Brands in a game or a game for brands? Comparing the persuasive effectiveness of in-game advertising and advergames

Although a rich body of knowledge exists in the domain of gamification of advertising, no research emphasis has been given to compare the persuasive effects of two well-known gamification formats—in-game advertising and advergame. Also, we do not know much about their comparative effects on child and adult gamers. The present research fills these gaps by conducting three experiments in which we examine the effects of gamification format (advergame vs. in-game advertising) and age of consumers (children vs. adults) on attitude toward fictitious and real brands (Studies 1 and 2) and purchase intention of fictitious brands (Study 3). The findings reveal that children have more favorable attitude and purchase intention when the brand is advertised in an advergame than in an in-game advertising format, while adults demonstrate higher brand attitude and purchase intention in the latter as compared to the former gamification format. Also, brand familiarity differentially moderates the relationship between gamification format, age, and brand attitude (Study 2). Finally, consumers' engagement in the game positively mediates the relationship between the independent variables and purchase intention (Study 3). Our research contributes to academia by advancing the literature on gamification of advertising through a granular evaluation of persuasive efficacy of IGA and advergame played by adults and children. It also informs managers to effectively persuade consumers of different age groups by the usage of the right gamification format.