WORD GUESSING GAMES FOR MARKET RESEARCH

A system is described for a computer-based word-guessing game that can be used to elicit market-research data, specifically sentiment and awareness data. The two-person game involves a clue giver and a guesser, each playing on their own mobile device. The clue giver sends clues to induce the guesser to guess a given target word or phrase before a countdown clock runs out. The clues used and the guesses made can be analyzed to reveal the opinions and knowledge that the players have about products, brands, and people. The game features a novel mechanic in which the clue words are categorized according to how obvious they are. Using more-obvious clues causes the countdown clock to decrement faster, thereby making the game play more strategic and entertaining, while also incentivizing the clue giver to use less-obvious, sentiment-oriented words that are more useful for market-research purposes.