Doing good while playing: The impact of prosocial advergames on consumer response

Abstract This research explored how a new platform of advergames functions to communicate prosocial initiatives. A 2 (Advergame narratives: with vs. without a prosocial narrative) × 2 (Company placement in games: prominent vs. subtle) between-subject factorial design was employed in an online experiment. A mobile advergame with four conditions was specifically developed as study stimuli. A total of 131 undergraduate student subjects were asked to play an advergame in one of the four conditions and subsequently redirected to an online survey that measured advergame effectiveness (attitudes toward the game, word-of-mouth intention toward the game, and company evaluation). Findings showed that those who played an advergame with a prosocial narrative responded more favorably toward both the game and the company embedded in the game than those who played an advergame without a prosocial narrative. Further, findings revealed that this relationship was mediated by the level of game engagement. In addition, this study found an interaction effect of advergame narratives and company placement on consumer response. In the advergame with a prosocial narrative, participants exposed to a prominently placed company logo evaluated the company more favorably than those exposed to a subtly placed logo did. By comparison, in the advergame without a prosocial narrative, evaluation of the company was more positive in a subtly placed condition than in a prominently placed condition. Implications and suggestions for future research were discussed.