向前和向后溢出效应。最后，我们通过分析数字社交媒体(DSM)中不同类型的口碑与购买决策的相关性，阐述了基于消费者的品牌延伸价值的重要驱动因素。项目工作的一个重要见解是，复杂或单调的数据收集或分析任务对参与者的积极性提出了特殊要求。增强个人动机的一个有希望的方法是使用游戏元素，即分数、排名或级别。在需求侧管理的背景下，游戏化技术的使用似乎特别有希望，因为需求侧管理中有大量的(非结构化)数据；需求侧管理的一个特点已经在第一个资助期的申请中得到强调，近年来变得更加重要。数字化涉及到日常生活的各个领域，产生了大量的数据(数据通信)。因此，在相应的数据分析任务中使用游戏化技术似乎是有希望的，例如，增强编码者的动机。此外，游戏化技术可以通过激励个人参与调查或通过激励用户(在DSM内)分享、点赞或发布自己的帖子来支持数据收集任务。第二个资助期的目标是通过调查帝斯曼在市场研究中游戏化技术的使用来补充我们对特定市场研究问题(即品牌延伸的估值)的分析。因此，第二个资助期的目的是深入分析第一个资助期使用的VSM的一个重要特征：通过在虚拟市场中行动以及通过与其他参与者竞争，VSM使用类似游戏的元素来激励参与者。我们将研究(1)游戏元素如何影响(移动)市场研究应用程序中的用户行为(例如，参与调查的意愿)，(2)不同类型的游戏元素如何影响用户行为，(3)解释这些影响的潜在(心理)过程，以及(4)游戏化是否会导致更高的个人数据披露意愿，从而导致对自己数据的处理不那么谨慎。

In the first funding period, we developed and validated a new approach to the valuation of brand extensions by combining real-options analysis with virtual stock markets (VSM). The project contributes to the branding literature by providing the first approach to the monetary valuation of brand extensions that explicitly considers the option value inherent in such investment decisions. Moreover, it contributes to real-options analysis by developing an approach to derive the value of an option’s underlying asset and its volatility (the two parameters that are most difficult to derive when using real options analysis in practice) using a VSM. In addition, the project analyzed forward and backward spillover effects as important drivers of the value of brand extensions using an extensive secondary dataset from the entertainment industry. Finally, we addressed an important consumer-based driver of brand extension value by analyzing the relevance of different types of word of mouth in digital social media (DSM) for purchase decisions. An important insight of the project work was that complex or monotonous data collection or analysis tasks pose special requirements to the motivation of participants. One promising means of enhancing an individual’s motivation is the use of game elements, i.e., points, rankings, or levels. The use of gamification techniques seems to be especially promising in the context of DSM because of the large amounts of (unstructured) data available in DSM; a characteristic of DSM already emphasized in the application for the first funding period that has become even more important in recent years. The digitalization involves all areas of everyday life and produces large amounts of data (“datafication”). Thus, the use of gamification techniques in corresponding data analysis tasks seems to be promising, e.g., to enhance coder motivation. Furthermore, gamification techniques can support data collection tasks by motivating individuals to participate in a survey or by motivating users – within DSM – to contribute shares, likes, or own posts. It is the objective of the second funding period to complement our analyses of a specific market research problem (i.e., valuation of brand extensions) by investigating the use of gamification techniques in market research in DSM. Thereby, the second funding period aims at providing an in-depth analysis of a vital feature of VSMs used in the first funding period: by acting in a virtual market and by competition with other participants VSMs use game-like elements to motivate participants. We will examine (1) how game elements influence user behavior within a (mobile) market research app (e.g., willingness to participate in a survey), (2) how different types of game elements influence user behavior, (3) the underlying (psychological) process that explains these effects, and (4) whether gamification leads to a higher willingness to disclose personal data and thus to a less careful handling of own data.