Product Placement in Video Games

2016 ◽  
pp. 1690-1711
Author(s):  
Inés Küster ◽  
Natalia Vila ◽  
Asunción Hernández ◽  
Pedro Canales ◽  
Vicente Castillo
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Concept Map ◽  
Product Placement ◽  
Image Transfer ◽  
Traditional Media

Organizations look for new ways of communication as traditional media is being saturated with advertising messages. One of the alternatives is product placement in video games. This chapter analyses this new communication alternative. Moreover, through an investigation the chapter shows the consequences of placing a brand in this form of electronic entertainment – in the sense of image transfer from the video game to the brand. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the emotions evoked by the video game. Therefore, the present study develops a scale of emotions adapted to the theme of this research. Additionally, this study analyses the differences between types of product placement and their effects in the image transfer. All conclusions are extracted from the concept map technique.

Product Placement in Video Games

2015 ◽  
pp. 127-148
Author(s):  
Inés Küster ◽  
Natalia Vila ◽  
Asunción Hernández ◽  
Pedro Canales ◽  
Vicente Castillo
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Concept Map ◽  
Product Placement ◽  
Image Transfer ◽  
Traditional Media

Organizations look for new ways of communication as traditional media is being saturated with advertising messages. One of the alternatives is product placement in video games. This chapter analyses this new communication alternative. Moreover, through an investigation the chapter shows the consequences of placing a brand in this form of electronic entertainment – in the sense of image transfer from the video game to the brand. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the emotions evoked by the video game. Therefore, the present study develops a scale of emotions adapted to the theme of this research. Additionally, this study analyses the differences between types of product placement and their effects in the image transfer. All conclusions are extracted from the concept map technique.

scholarly journals Product placement in computer/video games: an analysis of the impact on customers purchasing decision

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-70
Author(s):  
Angelina Chernikova ◽  
Murilo Branco
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Product Placement ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Brand Recognition ◽  
The Impact

The video game and virtual reality became a new way of doing marketing considering their growing popularity and the advances of new technologies in the past few decades. In this paper is presented a research that investigates the impact of product placement in video games on gamers’ decisions on the purchase of goods from advertised. This research is focused on two of the most played games nowadays: FIFA 19 and Final Fantasy XV. A survey with 465 respondents was conducted to understand the antecedents that impact the purchase decision considering the stimulus originated from the product placement. To conduct the survey, a framework was designed based in the extant literature reviewed and finally considering the constructs of product placement, quality of virtual reality, brand recognition, brand familiarity, emotional response and purchase frequency. The results of the study suggest that gamers generally respond positively towards product placement and that product placement can indirectly impact emotional responses that will impact on consumer’s purchase intention. Hence, advertising in the video game enhances brand recognition and the perception of virtual reality. The framework presented in this paper represents the theoretical contribution of this paper, relating different concepts in the theory of product placement to the purchase intention. Therefore, the findings on this paper can help managers to find the best way to reach customers by improving the product placement strategy in the video games.

“Just watching”: A qualitative analysis of non-players’ motivations for video game spectatorship

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482198935
Author(s):  
Stephanie Orme
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Live Streaming ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Gaming Culture

This study explores the phenomenon of video game spectatorship from the perspective of a population I refer to as “just watchers.” Previous studies have tended to focus on game spectatorship from turn-taking “non-players” or live-streaming audiences, specifically. “Just watchers” are individuals who express no desire to play video games themselves, yet are avid spectators of others’ video game play, both virtually and in-person. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 27 participants, this study explores their motivations for gaming spectatorship, as well as their aversion to playing games themselves. Findings suggest the “work” of playing games, lack of skill, access to games, and toxic online communities are deterrents to playing games. Participants expressed that games spectatorship offers them narrative engagement that is distinct from traditional media, and that despite “just watching,” they tend to consider themselves as part of gaming culture.

scholarly journals Mental Health in 3D

Loading ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (24) ◽  
pp. 122-133
Author(s):  
Kelli Dunlap ◽  
Rachel Kowert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Video Game Content ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
New Framework

