Animal Crossing: New Horizons meets "Maslow's pyramid"

Animal Crossing: New Horizons meets ‘Maslow’s pyramid’ Behailu Shiferaw Benti Georg Stadtmann ___________________________________________________________________ European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) Department of Business Administration and Economics Discussion Paper No. 424 April 2021 ISSN 1860 0921 ___________________________________________________________________ Animal Crossing: New Horizons meets ‘Maslow’s pyramid’ Behailu Shiferaw Bentiaand Georg Stadtmannb April 2021 Abstract Relying on Maslow’s needs-based theory of motivation, we analyze the role of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) in satisfying needs. We use an interdisciplinary framework involving both psychology and gaming. While ACNH creates a virtual world, we highlight its role in satisfying the needs of the real person. In doing so, we reflect on the interdependence between the real world and the virtual one. Keywords: Maslow’s theory of motivation, Animal Crossing, Maslow’s pyramid, seven-stage model, real world needs, virtual world needs aCorresponding author: Behailu Shiferaw Benti, European University Viadrina, Economics and Economic Theory, Grosse Scharrnstr. 59, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. Tel.: +49 0335 5534 2703, E-Mail: Ben[email protected] bGeorg Stadtmann, European University Viadrina, Economics and Economic Theory, Grosse Scharrnstr. 59, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. Tel.: +49 0335 5534 2700, E-Mail: [email protected] and University of Southern Denmark, Odense. 1 1 Introduction In March of 2020, Nintendo released the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) (the latest in a series) which has since recorded high sales figures.1Therefore, it has become clear that the game is able to satisfy the needs of a large group of people. In this paper, we look at ACNH from the perspective of needs-based theory of motivation. The earliest and best known theory of motivation was created and extended by Maslow (1943; 1970), and states that human beings are motivated by the desire to satisfy hierarchically ranked interrelated needs. We investigate whether these needs are satisfied through playing ACNH. This approach clarifies the motivational role of the game in influencing the behavior of the players. Furthermore, by defining the boundaries between the real and virtual world, an investigation of the interaction between these two worlds is made in the context of needs-based theory. This game has also received attention in the field of psychology. Zhu (2020) states that the game, as a social interaction platform, helps players to reduce their levels of anxiety and depression, by bringing spiritual comfort, calmness, and peace. Johannes et al. (2021) support this notion by analyzing self-reported and telemetry data about playing time, to confirm that there is a significant positive relation between ACNH game time and players’ well-being. The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 summarizes the needsbased theory of motivation and the applications of ‘Maslow’s pyramid’ in the field of business. In Section 3, we describe and classify the game itself. In Section 4, we explain how the game serves different needs on various levels. Section 5 presents our conclusions and outlines avenues for further research. 1Nintendo sold seven million copies of ACNH across Europe (which is the highest firstyear total sale figure for all of its games) and 31.8 million copies worldwide (Handrahan 2021). It received the highest number of downloads of any premium console game in 2020, and its revenue of $ 654 million is ranked seventh in the top 10 premium games (both console and PC) of 2020 (SuperData 2021). 2 2 The theory of motivation 2.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Maslow’s (1943) theory of motivation states that human beings are motivated by the desire to satisfy five needs or maintain the conditions that satisfy them. The prepotent physiological needs are biological needs that are independent but crucial for moving to the next level. Safety needs reflect the desire to have a predictable, organized, and orderly world. The love needs that reflect affection and belongingness emerge once the previous two are satisfied. Esteem needs, which are divided into two sub-needs describe the desire for status. The first are the desire to be strong, successful, and confident from an individual’s perspective. The second represent endeavors of individuals to gain reputation, respect, and recognition from others. Self-actualization needs are aspirations to do what an individual is fitted for towards ultimate happiness (Maslow 1943, pp. 372–382). One of the major preconditions for the satisfaction of these needs is having a set of freedoms2without constraints. Besides, cognitive capacities, which represent the search for knowledge, truth, wisdom, and solutions, are motivational needs requisite to satisfy the five needs. The hierarchical form reflects the fact that once a category of needs is relatively and recurrently satisfied, the next higher needs emerge. Satisfied needs cease to determine behavior and motivation. The needs determine both the expressive and coping behaviors of individuals.3However, these needs are not single and exclusive determinants, as a particular behavior could simultaneously be determined by multiple needs (Maslow 1943). The five needs mentioned thus far are called ‘conative’ needs, as they have a striving or motivational character (Maslow 1943). As the desire to fulfill physical, safety, love, and esteem needs becomes stronger the 2Maslow (1943, p. 383) givers a set of freedoms: to speak, to act as desired without harming others, to gain knowledge, to defend oneself, to seek justice, fairness, honesty, and orderliness. 3An expressive behavior is an unmotivated, random, and non-functional action of an individual that purely reflects their personality. Coping behaviors are motivated and reflect defense mechanisms of individuals to protect their needs (Maslow 1943, p. 391). 