Advergames and the effects of game-product congruity

Electronic games transcend demographic boundaries and are a prevalent cultural phenomenon. Marketers see potential of this immersive venue as a way to reach a highly receptive audience with brand messages. Designing games around a brand – advergames – has become a common marketing practice. However, few empirical studies have tested the effectiveness of this communication strategy in delivering the brand message. This paper serves to fill some research gaps and explores the influence of game-product congruity on brand memory and attitudes toward the game. A product-congruent advergame is compared to a product-incongruent advergame using a stimulus brand for a low-involvement product category. The findings indicate that highly congruent games lead to superior memory for the sponsoring brand. However, benefits of these positive memory effects may be negated by the negative attitudes players have toward the highly thematic game for a low-involvement product. Implications are discussed.