Introduction: Few studies have examined the sales of stolen account credentials on darkweb markets. In this study, we tested how advertisement characteristics affect the popularity of illicit online advertisements offering account credentials. Unlike previous criminological research, we take a novel approach by assessing the applicability of knowledge on regular consumer behaviours instead of theories explaining offender behaviour.Methods: We scraped 1,565 unique advertisements offering credentials on a darkweb market. We used this panel data set to predict the simultaneous effects of the asking price, endorsement cues and title elements on advertisement popularity by estimating several hybrid panel data models.Results: Most of our findings disconfirm our hypotheses. Asking price did not affect advertisement popularity. Endorsement cues, including vendor reputation and cumulative sales and views, had mixed and negative relationships, respectively, with advertisement popularity.Discussion: Our results might suggest that account credentials are not simply regular products, but high-risk commodities that, paradoxically, become less attractive as they gain popularity. This study highlights the necessity of a deeper understanding of illicit online market dynamics to improve theories on illicit consumer behaviours and assist cybersecurity experts in disrupting criminal business models more effectively. We propose several avenues for future experimental research to gain further insights into these illicit processes.
DOCUMENT
New online stores and digital distribution methods have led to the development of alternative monetization models for video-games, such as free-to-play games with advertisements. Although there are many games using such models, until now the effect on the player experience from such interruptions has not been studied. In this controlled experiment, we requested that participants (N=236) play one of three different versions of a platformer game with: 1) no interruptions, 2) 30-second video advertisements, and 3) a multiple-choice questionnaire. We then evaluated the effects on the player experience. The study shows differences in their experiences, namely in: competence, immersion, annoyance, affects, and the reliability of the questionnaire answers. The contribution of this work is to identify which player experience variables are affected by interruptions, which can be valuable for selecting the business model and guiding the game design process.
LINK
With the increase of Virtual Reality (VR), the importance of advertising within VR has become more relevant. However, it is unclear whether advertising strategies used in traditional media also work in VR. This study is focused on openness in advertisements, an advertisement strategy that refers to the degree of guidance towards the intended message. More open means less guidance and is often used to increase attention and attitude. However, open ads have not been researched in VR before. In this study, VR-advertisements were created and tested that differ in openness. An experiment with 87 participants revealed new ways of creating openness based on positioning and timing of anchoring cues. Moreover, the results revealed a negative effect of openness on interpretation, consistent with findings in studies using traditional media. Unexpectedly, openness in VR-advertisements did not influence (ad and brand) attitude, possibly due to the newness-effect causing high appreciation for ads in VR.
LINK