Did You See That? In-Game Advertising Retention in Players and OnlookersLindsay GraceAmerican UniversityWashington, DC, USAgrace@american.edu 202-885-6933Dirk P. JanssenBreda University of Applied SciencesBreda, The Netherlandsjanssen.d@nhtv.nl(0)76 5 332 2203James R. CoyleMiami UniversityOxford, OH, USAjames.coyle@miamioh.edu513-529-0483ABSTRACTThe effects of embedding advertising in digital games has been explored in only a few controlled studies. This research provides results of an efficacy analysis of in-game advertising within the controlled environment of a racing car game, an environment in which advertising blends in naturally. The experiment was designed to understand the effectiveness of in-game advertising for both players and onlookers. Examining players in both Europe and the United States, this study measured how in-game advertising works on those who participate in electronic entertainment and those who watch it. The results indicate that such advertising is more effective for onlookers than for players. Implications for designers and researchers is discussed.Author KeywordsIGA, Advertising, Car Racing, Game DesignACM Classification KeywordsK.8.0. GamesINTRODUCTIONThe video game and mobile game industries have continued to grow sharply in the last decade. As part of this growth advertisers have attempted various methods for integrating advertising content. The most common of these advertising techniques is in-game advertising (IGA). IGA has become a popular means of promoting services and products [13]. Game developers have provided means for embeddingadvertising in digital game environments for decades.While IGA is not new, there remains little research on its efficacy. Commonly, research focuses on attitudinal studies[11,8]. The limited amount of research on IGA efficacy is particularly alarming when estimates indicate the expected global market to reach $1 billion USD by the end of2014 [4]. There are a variety of approaches to IGA. The most basic is the interstitial advertisement. Interstitial ads are embedded messages provided as static images or as video content that are clearly distinct from the game experience. The second category of IGA is a form of product placement, in which advertisements are integrated into the game experience, providing a more fluid coupling of advertiser message and game experience. Product placement has existed for more than five decades [9] as a common practice in marketing. Effectiveness of product placement can be linked to prominence in movies and television [12], and is affected by cinematographic decisions that lead the viewer to pay attention to specific elements within the experience of a television scene or other linear media. However games are an interactive medium, often allowing players to control what they see. To date, we merely understand that IGA can annoy players if not properly contextualized within a game world [6]. We also understand visual representation of IGA with verbal mention of the advertised product is more effective than only visual or only verbal [14].This research seeks to understand if in-game advertising is more effective for players or onlookers and if there are specific factors that effect retention? Research into IGA has demonstrated mixed results. Chaney et al. found that IGA was noticed, but little brand information was retained [2]. They found that engagement has an inverse effect on brand retention - greater engagement meant less retention. Yang et al analyzed the effectiveness of IGA in sports games and found that players had very little recognition, but did retain fragments of the brand message [15].Borrowing from formal language in the arts, we describeIGA as diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic IGA is part of the fiction of the game world. Non-diegetic IGA is content that breaks the fiction of the game environment, typically by inserting content that is not directly related to the game environment. Several researchers have concluded that non-diegetic content is ill-received by game players [11,6]. Interstitial advertising does offer high prominence, but previous research indicates that its high prominence reduces Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copiesbear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights forcomponents of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, topost on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permissionand/or a fee. Request permissions from Permissions@acm.org. ACE '14, November 11 - 14 2014, Funchal, Portugal Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed toACM.ACM 978-1-4503-2945-3/14/11…$15.00http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2663806.2663856