3 longer they remain unmet, they are grouped as deficiency-motivated needs. Self-actualization needs are growth-motivated needs, as they express the desire for personal growth (Maslow 1970). However, Maslow stresses that the hierarchical form is not as rigid as presented, and there are several exceptions. The order naturally changes, depending on an individual’s priority of preference, the current state of existence, previous experiences, and cultural differences (Maslow 1943, pp. 386–388). Later, Maslow extended his original set of needs to a seven-stage model by first including cognitive needs, which reflect the need for knowledge and understanding, and aesthetic needs, which reflect the need for appreciation and search for beauty (Maslow 1970, pp. 48–51). These growth-motivated needs reflect the progressive character of human beings towards self-actualization, and are ranked above esteem needs (Ward and Lasen 2009). 2.2 Maslow’s pyramid Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is frequently represented in the form of a pyramid, which is often referred to as “Maslow’s pyramid.” However, Bridgman et al. (2019) stress that Maslow never used the label ‘pyramid’ for the hierarchy of needs. They investigate how this came to happen. Accordingly, as of the 1960s, scholars have focused on integrating Maslow’s theory of motivation into management science. Researchers have been engaged in testing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs empirically. More scientific works and management textbooks started prominently presenting the hierarchy of needs in a pyramid form, seeking a simplistic, memorable, easily applicable, and audience-oriented framework. The book Human Relations in Business by Davis (1957) is regarded as the first publication with a triangular representation of the hierarchy of needs. The article by McDermid (1960), “How Money Motivates Men” has been identified as the earliest published rendition of Maslow’s pyramid. 4 2.3 Applications in business: HR, marketing, and gaming In modern organizations and business environments, Maslow’s theory of motivation is frequently used to guarantee the satisfaction of employees’ needs. For instance, Jerome (2013) uses the five-stages model to reflect that this human motivation theory plays a role in organizational success and excellence through improving the organizational culture, human resource management, and employees’ performance. Walker (2017) uses the original hierarchy of five needs and states that the theory can be helpful to address the needs of customers by way of attaching each level with a different type of products. Food and beverage industries satisfy customers’ physiological needs while the insurance industry satisfies safety needs. The love and belongingness needs are the most important needs from a marketing perspective. Companies address these needs by ensuring customers’ feeling of belonging to a special group. Luxury cars, fashion brands, and exclusive luxury holiday packages are designed to address esteem needs. Charity campaigns are mentioned concerning self-actualization needs. – Insert Figure 1 about here – In gaming, Siang and Rao (2003) adopt the seven-stage model (see Figure 1) to reflect the motivational needs of players in games. At the bottom two levels, players need to understand the basic rules of the game and acquire helpful information on how to survive and keep on playing. Subsequently, players have belongingness needs to feel comfortable and achieve the game’s goals. Then, they have the esteem needs of having full control and feeling good about winning. Next, they have cognitive needs to know more about the game and its different strategies. Afterwards, players have aesthetic needs for good graphics, sound, and visual effects. Finally, players have self-actualization needs as they aspire to do anything within the game. Brown (2012) uses a similar model to look at the impact of games on the 5 satisfaction of needs. In this paper, we follow Maslow’s 1970 extension (Maslow 1970, pp. 35–51) of his original model. Using the extended seven-stage model depicted in Figure 1, we investigate the role of ACNH game in satisfying needs. 3 ACNH: Description and classification ACNH is launched for the Nintendo Switch game console. It is an openended social simulator game where players live on a deserted island with anthropomorphic animal residents. The players are given full control to build a community and customize their island using both pre-made and player-made decorative items (Totten 2020). After choosing the appearance of their avatar,4players engage in relatively loose non-competitive in-game activities, such as interacting with computer-controlled animal residents, fishing, planting trees, collecting bugs, wood, and minerals, as well as building and designing houses (Webster 2020). Coyle (2020) states that in ACNH there are around 400 animal residents (also called villagers or neighbors) whom players can invite to their islands by meeting them at randomly generated islands. A player’s island in ACNH can accommodate a maximum of 10 villagers from 35 different animal species (Animal Crossing Wiki 2021). These villagers have eight different personalities (four male and four female personalities), which determine their interactions with the avatar and other villagers (Grosso 2020). Villagers can move to a player’s island either temporarily or permanently. Players can then exchange gifts with the villagers, receive some tasks to do, and also get DIY recipes5from the villagers (IGN 2021). 4Players freely choose the physical appearance of avatars, which can be altered at a later point. Players can make their characters look like a man or a woman. There is no impact of gender on the gameplay and in-game interaction with villagers (Sharp 2020). 