Effects of Pokémon GO on Physical Activity and Psychological and Social Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) mobile game, Pokémon GO, leverages gamification and location tracking technology to encourage players to walk in different places to catch Pokémon characters in real-world settings. The systematic review sought to explore the impact Pokémon GO has on players’ physical activity (PA), and psychological and social outcomes. Six research databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Scopus) were used. Study inclusion criteria were: (1) quantitative research published in English; (2) examined the relationships between or impact of Pokémon GO on PA, psychological, and/or social outcomes; and (3) included participants played or exposed to Pokémon GO. Thirty-six studies were included with a total sample of 38,724 participants. Players had significantly greater PA than non-players in terms of daily steps and number of days spent in moderate PA. Pokémon GO game also improved players’ social interactions and their mood/affects. Selective attention and concentration improved in adolescents and memory improved in young adults after playing the game. Findings suggest playing Pokémon GO could promote meaningful improvements in walking behavior, as well as psychological and social well-being. More multidimensional research with randomized controlled trial design is needed to identify factors that influence adoption and sustainability of Pokémon GO playing.

Can the Development of Religious and Cultural Tourism Build a Sustainable and Friendly Life and Leisure Environment for the Elderly and Promote Physical and Mental Health?

“…The higher the satisfaction level, the higher the positive energy cognition obtained [59]. The more satisfying personal psychological needs can be obtained, the more satisfied with the current life and feelings and the willingness to revisit [60,61]. Some scholars believe that although the influencing factors of leisure satisfaction can be divided into internal and external interference [62], it can be analyzed from six levels: physiology, psychology, education, aesthetics, social interaction, and relaxation [63].…”

“…Personal physical and mental health refers to physical, psychological, and social wellbeing [58]. It is an analytical method of self-perception evaluation [59], which can present the actual situation through scientific test evidence such as self-assessment [60]. The higher the health risk, the greater the influence on individual behavioral decisions [10,28].…”

“…Therefore, mixed research methods were used, quantitativ research methods were first used to supplement the research breadth [67,68], then qual tative research was used to increase the depth of research [69], and multivariate verifica tion methods were used to discuss [70][71][72], which could make up for research develop ment or defects of insufficient theory [73]. Therefore, the research first referred to the com piled questionnaire tools in the literature on leisure satisfaction [25,44,45,[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66], physica and mental health, [25,44,45,[58][59][60][61][62], and willingness to participate again [25,44,45,[50][51][52][53][54][55] First, three experts checked the content validity. After the draft was revised, 100 question naires were collected in June 2020, analyzed using SPSS 26.0 statistical software, and con firmed with the formal questionnaire tools.…”

“…Leisure satisfaction is an evaluation formed by comparing personal expectations or a sense of anticipation after using personal experience of the surrounding environment, equipment, and facilities [57,58]. The higher the satisfaction level, the greater the positive energy cognition obtained [59], and the stronger the intention to increase the willingness to revisit [60,61]. Therefore, the researchers assumed that the public would have a positive and significant impact on leisure satisfaction and re-travel willingness.…”

“…First, we adopted quantitative research to investigate. The structure and content of the questionnaire were compiled regarding related literature such as leisure satisfaction [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66], physical and mental health [58][59][60][61][62], and re-travel willingness [50][51][52][53][54][55]. The questionnaire was divided into two parts.…”