Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Effects of Game-Product Congruence on Game-Players’ Brand Attitude in Mobile Games: A Review

Yuan-Kai Toh, Haslinda Hashim, Yuhanis Abdul Aziz, Siew Imm Ng

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i4/5830

Open access

Advertising is a marketing communication tool used by marketers to convey their brand messages to targeted consumers. Over the years, the effectiveness of traditional advertising has greatly diminished due to the clutter of advertisements that impede consumers’ ability to process and retain advertising messages. As such, marketers are always seeking creative advertising strategies such as product placements, to capture consumers’ attention and break away from the clutter of advertising messages. In the era of digital technology, product placements are no longer restricted to traditional entertainment medium such as reality TV shows or movies. Thanks to innovations in smartphone and digital gaming technologies, the use of mobile games as an advertising platform has also become a reality in recent years. As a relatively new phenomenon, there are ample research opportunities on product and brand placements in mobile games since many areas have not yet been fully explored. Furthermore, several past studies examining the influence of different product placement strategies on advertising effectiveness have reported mixed findings thereby suggesting the need for further research. The findings of these studies are expected to provide valuable insights to the academic community as well as marketing practitioners considering mobile games as an alternative medium to advertise and promote their brands.

Balasubramanian, S. K., Karrh, J. A., & Patwardhan, H. (2006). Audience response to product placements: An integrative framework and future research agenda. Journal of Advertising, 35(3), 115-141.
Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (2012). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chen, H., & Deterding, A. (2013). College-aged young consumers' interpretations of product placement in social games. Young Consumers, 14(1), 41-51.
Entertainment Software Association. (2016, August 3). About ESA: Industry Facts. Retrieved from Entertainment Software Association Web site: http://theesa.com/about-esa/industry-facts
Glass, Z. (2007). The effectiveness of product placement in video games. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(1), 23-32.
Gross, M. L. (2010). Advergames and the effects of game-product congruity. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 1259-1265.
Hernandez, M. D., & Chapa, S. (2010). Adolencents, advergames, and snack foods: Effects of positive affect and experience on memory and choice. Journal of Marketing Communications, 16(1-2), 59-68.
Huang, J. H., & Yang, T. K. (2012). The effectiveness of in-game advertising: The impacts of ad type and game/ad relevance. International Journal of Electronic Business Management, 10(1), 61-72.
Hudson, S., & Hudson, D. (2006). Branded entertainment: A new advertising technique or product placement in disguise? Journal of Marketing Management, 22(5-6), 489-504.
Ivy, J. (2008). A new higher education marketing mix: The 7Ps for MBA marketing. International Journal for Educational Management, 22(4), 288-299.
Kamleitner, B., & Jyote, A. K. (2013). How using versus showing interaction between characters and products boosts product placement effectiveness. International Journal of Advertising, 32(4), 633-653.
Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Ang, S. H., Leong, S. M., & Tan, C. T. (2009). Marketing management: An asian perspective (5th ed.). Jurong, Singapore: Prentice-Hall.
Kureshi, S., & Sood, V. (2009). Indian gamers' recall, recognition and perceptions of in-game placements. Journal of Indian Business Research, 1(4), 252-268.
Kushwaha, G. S., & Agrawal, S. R. (2014). An indian customer surrounding 7P's of service marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, 85-95.
Lee, M., & Faber, R. J. (2007). Effects of product placement in on-line games on brand memory: A perspective of the limited capacity model of attention. Journal of Advertising, 36(4), 75-90.
Lee, M., & Youn, S. (2008). Leading national advertisers' uses of advergames. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 30(2), 1-13.
McKinsey & Company. (2015, December 8). Global Media Report 2015: Global Industry Overview. Retrieved from McKinsey & Company Web site:
www.mckinsey.com/.../mckinsey/.../the%20state%20of%20global%20media%20spen
Mitchell, A. A., & Olson, J. C. (1981). Are product attribute beliefs the only mediator of advertising effects on brand attitude? Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 318-332.
Nelson, M. R. (2002). Recall of brand placements in computer/video games. Journal of Advertising Research, 42(2), 80-92.
Newell, S. J., & Henderson, K. V. (1998). Super Bowl advertising: Field testing the importance of advertisement frequency, length and placement on recall. Journal of Marketing Communications, 4(4), 237-248.
Peters, S., & Leshner, G. (2013). Get in the game: The effects of game-product congruity and product placement proximity on game players' processing of brands embeded in advergames. Journal of Advertising, 42(2-3), 113-130.
Redondo, I. (2012). The effectiveness of casual advergames on adolescents' brand attitudes. European Journal of Marketing, 46, 1671-1688.
Russell, C. (2002). Investigating the effectiveness of product placements in television shows: The role of modality and plot connection congruence on brand memory and attitude. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 306-318.
Salo, J., & Karjaluoto, H. (2007). M

In-Text Citation: (Toh, Hashim, Aziz, & Ng, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Toh, Y.-K., Hashim, H., Aziz, Y. A., & Ng, S. I. (2019). Effects of Game-Product Congruence on Game-Players’ Brand Attitude in Mobile Games: A Review. International Journal of Academic Research Business and Social Sciences, 9(4), 135–146.