THE EFFECTS OF IN-GAME ADVERTISING ON PLAYERS� MEMORY

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study described in this paper examined the effects of in-game advertising in online computer games on players' explicit memory of the brands. An experiment was designed with gamers randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) gamers playing the online computer game with sponsor brands already embedded in the game or (2) gamers selecting the sponsor brands and then playing the same game. No studies seem to exist that measured the effects of in-game advertising when the game players selected sponsor brands before playing the game. Explicit memory was measured using recall and recognition tests. Results showed that when sponsor brands are selected before playing the game, game players’ explicit memory improves significantly. Keywords In-game advertising; Online computer games; Explicit memory; Sponsors.