Study on in-game advertising: impact remains limited for the time being

 In-game advertising (IGA) is booming, but nobody knows exactly whether and how advertising in computer games works. In a laboratory experiment, two professors from the University of Mainz have now been on the trail of the mystery. Using 75 players and a football simulation, they tested the effectiveness of virtual perimeter advertising, as the Hamburg magazine Medienwirtschaft reports. The results showed that users do remember the advertising on the sidelines, but that the interactivity of computer games leads to a reduced perception of the brands advertised in the game. The "basic problem" of interactivity arises with all games: because players influence the action in the game, their attention is more strongly tied to the location of the action than it would be if they were attending a real football match, for example. Instead of looking at the boards from time to time, the player's attention remains with the game. The study also shows that although in-game advertising is noticed, "the interactivity limits the players' attention", according to the authors Christoph Klimmt and Gregor Daschmann. Therefore, the players' attention processes must be fully taken into account when designing and placing IGA activities.
Overall, computer games have become a serious advertising medium worldwide. Intel and McDonald's, for example, reportedly paid two million US dollars each for their appearances in the game Sims Online. Daimler Chrysler's US division spent ten percent of its total advertising budget on computer games in 2006. Market research institutes assume that the revenue generated by in-game advertising worldwide will rise from around 182 million dollars in 2007 to almost 900 million dollars or even more in the next three years.
The study "Advertising in computer games: The importance of interactivity for cognitive advertising impact." is presented in detail in the current issue of Medienwirtschaft (issue 1/2008).