Assessing Stress Reduction of Relaxation Gaming: Investigating the Interrelation of Gamification, Advertising Intrusion and Stress Responses in Master’s Students

Mobile gamified interventions for reducing stress among students have been thoroughly evaluated by academia and the industry. However, there needs to be more knowledge as to whether the interference of advertisement - as a means to monetise such interventions - is feasible. This study investigates the impact of a gamified intervention by conducting a comparative stress analysis and examining the influence of advertising within a relaxation game, ‘Energy’ from Infinity Games, on stress levels among Master’s students. The research design enables a comparative analysis involving fourteen students with a strong gamer profile divided into two groups. The study employed the Perceived Stress Scale for data collection and a questionnaire to assess user engagement, encompassing an initial and post-intervention assessment. The results did not conclusively support the influence of advertising interference on stress outcomes; our work discusses potential explanations for non-statistically significant results, including the sensitivity of stress measures, individual variability in stress responses, the influence of gaming experiences and the concept of psychological reactance, suggesting that participants might resist advertising interference, influencing stress outcomes.