May I Continue or Should I Stop? The Effects of Regulatory Focus and Message Framings on Video Game Players’ Self-control
Shu-Hsun Ho, Chutinon Putthiwanit, Chia-Ying Lin

Abstract
Two types of motivations exist in terms of regulatory focus: a promotion orientation concerned with advancement and achievement and a prevention orientation concerned with safety and security. The central premise of this research is that promotion-focused and prevention-focused players differ in their sensitivity to message frames and therefore respond with different levels of self-control. This study adopted a 2 (message frames: positive vs. negative) × 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs. prevention) between-subjects design; the results confirmed the hypotheses that, for promotion-focused players, negative messages are significantly effective in preventing them from becoming addicted to the games; meanwhile, for prevention-focused players, positive messages significantly influenced players, leading them to become addicted. Hence, video games’ negative and addiction-related messages should be enhanced whereas positive messages should be cautiously released.

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