Deception and Manipulation in Children’s Mobile Device Apps
About the project
This project will investigate what children aged 8 and 9 years old understand about the use of manipulative and deceptive practices in the apps and games they use on mobile devices.
Using focus groups we aim to further our understanding of children’s knowledge of deception in their digital spaces, how they feel about the use of these mechanisms and how they interact with them.
Deception and manipulation are prevalent in mobile device apps and games across all age groups, however our understanding of young children’s knowledge and experience of this is limited.
Research into manipulative and deceptive practices in apps and games on mobile devices are common methods of driving monetisation through in-app purchases and ad revenue, with these practices found in apps for children of all ages. However, there is little research investigating what young children under the age of 10 understand and feel about the use of these practices in the apps they use.