Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes
PhD fellow, Oslo Metropolitan University
Steinnes is currently conducting a PhD in Behavioral Analysis at Oslo Metropolitan University. She has an MA in Social Psychology from the University of Oslo. In her PhD project she seeks to understand how consumer behavior in digital games can impact children's social inclusion. Her research interests include consumption in digital markets, social equality and gender diversity, and sustainable and symbolic behaviors.
Tell us about your project!
Gaming is the largest hobby among Norwegian children and youth. The gaming industry is built upon behavioral analysis, particularly reinforcement of behavior. Video games are designed to keep people engaged and have them coming back for more. This PhD project seeks to understand how games are designed to encourage digital consumption, and how this might impact children’s social inclusion (and exclusion). This will be explored through a mapping of commercial games as digitalized markets, and a play-along field study with children and youth. By combining theoretical tools from psychology, sociology, and consumption studies, the project aims to contribute to a better understanding of gaming both as behavior and as a cultural phenomenon. The project seeks to nuance the positive and negative effects of gaming, by highlighting both visible and invisible game consumption, by learning why and how children participate in gaming, and how it may affect social inclusion.
“This PhD project seeks to understand how games are designed to encourage digital consumption, and how this might impact children’s social inclusion (and exclusion).”
— Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes on her research project ““Free to play – pay to win”: Understanding children’s social inclusion through their consumer behavior in games”