A fun game brings more fame : how digital game experiences influence the effectiveness of in-game advertising

The aim of the article is to contribute to the research on the effectiveness of in-game advertising (IGA). Specifically, the goal is to provide a better understanding of the relationship that exists between the effectiveness of IGA and digital game experience. Gaming is an active experience where a person is drawn into a virtual world and confronted with numerous emotions and experiences. In this article it is argued that all these sensations might have an impact on how the game environment, including in-game ads, is processed. To be able to study the effect of game experience on the effectiveness of IGA, an experimental design was employed in which participants had to play an online computer game. The difficulty of the game was manipulated, resulting in three experimental conditions. This manipulation made sure the digital game experience of players varied over the conditions, ultimately resulting in differences concerning brand awareness and brand attitude.