There is a wealth of research on the depiction and impact of mental health representations in traditional media; however, less is known about video games. As the dominant form of media in the 21st century, video games uniquely portray mental illness in traditional ways as well as in ways unique to video games, such as in-game mechanics (e.g., sanity meters) and player-driven decision making. This paper outlines the importance of cultural messages relating to mental illness as conveyed through video games in terms of content and influence and presents a multi-dimensional model of analysis for the representation of mental illness in digital games. The aim of this paper is to provide a foundation for understanding how mental illness is represented in digital games, provide a new perspective for thinking critically about representation of mental illness in games, and overview a new framework for assessing video game content in this area.

Frustration and Violence in Mobile Video Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Mobile Video ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.

Only problem gamblers spend less money when loot boxes are removed from a game: A before and after study of Heroes of the Storm

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real World ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Problem Gamblers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Gambling Severity ◽  
Reliable Correlation ◽  
Before And After Study

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.

Gambling-like video game practices: A cross-sectional study of links with problem gambling and disordered gaming

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Problem Gambling ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Clinically Significant

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.

“If anyone’s going to ruin your night, it should be you”: Responsibility and affective materiality in Undertale and Night in the Woods

2021 ◽  
pp. 135485652110144
Author(s):  
Kevin Veale
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Affective Experience ◽  
Modes Of Engagement

Affective materiality is a tool for exploring how engaging with textual structures shapes the affective experience of a story. The experience of video games is distinctive because their modes of engagement can lead to players feeling responsible for the decisions they make within the diegetic space of the game and its contextual storyworld. Night in the Woods and Undertale both use the perception of responsibility found in video game modes of engagement as an active storytelling tool, but apply it in different ways. Despite the differences in their contextual application, both games use affective materiality to encourage players to reflect on the consequences of their decisions in multiple arenas: within the context of the game, their engagement with other games and their engagement with the wider world. In doing so, both games apply storytelling techniques that distinguish playing video games from the experience of other media forms and encourage an empathetic engagement with fictional storyworlds.

Tusslers, Beatdowns, and Brothers: A Sociohistorical Overview of Video Game Arcades and theStreet FighterCommunity

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 742-762
Author(s):  
Michael Ryan Skolnik ◽  
Steven Conway
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Historical Movement

Alongside their material dimensions, video game arcades were simultaneously metaphysical spaces where participants negotiated social and cultural convention, thus contributing to identity formation and performance within game culture. While physical arcade spaces have receded in number, the metaphysical elements of the arcades persist. We examine the historical conditions around the establishment of so-called arcade culture, taking into account the history of public entertainment spaces, such as pool halls, coin-operated entertainment technologies, video games, and the demographic and economic conditions during the arcade’s peak popularity, which are historically connected to the advent of bachelor subculture. Drawing on these complementary histories, we examine the social and historical movement of arcades and arcade culture, focusing upon the Street Fighter series and the fighting game community (FGC). Through this case study, we argue that moral panics concerning arcades, processes of cultural norm selection, technological shifts, and the demographic peculiarities of arcade culture all contributed to its current decline and discuss how they affect the contemporary FGC.

Gaming the gamer? – The ethics of exploiting psychological research in video games

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Hartz Søraker
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethical implications of video game companies employing psychologists and using psychological research in game design. Design/methodology/approach The author first argues that exploiting psychology in video games may be more ethically problematic than familiar application domains like advertising, gambling and political rhetoric. Then an overview of the effects particular types of game design may have on user behavior is provided, taking into account various findings and phenomena from behavioral psychology and behavioral economics. Findings Finally, the author concludes that the corresponding ethical problems cannot – and should not – be addressed by means of regulation or rating systems. The author argues instead that a more promising countermeasure lies in using the same psychological research to educate gamers (children in particular) and thereby increase their capacity for meta-cognition. Originality/value The importance of this lies in the tremendous effect these behavior-modifying technologies may have upon our self-determination, well-being and social relations, as well as corresponding implications for the society.

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