Yuting Chen Draft 1

Why I choose my topic: I would like to choose this topic because I am interested in how virtually traveling experiences may be different from traditional traveling. I want to explore how people interact with each other online even though we have different backgrounds and languages. I would like to find similarities and differences among cultures and promote cultures to others who might be interested.

Research questions: 

1) How does traveling help people to discover new lifestyles and development of personal characteristics?
2) What is the connections between traveling and interactions among people? [I think this question might be a little too big for this essay. Some people travel without interacting with others.]
3) How does internet help and change the way we travel to a place?
4) How does virtual traveling experience ( Gamification) help people managing through COVID?

Topic: How does virtual learning ( gamification ) and online traveling experiences impact behaviors of people to learn different cultures without physical contacts? [This seems like another research question to me. It is very similar to the first question you listed above. It might be a good idea to focus on this question only because there should be a lot of great ideas and resources regarding this topic.]

Annotated Bibliography:

                                                                  Entry 1 

Reference:  

Sigala, M. (2015). The application and impact of Gamification funware on trip planning and EXPERIENCES: The case OF tripadvisor’s funware. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 189-209. doi:10.1007/s12525-014-0179-1

Summary: 

                 This journal article reveals how gamification plays important role in attracting people’s attention to travel around the world. One example that Sigala (2015) showes is TripAdvisor’s funware, which allows people to plan and change their traveling processes and destinations. [I’m not sure I understand how this is an example of gamification. Lots of apps let you change your plans. You might need to give one or two examples]. Gamification has great potential in marketing because it is simple and gives customers sufficient web experiences. Gamification also values faithfulness and satisfaction of customers. This paper focuses on investigating how gamification may affect user’s virtual experiences and behaviors by collecting datas from users’ online experiences. It explains how funware encourages users to interact with each other and form games mechanics such as user profile and activity feed. [Similar to my previous comment: I think providing an example would help your readers understand this better] These gameful experiences improve travelers’ egos and self- esteem when they complete certain tasks.This paper also conducted research  on how the funware designs impact TripAdvisor by motivating the travelers to engage in the website and how it impacts the travelers’ decision-making by looking at the reviews. Moreover, the gamification application is enabled by Facebook, which means users can logging into the TripAdvisor’s website with their Facebook account to chat with friends and match the game mechanics with their own values. 

Reflection: 

                  This paper supports my topic because it is similar to the product we make. The main focus of this paper is to attract customers’ attention by giving out interesting game mechanics and motivate people to use the product. It is not just a game, it gives the opportunities to create your own planning process and encourage you to chat online and make friends with others. It collects satisfactions of customers and improves based on customer reviews. Games have been involved since the birth of humans. There are different games such as board games and card games. People then have games on their electronic devices since technology is gradually becoming something that people rely on. People interact with each other through phones. It fits my topic to encourage people to learn different cultures while avoiding physical contacts. [I think you’ll need to provide some specific examples of how these virtual interactions encourage people to learn more about different cultures.] People can build their own profiles and read friends’ activities. Our customers can use the product to gain their rewards and achieve some goals each time they learn some knowledges about a country. 

Paraphrasing: 

            TripAdvisor’s game mechanics help to form interesting experiences of the places customers visit because TripAdvisor would recommend the most popular places and engage users to stay and avoid tourist traps from reviews from other users. ( Sigala, 2015, p.2)

Analysis: 

           I choose paraphrase the paragraph because it tells me how TripAdvisor can help people travel and gives best suggestions on where to spend time and time spent at destination. In our product, we will also give best advice to inform our customers the most popular places to visit and eat. With the game mechanics and funware, people can perceive their trip experience and make them feel they are like in the real place instead of virtual traveling .

                                                                 Entry 2

Reference:

Rosenbloom, S. (2013, May 31). Let’s play: Making travel a game. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/travel/lets-play-making-travel-a-game.html?searchResultPosition=3

Summary:  

                This news [article] demonstrates how a couple uses a game app called Stray Boots to establish a virtual city tour. The app would ask questions like “ what color is the wall painted?” When the user answers the question correctly, they gain points and win prizes. [I’m a little confused about this example. Why is it asking about the color of this wall? How is this an example of cultural exchange?] The app also has its GPS feature to discover sites. In addition, this news [article] also includes how this game assists people to engage and solve puzzles. It leads to a change of behaviors of customers in psychological aspects. The more challenging a problem is, the more time customers would spend in order to get the rewards. [Are customers playing with other people online or are they playing alone?] The elements of game mechanics allow users to know how many countries they have visited and create special memories. It also helps companies to achieve some business goals and earn profits. Companies will create more and more creative designs and  programs in order to engage customers. If companies introduce the same concepts, users would have aesthetic fatigue and not be willing to download the app. Promotions and surprises are necessary in order to attract users. 

Reflection:

                   This news [article] presents a similar idea as our product of creating fun experience to customers in an app and explore world. Users can save a lot of money in the game instead of going somewhere they don’t know. They can also plan to go to the place they are interested in after knowing the basic knowledge so that they can avoid some problems when traveling. It is easy and quick to create an account. Companies try to create more emotional elements such as choosing own avatars. People can share their comments under arts works that are shown. One big concern would be that gamification may fail to earn profits for travel industries because customers already knew what the places have. These gamification company owners can cooperate with travel industries. For example, gamification companies can give higher level players certain coupons and discounts when they travel to other countries. [I think you need to provide a stronger connection between this article and the idea of learning about different cultures through virtual travel. For example, how is this game different from simply researching these sites on your own?]

Quote: 

          “ A map of the world shows players where their avatar is on its journey, and an Indiana Jones-style graphic line between cities enables users to track their progress. There is also a weekly sweepstakes, where five players are randomly selected to earn 100,000 points.” ( Rosenbloom, 2013, p.4)

Reason to choose the quote: 

         I choose this quote because it gives an example of how users can keep an eye on their accomplishments and the visual pictures of the cities. It also gives a sense of excitement when people can be picked as the “ lucky people” to win points and treats.

Both of these sources make sense considering your topic. I think you’ll need to provide some specific examples or analysis of how these apps/games encourage users to learn more about other cultures. You might also want to consider how the gamification of travel is different from simply researching different places online (which can still help people learn about other cultures). One suggestion: maybe choose another source that helps you explain how games promote interaction and/or cultural exchange.