Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

5-2026

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the mobile game industry entering a saturated market and relying on User Acquisition (UA) marketing for global expansion, the failure narrative has emerged as the mainstream logic in mobile game advertising. By showcasing failure scenarios in casual sub-games, these advertisements attract non-traditional gamers while implicitly suggesting that the core gameplay can rewrite the failed outcome. However, existing research on failure narratives remains largely generalized, lacking a detailed typology. Furthermore, previous studies predominantly focus on short-term attraction effects, lacking a systematic analysis of the "short-term conversion to long-term value" linkage mechanism, and failing to clarify the moderating roles of individual player differences (such as game experience and trait competitiveness). Consequently, current literature struggles to meet the industrys pressing demand for high-quality user acquisition.
Grounded in consumer behavior, this study focuses on the specific typology of the "avoidable failure narrative" to explore its impact mechanism on mobile game advertising effectiveness, following the core logical chain of "avoidable failure narrative → competitive motivation → dual advertising effects." The primary objective is to verify its dual impact on both short-term conversion and long-term user value. The research adopts a quantitative-dominant mixed-methods paradigm. Study 1 conducted a real-world A/B test on the Meta platform. By controlling variables such as ad formats and delivery conditions, the study tracked massive impression data alongside Day 60
retention rates and monetization multipliers. Study 2 involved a contextualized questionnaire survey of 675 mobile game players, utilizing SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro to test mediation and moderation effects.
The results indicate that the avoidable failure narrative not only significantly enhances short-term click-through rates (CTR) and download conversion rates (CVR), but also vastly outperforms both the absolute failure and neutral narrative groups. In terms of long-term value, its Day 60 (D60) retention rate is 3.7 times that of the absolute failure group and twice that of the neutral group, exhibiting the optimal mid-to-long-term monetization multiplier performance. Mechanistically, post-viewing competitive motivation serves as the sole core mediator, whereas downward social comparison yields no significant effect. Regarding moderating effects, player game experience has no impact, while trait competitiveness exerts a negative moderating effect exclusively on download intention.
This study bridges the research gap concerning the sub-typing of game advertising narratives and their linkage to long-term effectiveness, constructing an interdisciplinary analytical framework encompassing "psychological motivation - marketing conversion - economic payment." Practically, it provides mobile game publishers with actionable strategies for ad creative design and precision targeting, assists advertising platforms in refining user profiling, reduces the trial-and-error costs of user acquisition for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and propels the industrys marketing transition from experience-driven to science-driven methodologies.

Keywords

Avoidable Failure Narrative, Advertising Effectiveness, Competitive Motivation

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Bus Admin (CKGSB)

Discipline

Advertising and Promotion Management | Marketing

Supervisor(s)

CHANG, Han-Wen Hannah

First Page

1

Last Page

158

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

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Available for download on Monday, July 12, 2027

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