SOCIAL NETWORKS GAMES CONFIGURED TO ELICIT MARKET RESEARCH DATA AS PART OF GAME PLAY
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method of conducting market research using an online game played by a plurality of participants, the method comprising:
- providing, to each of the plurality of participants, a set of prediction cards, wherein each prediction card specifies a measure for determining a point value of the prediction card based on a corresponding future event identified by the prediction, wherein the online game is configured to allow each participant to retain or discard each of the prediction cards;
providing, to the plurality of participants, a first interface for a first one of the participants to selectively trade prediction cards in the set of the first participant with a prediction card in the set of one the second participants; and
monitoring, by operation of a processor, (i) a count of how many times a respective prediction card is discarded by one of the participants and (ii) trades made by respective first and second participants.
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Abstract
Techniques are described for conducting market research via interactive game play mechanics. A game platform may allow a market research sponsor to create and publish online games which can identify latent consumer sentiment (and other market research data), while simultaneously providing an entertaining and engaging experience for the game participants. The games may be tailored such that elements of game play elicit responses from participants that reveal the desired market research data, e.g., consumer product awareness, consumer sentiment, brand preferences, loyalty, trends in awareness and sentiment, etc. Providing an engaging online experience provides an element of situational distraction, leading to more authentic responses from the participants as well as greater participation rates.
29 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method of conducting market research using an online game played by a plurality of participants, the method comprising:
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providing, to each of the plurality of participants, a set of prediction cards, wherein each prediction card specifies a measure for determining a point value of the prediction card based on a corresponding future event identified by the prediction, wherein the online game is configured to allow each participant to retain or discard each of the prediction cards; providing, to the plurality of participants, a first interface for a first one of the participants to selectively trade prediction cards in the set of the first participant with a prediction card in the set of one the second participants; and monitoring, by operation of a processor, (i) a count of how many times a respective prediction card is discarded by one of the participants and (ii) trades made by respective first and second participants. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer implemented method of conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant on a handheld device, the method comprising:
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repeatedly; selecting a cell in a grid of cells rendered on a display of the handheld device, determining a current challenge to present to the first participant on the display, wherein the current challenge requests the first participant capture an image of a specified object, via a camera on the handheld device, and wherein the subject of at least one current challenge corresponds to a market research topic, and receiving either (i) an indication from the participant to pass on the current challenge or (ii) the requested image to use to fill in the selected cell; until either (i) a specified time period has elapsed or (ii) the first participant has filled in a specified configuration of cells in the grid. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer implemented method of conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant and a second participant, the method comprising:
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presenting a prediction question to the first participant, wherein the prediction question is associated with a game play card in the online game, and wherein the prediction question corresponds to a first market research topic; presenting the prediction question to the second participant; receiving, from the first and second participants, an estimate of an answer to the prediction question; providing, to the first and second participants, a plurality of game play cards, wherein each card poses a statistical question having a known value, and wherein the question posed by one or more of the game play cards corresponds to a second market research topic; and presenting, by operation of a processor, a respective game play interface to the first and second participant, wherein the first and second participants each play one of the game play cards during each of a set number of rounds via the respective interfaces. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer implemented method of conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant, the method comprising:
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during a first time period; receiving, from the first participant, a selection of a plurality of tiles, wherein each tile presents a question related to an event that will occur during a second time period, and wherein the selection includes an estimated answer of the question posed by each selected tile, and wherein one or more of the questions correspond to a respective market research topic, and receiving, from the first participant, an arrangement of the selected tiles, wherein the arrangement orders the selected one or more tiles in a connected chain having an ascending order, beginning from a tile having a lowest estimated value; and following the second time period; replacing, the estimated value in each tile with an actual value for each of the event presented in each selected tile, beginning from the tile having the lowest estimated value, toppling subsequent tiles in the connected chain until encountering a subsequent tile having an actual value that is not in ascending order, and awarding a score to the first participant based on a length of the toppled tiles in the connected chain. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable storage medium storing code for execution by a processor, wherein the code, when executed, performs an operation for conducting market research using an online game played by a plurality of participants, the operation comprising:
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providing, to each of the plurality of participants, a set of prediction cards, wherein each prediction card specifies a measure for determining a point value of the prediction card based on a corresponding future event identified by the prediction, wherein the online game is configured to allow each participant to select to retain or discard each of the prediction cards; providing, to the plurality of participants, a first interface for a first one of the participants to selectively trade prediction cards in the set of the first participant with a prediction card in the set of one the second participants; and monitoring, by operation of a processor, (i) a count of how many times a respective prediction card is discarded by one of the participants, and (ii) trades made by respective first and second participants. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-readable storage medium storing code for execution by a processor, wherein the code, when executed, performs an operation for conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant on a handheld device, the operation comprising:
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repeatedly; selecting a cell in a grid of cells rendered on a display of the handheld device, determining a current challenge to present to the first participant on the display, wherein the current challenge requests the first participant capture an image of a specified object, via a camera on the handheld device, and wherein the subject of at least one current challenge corresponds to a market research topic, and receiving either (i) an indication from the participant to pass on the current challenge or (ii) the requested image to use to fill in the selected cell; until either (i) a specified time period has elapsed or (ii) the first participant has filled in a specified configuration of cells in the grid. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable storage medium storing code for execution by a processor, wherein the code, when executed, performs an operation for conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant and a second participant, the operation comprising:
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presenting a prediction question to the first participant, wherein the prediction question is associated with a game play card in the online game and wherein the prediction question corresponds to a first market research topic; presenting the prediction question to the second participant; receiving, from the first and second participants, an estimate of an answer to the prediction question; providing, to the first and second participants, a plurality of game play cards, wherein each card poses a statistical question having a known value, and wherein the question posed by one or more of the game play cards corresponds to a second market research topic; and presenting, by operation of a processor, a respective game play interface to the first and second participant, wherein the first and second participants each play one of the game play cards during each of a set number of rounds via the respective interfaces. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A computer-readable storage medium storing code for execution by a processor, wherein the code, when executed, performs an operation for conducting market research using an online game played by a first participant, the operation comprising:
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during a first time period; receiving, from the first participant, a selection of a plurality of tiles, wherein each tile presents a question related to an event that will occur during a second time period and wherein the selection includes an estimated answer of the question posed by each selected tile, and wherein one or more of the questions correspond to a respective market research topic, and receiving, from the first participant, an arrangement of the selected tiles, wherein the arrangement orders the selected one or more tiles in a connected chain having an ascending order, beginning from a tile having a lowest estimated value; and following the second time period; replacing, the estimated value in each tile with an actual value for each of the event presented in each selected tile, beginning from the tile having the lowest estimated value, toppling subsequent tiles in the connected chain until encountering a subsequent tile having an actual value that is not in ascending order, and awarding a score to the first participant based on a length of the toppled tiles in the connected chain. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification