Are you able to recall the brand? The impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge in online – advergames

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Sreejesh S. Pillai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge on gamers’ brand recall and attitude in the context of online advergames. Specifically, this investigation uses limited capacity model of attention and persuasion knowledge model to expound the conditions under which brand placements create attention, elaboration and subsequent brand recall and brand attitude. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (brand prominence: prominent versus subtle) × 2 (game involvement: high versus low involvement) × 2 (persuasion knowledge: high versus low) between-subjects measures design is used. A total of 224 student gamers participated in the study. A between-subjects measures multivariate analysis of variance is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that an advergame with prominent brand placement under low game involvement condition results in high brand recall but less favorable brand attitude than under high game involvement condition. Furthermore, a three-way interaction shows that for a prominent brand placement advergame with high game involvement, the subjects with high persuasion knowledge report high brand recall than the subjects with low persuasion knowledge. The findings also reveal that for a prominent brand placement advergame with high game involvement, the subjects with high persuasion knowledge report less favorable brand attitude than the subjects with low persuasion knowledge. Research limitations/implications This paper adds to advertising literature from a non-traditional advertising viewpoint, predominantly in the context of online advergames, and expounds the role played by brand placement and its boundary conditions to create customers’ brand memory and attitude. Furthermore, this investigation adds to the marketing knowledge on how and where to position and embed the brands effectively in advergames taking into account the characteristics of the gamer, such as the game involvement and gamers’ persuasion knowledge about the advergame. Originality/value This study adds to the works of online advertising, particularly the advergames by discovering the impact of brand prominence, game involvement and persuasion knowledge on gamers’ brand recall and attitude. Also, this study is the first in its stream toward understanding the moderating role of persuasion knowledge on Indian gamers’ recall and attitude in the context of online advertising.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Sreejesh S

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of brand placement strength on gamers’ brand recall as moderated by gamers’ prior game playing experience and game involvement in the context of advergames. Specifically, this research utilizes Limited Capacity Model of attention to explain how and under what conditions brand placements create attention, elaboration and subsequent brand recall. Design/methodology/approach – A 2 (brand placement strength: prominent versus subtle) × 2 (prior game playing experience: experienced versus inexperienced) × 2 (game involvement: high versus low involvement) between-subjects measures design is used. Empirical data were obtained from 220 undergraduate student gamers. A between-subjects measures ANOVA is used to test the hypotheses. Findings – There are several important findings that can be inferred from the results. First, inexperienced gamers report high brand recall in prominent brand placements than subtle brand placements, whereas for experienced gamers, no significant difference in recall rates is found between prominent brand placement and subtle brand placement. Second, inexperienced gamers with low game involvement playing an advergame with prominent brand placement report high brand recall compared to inexperienced gamers with high game involvement playing an advergame with prominent brand placement. Research limitations/implications – The study contributes to the advertising literature from a non-traditional advertising perspective, particularly in the context of online advergames, and explains the role of brand placement and its boundary conditions to create customers’ brand memory. Moreover, this research contributes to the marketing knowledge on how to locate and embed the brands effectively in advergames, taking into account the individual characteristics of each advergame. Practical implications – The findings are very important for advertising practitioners because selecting media that enhances the brand memory of the consumers through entertainment is a planning strategy that has been widely used by media planners today. Hence, advertising managers should think about designing advergames by taking into account the game involvement factor to make sure that the implementation has the strongest positive effect on consumers’ memory. Originality/value – This research contributes to the literature of online advertising, especially the advergames by exploring the impact of brand placement strength and prior gaming experience on gamers’ brand recall. In addition, this study is the first step toward understanding the moderating role of game involvement on Indian gamers recall in the context of online advertising.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Sreejesh S.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to enhance the knowledge of advertising effects of nature of advergame (game speed) on gamers’ brand recall and attitude. More specifically, this study investigates varying effects of game speed in advergames on young Indian gamers’ brand recall and attitudes under varied game-product congruence and persuasion knowledge conditions from attention, elaboration and persuasion perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – A 2 (nature of advergame: fast or slow) × 2 (game-product congruence: high or low) × 2 (persuasion knowledge: high or low) between-subject measures design is used. Experimental data were collected from 235 Indian graduate students. ANOVAs and MANOVA with pre-planned contrasts are used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The results indicate that for a slow-paced advergame, low game-product congruence result in high brand recall than high game-product congruence. For a fast-paced advergame, there is no difference in brand recall between low game-product congruence and high game-product congruence. Furthermore, findings reveal that for a slow-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, subjects with high persuasion knowledge report high brand recall and less favorable brand attitude than subjects with low persuasion knowledge. On the other hand, for a fast-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, there is no difference in brand recall and brand attitude between the subjects with high persuasion knowledge and the subjects with low persuasion knowledge. Practical implications – The findings of the study are very important for advertising practitioners, as selection of media that fit the advertised product with reference to the nature and content of the media is a planning strategy that has been widely used by media planners. Thus, if advertisers want to create high brand awareness by creating high brand memory, then slow-paced advergames with low congruent brand placements can be chosen as an effective in-game media strategy for online advertising. Additionally, game developers and marketers can plan and develop more effective advergames by taking into account the persuasion knowledge factor so that the implementation would have the strongest positive effect on consumers’ brand recall and brand attitude. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature of non-traditional media advertising, specifically advergaming context by exploring the impact of nature of game and game-product congruence on gamers’ ad-persuasion. Also, this study is the first attempt to understand how the game speed and its boundary conditions influence gamers’ brand recall and attitude and in attention, elaboration and persuasion perspectives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashist

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of product involvement and brand prominence on advergamers’ brand recall and brand attitude in an emerging market context. Specifically, this research illustrates the conditions under which brand placements in online games create attention, elaboration and subsequent brand recall and brand attitude by drawing the insights from the limited capacity model of attention and the elaboration likelihood model. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (product involvement: low or high) × 2 (brand prominence: prominent or subtle) between-subject measures design is used. In total, 280 students participated in the study. A 2×2 between-subjects MANOVA is used to test the hypotheses. Findings In the context of advergames, for a low-involvement product, a prominent brand placement results in greater brand recall than a subtle brand placement. However, for a high-involvement product, a subtle-placement results in greater brand recall than a prominent brand placement. Further, results reveal that for a low-involvement product, a subtle brand placement results in more favorable brand attitude than a prominent brand placement. For a high-involvement product, a prominent brand placement results in more favorable brand attitude than a subtle brand placement. Research limitations/implications The findings and conclusions are very important for advertising experts in terms of advergame designing, execution and for an operational use of brand placements in advergames. Originality/value This investigation adds to the online advertising literature, specifically the advergames context by examining and analyzing the real-time roles of advergame-specific factor, such as brand prominence and the gamer-specific factor, such as product involvement in creating gamers’ brand recall and brand attitude from attention and elaboration perspectives in an emerging market context like India.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Sreejesh S.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of nature of advergame and moderating roles of game-product congruence and need for cognition (NFC) on gamers’ ad-persuasion from attention and elaboration perspectives. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (nature of game: fast or slow)×2 (game-product congruence: high or low)×2 (NFC: high or low) between measures design is used. In total, 224 graduate students participated in the study. A 2×2×2 between subjects ANOVA is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that slow-paced advergames result in high persuasion than fast-paced advergames. A 2 way-interaction indicates that for a slow-paced advergame, low game-product congruence result in high persuasion than in high game-product congruence. Furthermore, findings reveal that for a slow-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, subjects with high NFC report high persuasion than subjects with low NFC. For a fast-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, subjects with high NFC report high persuasion than subjects with low NFC. Practical implications The findings of the study are very important for advertising practitioners as selection of media that fit the advertised product with reference to the content of the media is a planning strategy that has been widely used by media planners. Thus, if high brand recall and recognition is the primary goal for advertisers, then, slow-paced advergames with low-congruent brand placements can be considered a better media strategy for in-game advertising. Furthermore, advertising managers can design advergames by taking into account NFC factor to make sure that the implementation has the strongest positive effect on consumers’ persuasion. Furthermore, advertising managers can design advergames by taking into account NFC factor to make sure that the implementation has the strongest positive effect on consumers’ persuasion. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature of non-traditional online advertising, specifically advergaming context by exploring the impact of nature of game and game-product congruence on gamers’ ad-persuasion. Also, this study is the first attempt toward understanding the moderating role of NFC on gamers’ ad-persuasion in the context of online advertising.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Surinder Mohan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of game-speed on brand attitude and mediating role of thought favorability in the speed-attitude relationship in the context of in-game advertising (IGA). Specifically, this investigation employs the Limited Capacity Model of Attention and the heuristic-systematic model to explain the conditions under which in-game brand placements form favorable or unfavorable thoughts about the game and the embedded brand, and subsequent brand attitude. Design/methodology/approach In total, 78 student-gamers participated in the study. One-tailed independent-samples t-tests and a path analysis were used for hypothesis testing. Findings Results revealed that fast-paced games resulted in higher thought favorability and more favorable brand attitude than the slow-paced games. Furthermore, the results also showed that thought favorability mediated the relationship of game-speed and brand attitude among Indian gamers. Research limitations/implications This paper adds to advertising literature from a non-traditional advertising perspective, primarily in the context of IGA, and explains the role played by game-speed as an antecedent to thought favorability that adds value to thought favorability and brand attitude relationship. Also, the study provides an important implication for the marketers that to generate more positive brand attitudes and high favorable thoughts, advertisers and game-developers must focus on high-speed games. Originality/value This study is the first in its stream toward understanding the mediating role of thought favorability in determining the persuasion effect on Indian gamers’ brand attitude in the context of online advertising from attention and elaboration perspectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht

