Due to proliferation of media and platforms it is becoming increasingly difficult for
marketers to reach and engage consumers using traditional forms of mass media
such as advertising. Marketers are turning to alternate forms of communication,
such as brand placement in videogames as the games industry continues to grow.
To date academic research appears inconclusive in terms of validating the use of
videogames as a promotional tool. Moreover, there is a lack of empirical evidence
concerning the effects on consumers and brands of marketing messages in the
videogame environment.
This aim of this study was to investigate whether exposure to brand placement
affects unknown brand likeability as a result of mere exposure for game players and
game watchers in videogames. The study adopted a quasi-experiment between
group design, with a Control, Watch Group and Play Group (300 participants in total)
and a post exposure questionnaire. Results suggest some support a mere exposure
effect which is that a frequently presented brand placement in a videogame can
have a positive effect on players and watchers’ brand attitudes, although they do
not recall the brand.
This is the first empirical study to investigate brand placement and mere exposure
effects in videogames. Theoretically, the study contributes to knowledge concerning
brand placement processing in videogames and builds on the existing paradigms of
MEE, low-involvement processing, implicit and explicit processing and brand
attitude formation. For game developers and brand owners, the study has
implications for marketing communications strategy, and graphic design elements
for the placements, design of videogames and the most effective position for
placements in a game
