Genre Labels as Signals: Taxonomy Divergence and Expectation Disconfirmation in Video Game Markets
Author: Datorien Anderson, Occybyte Date Written: February 07, 2026 Suggested Citation: Anderson, Datorien, Genre Labels as Signals: Taxonomy Divergence and Expectation Disconfirmation in Video Game Markets (February 07, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6194038 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6194038
Abstract
Game genre labels function as marketing signals under information asymmetry. When these signals are structurally misaligned with a game’s actual play-experience dimensions, players experience expectation disconfirmation that predicts dissatisfaction. This paper proposes a taxonomy divergence metric, the measurable distance between market signals (storefront genres, tags, marketing copy) and experience dimensions (mechanic-grounded rubric vectors), and argues that high divergence generates the specific language of betrayal in player feedback. We synthesize literatures on expectancy-disconfirmation theory, signaling under information asymmetry, and videogame genre classification failures to demonstrate that discoverability problems are not separate from expectation failures; they are the same structural failure expressed earlier in the purchase funnel.
Keywords: taxonomy divergence, genre classification, expectation disconfirmation, signaling theory, video games, discoverability, performative mechanics