Purpose The purpose of this study is to enhance the knowledge about advertising effects of brand placements in games on players’ brand recall and attitude. More specifically, this study examines the varying effects of brand prominence on gamers’ brand recall and brand attitude under varied game-involvement and need for cognition (NFC) conditions from attention and elaboration perspectives in the context of in-game advertising (IGA). Design/methodology/approach A 2 (brand prominence: prominent or subtle) × 2 (game-involvement: high or low) × 2 (NFC: high or low) between-subject measures design was used. Moreover, 240 student gamers participated in the study. A between-subjects measure multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results revealed that for a game with prominent brand placement, low game-involvement resulted in greater brand recall than high game-involvement condition. Furthermore, for a game with prominent brand placement, high game-involvement condition resulted in more favorable brand attitude than low game-involvement condition. For a game with subtle brand placement, no differences in brand recall rates as well as brand attitudes were found between the high and the low game-involvement conditions. Likewise, for a game with prominent brand placement under low game-involvement condition, high NFC players reported higher brand recall rates and less favorable brand attitudes than the low NFC players. On the other hand, for a game with subtle brand placement under high-game-involvement condition, no differences in brand recall rates as well as brand attitudes were found between the high and the low NFC players. Research limitations/implications The process of experimentation used in this study to collect responses was susceptible to some limitations. However, this research adds to advertising literature from a non-traditional advertising viewpoint, predominantly in the context of IGA. This study enlightens the role of brand prominence and its boundary conditions to create customers’ brand memory and brand attitude. Likewise, this investigation adds to the marketing knowledge on how to embed and position the brands effectively in digital games taking into account the specific physiognomies of each game and individual traits of gamers. Practical implications This study provides a clear understanding of how marketers can design and develop effective games with a purpose to increase and improve customers’ awareness and attitudes toward the advertised brands by embedding brands in games. The experimental findings suggest the advertising practitioners and game designers to think for a right mix of game-specific factors, that is brand prominence, and individual and situational factors, that is game-involvement and NFC, while creating games to have a stoutest positive advergaming effect on players’ brand recall and brand attitude. Originality/value This study adds to the literature of non-traditional advertising media, specifically to the context of IGA, by investigating the impact of brand prominence, game-involvement and gamers’ NFC on their brand recall and attitude. From the attention and elaboration perspectives, this study is the first attempt to understand how brand prominence and its boundary conditions, that is game-involvement and NFC, impact players’ brand recall and brand attitude.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht

