Advergame

What it is

The brand is the premise of the game, not a feature of its scenery. That makes the format a vehicle for branded content more than a placement, and it is studied as such.

In 2021 Zeph van Berlo, Eva van Reijmersdal and Martin Eisend pooled 38 data sets in a meta-analysis across five outcomes: attitude, memory, persuasion, choice behaviour and persuasion knowledge.

In effect

Consumers held a more positive attitude toward advergames than toward other advertising. Brand and product information was less likely to be remembered when delivered through an advergame. Advergames appeared persuasive, appeared to drive choice behaviour, and were less likely than other advertising to be recognised as advertising. In a meta-regression, younger consumers seemed more susceptible to the persuasive effects than older ones.

The pattern is weak memory with persuasion present anyway. Persuasion knowledge would predict a discount once a pitch is recognised, and these games were less likely to be recognised as one.

What it does not say

It does not describe a brand placed inside someone else's game. The meta-analysis covers games built around the brand, and its findings should not be read as findings about billboards in a sports game.

The published abstract reports the direction of each finding and gives no effect sizes, and this page rests on that abstract.

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