Recall and recognition of in-game advertising : the role of game control

Digital gaming has become one of the largest entertainment sectors worldwide, increasingly turning the medium into a promising vehicle for advertisers. As a result, the inclusion of advertising messages in digital games or in-game advertising (IGA) is expected to grow steadily over the course of the following years. However, much work is still needed to maximize the effectiveness of IGA. The aim of the study was to contribute to IGA effectiveness research by analyzing the impact of two factors on the processing of IGA in terms of brand awareness. The primary objective was to investigate the effect of a person’s sense of involvement related to the control and movement mechanisms in a game (i.e. kinesthetic involvement). A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which control over a racing game was varied by manipulating game controller type, resulting in two experimental conditions (symbolic versus mimetic controller). Results show that the variation in game controller has a significant effect on the recall and recognition of the brands integrated into the game, and that this effect can be partially brought back to players’ perceived control over the game: when a game is easier to control, the control mechanisms require less conscious attention, freeing attentional resources that can be subsequently spent on other elements of the game such as IGA. A second factor that was taken into account in the study was brand prominence. The influence of both the size and spatial position of in-game advertisements was examined. Findings demonstrate that there are significant changes in effectiveness between different types of placements. Spatial position seems to be the most important placement characteristic, with central brand placements obtaining the highest recall and recognition scores. The effect of ad size is much smaller, with the effectiveness of the large placements not differing significantly from the effectiveness of their smaller counterparts

Exploring player responses toward in-game advertising : the impact of interactivity

The chapter aims to give an elaborate introduction to in-game advertising. It starts by providing a definition of the practice, an overview of its benefits and drawbacks, and a review of the research that has been conducted on its effectiveness. Additionally, it presents the results of a case study investigating how players respond towards different types of advertisements that are integrated into a digital game, with a specific focus on the interactivity that they allow

Odd Wheels in Graphs

AbstractFor k⩾1 the odd wheel of 2k+1 spokes, denoted by W2k+1, is the graph obtained from a cycle of length 2k+1 by adding a new vertex and joining it to all vertices of the cycle. In this paper it is shown that if a graph G of order n with minimum degree greater than 7n/12 is at least 4-chromatic then G contains an odd wheel with at most 5 spokes

“Everything under control?”: Privacy control salience influences both critical processing and perceived persuasiveness of targeted advertising among adolescents

Given that adolescents continuously interact with the user interface of a social networking site, it might be a strategic place to address privacy-related issues. This study investigates whether and how privacy control features embedded in Facebook’s user interface could serve as a cue to influence adolescents in their critical processing and perceived persuasiveness of targeted advertisements. To test this, an experimental study among 178 adolescents aged 14-16 years was conducted. Results reveal that increasing privacy control salience by means of user interface elements leads to more critical processing of targeted advertising; at the same time, when adolescents perceive a higher privacy control, they also evaluate a targeted ad as more effective, convincing and reliable (i.e., increase in perceived persuasiveness). The study further identifies two underlying mechanisms by which these effects operate: perceived control and self-efficacy. Based on these findings, theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed to optimize advertising campaigns on social networking sites in a responsible and privacy-protective way

The impact of regulatory focus on adolescents’ evaluation of targeted advertising on social networking sites

This article examines whether individual differences in chronic regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion focus) among adolescents influences the way they evaluate targeted advertising on social networking sites. Study 1 (survey) reveals that adolescents with a promotion focus (who are oriented toward achieving positive outcomes) have a more positive attitude and a higher purchase intention toward targeted advertising, as compared to prevention-focused adolescents (who are dispositioned toward avoiding negative outcomes). Study 2 (experiment) investigates how adolescents' chronic regulatory focus can alter their attitude and purchase intention on a mock social networking site that includes a targeted advertisement. Results show that a low personalized targeted ad is better evaluated (in terms of a more positive attitude and higher purchase intention) among prevention-focused adolescents, whereas a high personalized targeted ad results in better advertising outcomes among promotion-focused adolescents. Contributions to theory and implications for advertising practice are discussed

'Meet the blockers' : jongeren, jongvolwassenen en automatische reclamevermijding online

Ad blocking – the use of browser extensions such as Adblock (Plus) or Ublock – is becoming mainstream, particularly amongst young web users. This automated form of advertising avoidance has attracted significant attention due to the loss of advertising revenues. Insights in this type of ad avoidance behavior are indispensable. By applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the first aim of this study is to determine the predictive value of personal attitudes, subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) in explaining behavioral intention. The second aim is to reveal the relative importance of the beliefs underpinning these three TPB components. An online survey involving 400 person’s aged between 16 and 30 years was conducted. Analysis reveals that attitude is the most important predictor to explain differences in intention to use ad blockers, followed by a person’s perceived behavior control towards ad blocking. Within attitude, the most important beliefs affecting one’s intention to use an ad blocker are less privacy concerns, less disruption and less data usage and costs.Een steekproef bij 400 Vlaamse jongere personen van 16 tot 30 jaar toont aan dat de attitude tegenover ad blockers de meest belangrijke voorspeller vormt om verschillen te verklaren in de intentie om ad blockers te gebruiken. Minder bezorgdheden omtrent privacy, minder storing en minder data en kosten vormen de meest belangrijke gedragsopvattingen

Ninety minutes to reduce one's intention to eat meat : a preliminary experimental investigation on the effect of watching the Cowspiracy documentary on intention to reduce meat consumption

Whereas, past research has shown that using environmental arguments to reduce meat intake are unsuccessful in awareness campaigns, popular documentaries might have the potential to successfully change the public awareness of the environmental implications of meat consumption today. This preliminary study aimed to provide first empirical evidence of the potential effects of watching a popular documentary on a less-known environmental topic among a population that are habitual performers of the behavior under discussion. More precisely, the effects of watching “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret” on the awareness of the environmental implications of meat consumption, the attitude toward eating less meat, and the intention to eat less meat in young adults who consume meat on an (almost) daily basis was studied. The potential impact of Cowspiracy was investigated from the Integrated Change Model perspective. Paper-and-pencil questionnaires were administered to N = 47 participants aged between 19 and 32 before and after watching either Cowspiracy (experimental group, n = 26) or Planet Earth (control group, n = 21). Controlling for the influence of predisposing factors (sociodemographic characteristics gender, age, and socioeconomic status), the results show that watching a popular documentary about the environmental impact of meat production (Cowspiracy) can have a significant effect on the awareness of the environmental consequences of meat consumption, the attitude toward eating less meat, and the intention to reduce meat consumption of young (almost) daily meat eaters. However, results should be interpreted with caution, given the preliminary nature of our study