When Items Become Victims: Brand Memory in Violent and Nonviolent Games

Melzer, André; Bushman, Brad J.; Hofmann, Ulrich

doi:10.1007/978-3-540-89222-9_2

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…14,15 From this perspective, violent video games draw more attention, but also divert awareness from other sources of information in comparison to nonviolent video games. 7,10 All things being equal, our results suggest that users' mental capacity to process in-game ads is significantly more limited when playing a violent than a nonviolent video game. These findings thus extend seminal research on how televised violence diminishes advertising effectiveness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Consider that previous studies investigating this hypothesis did not yield consistent results. 10 Thus a main contribution of the present study is being one of the first to confirm the link between increased video game violence and impaired in-game ad effectiveness. In particular, participants' brand recall, brand recognition, and brand attitudes related to in-game ads were lower after navigating a violent video game in comparison to navigating an identical non-violent game (Figure 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…7 For example, a recent study that used eyetracking technology failed to replicate ad impairment effects in the context of violent video games. 10 While participants assigned to a violent game paid less visual attention to ingame ads compared to those assigned to a nonviolent game, the analysis did not uncover the predicted reduction of ingame ad effectiveness when playing violent games. 10 Therefore, one contribution of the present research is revisiting the advertising impairment hypothesis in more depth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…16 For example, current studies have demonstrated that individuals pay more attention to violent media than to nonviolent media. 10,16 Also, violent media are more arousing than nonviolent media. This may take up more of the cognitive resources of the perceiver, thus inhibiting their recognition of new information.…”

Section: The Influence Of Violent Media On Brand Recallmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Congruent with this, related studies have also employed real instead of fictitious brands in order to enhance the ecological validity of the results. 8,10 The selected brands were part of the top 15 biggest video game publishers. 28 The in-game ads were highly visible, and they were installed at choke points that all participants had to go through when navigating the environments.…”

Section: Advertising In Video Games 441mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Violent Video Games Impair The Effectiveness of In-Game Advertisements? The Impact of Gaming Environment on Brand Recall, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intention

Yoo

Peña

2011

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

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The present study examined whether a violent video game impairs the effectiveness of in-game advertisements compared to a nonviolent video game. Participants recalled and evaluated in-game ads after navigating identical violent or nonviolent game scenarios. Participants' brand recall, recognition, and attitudes were comparatively lower after navigating the violent video game. Also, females in the violent game condition reported lower brand attitudes in comparison to males in the violent game condition, thus suggesting that the effects of gaming environment interacts with participants' gender. The findings supported the predictions of the limited capacity model of attention and cognitive priming effects. The results also extend previous studies on how violent media impair advertising effectiveness and provide practical implications for researchers and practitioners.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: The Influence Of Violent Media On Brand Recallmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Advertising In Video Games 441mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Violent Video Games Impair The Effectiveness of In-Game Advertisements? The Impact of Gaming Environment on Brand Recall, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intention

Yoo

Peña

2011

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

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Do sex and violence sell? A meta-analytic review of the effects of sexual and violent media and ad content on memory, attitudes, and buying intentions.

Lull¹,

Bushman²

2015

Psychological Bulletin

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It is commonly assumed that sex and violence sell. However, we predicted that sex and violence would have the opposite effect. We based our predictions on the evolution and emotional arousal theoretical framework, which states that people are evolutionarily predisposed to attend to emotionally arousing cues such as sex and violence. Thus, sexual and violent cues demand more cognitive resources than nonsexual and nonviolent cues. Using this framework, we meta-analyzed the effects of sexual media, violent media, sexual ads, and violent ads on the advertising outcomes of brand memory, brand attitudes, and buying intentions. The meta-analysis included 53 experiments involving 8,489 participants. Analyses found that brands advertised in violent media content were remembered less often, evaluated less favorably, and less likely to be purchased than brands advertised in nonviolent, nonsexual media. Brands advertised using sexual ads were evaluated less favorably than brands advertised using nonviolent, nonsexual ads. There were no significant effects of sexual media on memory or buying intentions. There were no significant effects of sexual or violent ads on memory or buying intentions. As intensity of sexual ad content increased, memory, attitudes, and buying intentions decreased. When media content and ad content were congruent (e.g., violent ad in a violent program), memory improved and buying intentions increased. Violence and sex never helped and often hurt ad effectiveness. These results support the evolution and emotional arousal framework. Thus, advertisers should consider the effects of media content, ad content, content intensity, and congruity to design and place more effective ads.

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Killing characters in video games kills memory for in-game ads.

Lull¹,

Gibson²,

Cruz³

et al. 2018

Psychology of Popular Media Culture

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Evolutionary theory predicts that people attend to emotionally arousing cues at the expense of less arousing cues. Violence is one emotionally arousing cue that attracts attention away from less arousing cues located in the same visual environment. Previous research has shown that violent media content attracts attention at the expense of brands advertised during violent media content. We predicted that participants who played a video game violently would recall and recognize fewer brands than participants who played the same game nonviolently. In Study 1, participants (N ϭ 154) drove cars in the game The Getaway while real brands appeared within the city. Half of the participants played the game violently (running over characters) and half of the participants played the game nonviolently (carefully avoiding characters). Violent players recalled and recognized fewer brands than did nonviolent players. In Study 2, participants (N ϭ 102) drove cars in the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas while fictitious brands were advertised on their vehicles. Half of the participants played the game violently (running over characters) and half of the participants played the game nonviolently (carefully avoiding characters). Violent players were less likely to recognize advertised brands than were nonviolent players. Not enough participants recalled brands to test whether violent players recalled fewer brands than did nonviolent players. These results across both studies suggest that within-game violence reduces the effectiveness of product placement, such that brands advertised in violent video games are less likely to be remembered than brands advertised in nonviolent video games.

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When Items Become Victims: Brand Memory in Violent and Nonviolent Games

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Do Violent Video Games Impair The Effectiveness of In-Game Advertisements? The Impact of Gaming Environment on Brand Recall, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intention

Do Violent Video Games Impair The Effectiveness of In-Game Advertisements? The Impact of Gaming Environment on Brand Recall, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intention

Do sex and violence sell? A meta-analytic review of the effects of sexual and violent media and ad content on memory, attitudes, and buying intentions.

Killing characters in video games kills memory for in-game ads.

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