PurposeThe motivation behind the study is to look at the impact of novelty in games on brand recall and attitude, and to dissect the directing job of game interactivity from the points of view of “contrast effect,” “engagement theory” and “transportation theory”.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (novelty: congruent or incongruent) × 2 (game interactivity: high or low) between-subject measures design was used. In total, 172 management students participated in the study. A 2 × 2 between-subjects measure multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was utilized to test the hypotheses.FindingsIncongruent novelty results in higher brand recall but less favorable brand attitude than congruent novelty. Interactivity moderates the relationship between novelty congruence and brand recall such that in a high-interactivity condition, incongruent novelty results in higher brand recall than that in the low-interactivity condition. But, in case of the high-interactivity condition, congruent novelty results in more favorable brand attitude than that in the low-interactivity condition.Practical implicationsDeveloping high brand recall rates and attitudes are the prime objectives of the marketers for choosing a medium to advertise their brands. This investigation adds knowledge to the area of interactive marketing, particularly in-game advertising as a media technique to promote brands taking novelty and game interactivity factors into thought.Originality/valueFrom the perspectives of interactive marketing, psychological elaboration, mind-engagement and transportation of experience, this investigation adds to the literature of advanced media advertising, explicitly to in-game advertising by looking at the effect of novelty and game interactivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-230
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
HFO Surindar Mohan ◽  
Abhishek Chauhan

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of game newness and game interactivity on players’ brand recall and brand attitude using contrast effect, mind-engagement and transfer effect theories. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (newness: congruent or incongruent) × 2 (game interactivity: high or low) between-subjects measures design was conducted. A total of 224 undergraduate management students participated in the study. A 2 × 2 between-subjects measures multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the hypotheses. Findings Findings show that incongruent-newness results in higher brand recall but less favorable brand attitude. Under incongruent-newness condition, high interactivity results in higher brand recall. However, under congruent-newness condition, both high- and low-interactivity conditions result in similar brand recall. Under congruent-newness condition, high interactivity results in more favorable brand attitude, whereas under incongruent-newness condition, both high- and low-interactivity conditions result in similar brand attitude. Practical implications Developing high brand recall rates and attitudes are the prime goals of advertisers for selecting a medium to promote their brands. This experimental study adds to the knowledge of online media advertising, especially in-game advertising (IGA) as a media-strategy to advertise brands taking newness and game-interactivity factors into consideration. Originality/value From the perspectives of attention, cognitive elaboration, engagement and transportation of experience, this study adds to the literature of IGA by examining the impact of newness and game interactivity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Vashisht ◽  
Sreejesh S. Pillai

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to examine whether there is any difference in persuasion of brands embedded in the advergame because of the differences in nature of the game (speed), and are there any differences in persuasion in the same context if the brand is prominently placed versus subtly placed and congruent versus incongruent with the game context. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (nature of advergame: fast or slow) × 2 (brand prominence: prominent or subtle) × 2 (game-product congruence: high or low) between-subject measures design is used; 280 graduate students participated in the study. A 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects ANOVA is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The findings support that slow-paced advergames with prominent brand placements result in high ad-persuasion compared to subtle brand placements. On the other hand, fast-paced advergames show no difference in persuasiveness despite the fact that whether it is a subtle placement or prominent placement. Furthermore, results also indicate that slow-paced games with prominent placement in low game-product congruence condition resulted in high ad-persuasion compared to that in high game-product congruence condition. Research limitations/implications The process of experimentation used in this study to collect responses were susceptible to some limitations. However, findings of the study are very important for advertising practitioners in terms of game design, implementation and for an effective use of brand and product placements in advergames. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature of online advertising, specifically advergaming context by exploring the impact of nature of game and brand prominence on gamers’ ad-persuasion. Also, this study is the first attempt toward understanding the moderating role of game-product congruence on gamers’ ad-persuasion in the context of advergames.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 706-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdolreza Eshghi ◽  
Juhi Gahlot Sarkar ◽  
Abhigyan Sarkar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of online advertising on advertising message involvement (AMI) and brand attitude formation among adolescent consumers. More specifically, the impact of advertising copy type and individual task orientation on brand attitude is examined through the mediating role of AMI among a sample of adolescents in India. Moderating role of product’s technology intensiveness is also examined. Design/methodology/approach Experimental design with three-way factorial analysis of variance was conducted along with independent t-tests and regressions. Findings The results show that the effect of ad copy type and individual task orientation on brand attitude is mediated by AMI. While both narrative and factual ad copies are found to increase AMI among the respondents, narrative ad copies generate greater AMI when compared with factual ad copies, irrespective of respondents’ task orientation or technology intensiveness of the product. Managerial insights regarding the type of online advertising that would generate a greater AMI and more favorable brand attitude among adolescent consumers are discussed. Originality/value The contribution of this research lies in providing the empirical evidence regarding the type of online advertising that can help marketers generate a greater AMI and cultivate more favorable brand attitude among the adolescent consumers.


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