Customer ratings could help identify gamers who have lost control

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Customer ratings could help identify gamers who have lost control

Study makes first-of-its-kind connection between severely negative reviews of mobile games and increased playing time, spending

EVANSTON, Ill. --- It appears a contradiction: a gamer trashes an online game and then goes on to spend more time and money playing it.

A new Northwestern University study, however, finds this apparent contradiction to be prevalent among players of a popular online game and suggests it may signal problems with self-control and compulsion.

Intuitively, and based on past research, users who give negative reviews are expected to log fewer hours playing and spend less money. But according to the data, some display the exact inverse relationship - they rate negatively but sustain or increase their use of the game.

"The point of the study is to flag this phenomenon and discuss if and how it could be used for early and targeted intervention to create healthier customer relationships and make everyone better off,'" said Northwestern marketing researcher and study author Julian Runge. "It's taking a new perspective on commonly available data and suggesting that this data can help improve digital media and marketplaces. Until now, it has been hiding in plain sight."

The study, Net Promoter Score inversion may signal problematic digital use, published in the Nature portfolio journal Scientific Reports today.

Always within reach, free-to-play mobile games, like Fortnite, Apex Legends and Overwatch, are part of the expanding world of digital experiences, offering opportunities to connect and enjoy virtual worlds with others. Some game mechanics, however, also pose unique risks to consumers' well-being, e.g., gambling mechanics in the form of loot boxes - virtual containers holding unknown items, like in-game costumes and weapons, that can be purchased by players willing to gamble on their contents. Players of online games are expected to spend $20 billion on loot boxes in 2025, according to data aggregated by Statista.

Despite widespread use and general consensus that online gaming can become unhealthy, identifying individuals struggling with overuse has proven challenging. Using readily available data, this study offers a potential way to improve gaming experiences for consumers' and firms' benefit.

Its findings suggest that a pattern marked by negative evaluation of the product or experience, in this case an online game, concurrent with sustained or increased consumption, may signal dysregulated and problematic digital use.

An assistant professor in Northwestern Medill's Integrated Marketing Communications program, Runge has a background in behavioral economics and studies the effects of digital marketing technologies and algorithms in digital media and games.

He used data provided by a popular unnamed free-to-play mobile game featuring loot boxes. Like many, this online game employs a customer engagement survey called the Net Promoter Score (NPS), designed to assess customers' satisfaction with a product based on a 0-10 ratings scale for how likely the user is to recommend the product or experience.

The NPS is generally expected to associate with future consumption levels. Typically, a high score (7-10) is an indication that the user will consume at least as much, if not more. Conversely, a low score (0-6) normally correlates with less use. When the relationship is flipped - a pattern Runge calls NPS inversion - it could be a sign that the user has lost control over the extent of their use, according to the study.

Using NPS survey responses and actual consumption recorded in clickstream data from the unnamed online game, Runge was able to compare reviews with individual use, including time and money spent before, during and immediately following the survey.

The study finds that some users are NPS-inverted and spend substantial amounts of time (more than 10 hours) and money (more than $20) on the game in the week after their negative rating of it. This pattern is even more pronounced for the most negative rating categories. The results suggest issues in consumption regulation and self-control with relevant real-life consequences, especially for time budgets.

Runge plays online games and has been asked to complete the NPS while playing. He is also familiar with platforms like Steam, where superfans of games frequently go into the reviews to complain.

"That got me thinking, could it be that people who are really unhappy, especially in highly addictive games, actually show their moment of addiction or the moment where they lose control in their negative evaluations in this way?" Runge said. "In a way, do they express that they are fed up and done with the game but then are unable to make good on that promise? That would be an indicator of self-control issues and possibly dysregulated use."

Runge says measuring nonsubstance-based addictions, such as in problematic use of digital media and games, is more difficult than measuring substance-based addictions.

"If somebody drinks a bottle of whiskey over the course of the day, we all agree that level of consumption is problematic. If somebody spends six hours on social media or in a game, it's hard to label that in any definitive way," he said.

Some gamers engage in extended play sessions, lasting more than 14 consecutive hours, without problems, while others do so with serious harm to their social, school or work functioning. High-income players may spend substantial amounts on loot boxes or virtual goods without impacting their financial wellbeing - while others may bankrupt themselves.

"We need to know the context, or we need to know the consequences for individuals - or, at a minimum, we need a report by the user on their experience to assess a discrepancy between what they want to do and what they actually do. In this study, I'm suggesting we have insights on the latter readily available in the marketing data commonly collected on digital marketplaces," he said.

Runge said makers of online games or platform operators, such as Apple, Google and Steam, could be the ones to make use of the data and provide intervention.

"It's beneficial to remind people about not over doing it. Importantly, research has shown that it can be good for both the consumer and the firm. Smart preventative intervention can make both better off in terms of a longer, healthier and more profitable relationship," Runge said. "NPS inversion can provide a marker that facilitates more targeted and earlier intervention than blanket use or spending thresholds that affect all users, including those that are perfectly happy with their use and spending."