5DIY recipes allow players to craft different items out of resources gathered from their own or mystery islands. Players can get resources by shaking and chopping trees with an axe, hitting a rock with a shovel or an axe, fishing, gathering from the island, or wishing on a shooting star. Using the DIY recipes, players can craft items such as tools, housewares, furniture, and cloth, that can also be sold for more Bells–the primary currency used in the game–than the total value of the raw materials (Nookipedia 2021). 6 The game is categorized as a life simulation and role-playing game. It is rated as PEGI 3, i.e., appropriate for players who are three years old and above, and ESRB E, i.e., suitable for everyone6(Animal Crossing Wiki 2021). These ratings are also appropriate since ACNH has won the ‘Best Family Game’ of the year 2020 award. It also finished second in the award categories of ‘Game of the year’ and ‘Best Multiplayer’ (The Game Awards 2021). 4 ANCH meets Maslow’s hierarchy of needs In this section, we consider Maslow’s first extension with the hierarchy of seven needs, so as to reflect on the role of playing ACNH in satisfying needs. We take into account evidence of satisfying needs in the real world by way of engaging in the virtual world of ACNH. In addition, we also consider the needs of the avatars and villagers, who solely exist in the virtual world, and look into how their needs can be satisfied. 4.1 Deficiency-motivated needs Physical needs From the player’s perspective, it is unlikely to provide evidence on whether the satisfaction of physical needs could motivate players to play the game. Considering the eating habits of male players between 15 and 19 years of age, Chaput et al. (2011) confirm a positive relation between obesity (in terms of increased food intake) and a single session of video gameplay. However, Kracht et al. (2020) made a scoping review of studies on such relations and found ambiguous results. While 53% of the studies report no association at all, the rest report a positive relation. In the virtual world, players gather edible in-game items7such as fruits, 6Pan European Game Information (PEGI) is a video game content rating system established to provide age classifications for video games in 38 European countries (PEGI 2021). The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is an American non-profit, selfregulating body established to help customers, especially parents, make informed choices and decisions about video games (ESRB 2021). 7Some of these items can also be sold to earn Bells (Nookipedia 2021). 7 vegetables, seafood, candies, fortune cookies, and snacks. When fed to the avatar, these items boost energy for performing activities such as relocating trees (Nookipedia 2021). Furthermore, in decorating their islands, players engage in public works projects to add new infrastructures, such as roads and shelters for the villagers (Animal Crossing Wiki 2021). Thus, in the virtual world, players are motivated to satisfy the physical needs of food and shelter for both their avatar and the villagers. Safety needs Human beings develop more feelings of safety, comfort, confidence, and control while conducting repeated routine behavior (Avni-Babad 2011). Momentary feelings about the meaning of life are positively affected by the routine structures in everyday life (Heintzelman and King 2019). In ACNH, there are several routine activities. For example, so as not to miss anything important while playing the game, a gameplay guide by Thorn (2020) provides a checklist of 15 in-game activities. Performing these activities thus constitutes a routine structure in the game, and provides the satisfaction of real world safety needs. Players satisfy the virtual safety needs of their avatars by being careful while catching tarantulas, scorpions, and wasps/bees8. Bites and stings by these bugs make the avatars pass out, and later wake up in front of their home (Spear 2020). Besides, as villagers sometimes conflict, mainly due to having differences in their personalities, players could ensure their safety needs by carefully selecting villagers with compatible personality types. Approaching and talking to the villagers after conflicts also ensures their happiness (Holly 2020). Sometimes, players use bullying or torture to force villagers they do not like out of their islands. One might argue that these moves qualify as threatening safety needs. However, there is no evidence about whether these moves succeed in pushing the villagers out of the islands (Hernandez 2020a). 8Tarantulas and scorpions are called “the stunners,” and can be sold for 8,000 Bells. Players can also earn 2,500 Bells by selling wasps/bees (Animal Crossing Wiki 2021). 14 Kracht, Chelsea L., Joseph, Elizabeth D., and Staiano, Amanda E. (2020). Video games, obesity, and children. Current obesity reports, 9(1), 1–14. Lewis, Joanna, Trojovsky, Mia and Jameson, Molly M. (2021). New social horizons: Anxiety, isolation, and Animal Crossing during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2(14). Lin, Xi, and Su, Shu (2020). Motivating Learning by Playing Animal Crossing New Horizons: A trending game during the COVID-19 pandemic. eLearn, 2020(11). Maslow, Abraham Harold (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. Maslow, Abraham Harold (1970). Motivation and Personality. New York, Harper & Row. 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ABC Radio National, Mar. 26, 2020. https://www.abc.net.au/news/20 20-03-27/coronavirus-social-distancing-friends-online-an imal-crossing/12080982 17 Appendix Figure 1: Maslow’s seven-stage hierarchy of needs Growth-motivated needs Deficiency-motivated needs Self-actualization personal growth and fulfillment Aesthetic needs beauty, balance, form, etc. Cognitive needs knowledge, meaning, self-awareness Esteem needs achievement, status, responsibility, reputation Belongingness and love needs family, affection, relationships, work group, etc. Safety needs protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. Biological and psychological needs basic life needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. Source: Adapted from Figure 5 in Ward and Lasen (2009, p. 142)