Get in the Game: The Effects of Game-Product Congruity and Product Placement Proximity on Game Players' Processing of Brands Embedded in Advergames.

This study focused on the effects of game-product congruity and product placement proximity on advergame players' brand memory, brand attitude, game enjoyment, and future intention to play. A 2 (congruity) x 2 (proximity) repeated-measures experiment was used. Results revealed that players' implicit memory improved for congruent games only. Explicit memory measures also showed signs of improvement for brands in the congruent/central game condition. Surprisingly, it appears that the incongruent/peripheral game condition produced the best results overall with the smallest negative attitude change, the most game enjoyment, and the highest intention to play again in the future. These contradictory findings suggest to brand marketers who design advergames to be careful when combining multiple game features (congruity and proximity) within a single advergame because this strategic move may provide optimal brand memory while also producing the opposite desired effect for attitude toward the brand, game enjoyment, and intention to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]