Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 7886

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Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Responses to an advergaming campaign on a mobile social networking site: An initial research report
Shintaro Okazaki , Mara Jess Yage 1
Department of Finance and Marketing Research, College of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autnoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Advergames are a form of branded entertainment that feature advertising messages, logos, and trade characters in a game format. This paper reports a preliminary examination on the effects of an advergame on perceived brand value in a context of mobile social networking sites (SNSs). Drawn upon categorization theory, the study posits that, while mobile SNS engagement stimulates electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention among game players, perceived brand-game t also drives eWOM intention, which in turn positively affects perceived brand value. Furthermore, perceived brand-game t is contemplated to be a direct driver of perceived brand value. A research model is validated by a large-scale online survey. Using a real promotional campaign for a popular consumer good (Procter & Gambles Pringles), the authors create an advergame for one of the most popular mobile SNSs in Japan. The results from structural equation modeling corroborate all hypothesized relationships. This article closes with some theoretical and managerial implications, as well as recognition of important limitations. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Available online 7 September 2011 Keywords: Advergaming Brand t Brand value Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) Mobile device Social networking site

1. Introduction The present study addresses how advergames could increase perceived value of the sponsor brand in a context of mobile social networking sites (SNSs). Advergaming is dened as the use of interactive gaming technology to deliver embedded advertising messages to consumers (Chen & Ringel, 2001). This unique form of branded entertainment ranges from simply featuring a brand in the gaming environment to creating more elaborate virtual experiences with that brand (Wallace & Robbins, 2006). The logic behind advergaming states that games can represent content that will attract and retain consumers, so the positive associations and feelings gained from game play should transfer to the sponsored brand. Games are also less obtrusive than other web forms, because consumers try them for fun, social escapism, social interaction, and relaxation (Nelson, 2005). Yet, despite its increasing importance, the role of advergaming in marketing efforts has still been underexplored. This study attempts to get to the heart of this issue by examining the effectiveness of an advergaming campaign embedded in a mobile SNS. Specically, we consider three primary research questions: (1) When embedded in SNSs, are advergames effective in improving the perceived value of the sponsor brand?
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 91 497 2872; fax: +34 91 497 8725.
E-mail addresses: shintaro.okazaki@uam.es (S. Okazaki), maria.yague@uam.es (M.J. Yage). 1 Tel.: +34 91 497 5000; fax: +34 91 497 8725. 0747-5632/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2011.08.013

(2) What factors would inuence such effects? (3) What is the role of SNSs? We address these research questions by proposing a causal model which is empirically tested with data collected in Japan. The focal point is the perceived t between the game and the brand. The theoretical rationale is drawn upon categorization theory, and a series of hypotheses are posited. A real campaign for Procter & Gambles (P&Gs) Pringles chips provides the stimulus; after playing the advergame, which was designed and uploaded to a mobile SNS, users could participate in our survey by completing a questionnaire. We believe that such eld study in collaboration with industry substantially increases ecological validity. This study makes several important contributions to the literature. First, advergaming, which combines advertising and gaming, represents an attractive form of branded content, though its actual success as a branding tool remains uncertain. To date, studies of advergaming center mainly on exposure, recall, recognition, and attitude, related to brand placement effectiveness (Mallinckrodt & Mizerski, 2007; Mau, Silberer, & Gdecke, 2010; van Reijmersdal, Jansz, Peters, & van Noort, 2010; Wise, Bolls, Kim, Venkataraman, & Meyer, 2008); scant attention focuses on its ability to enhance brand value. Therefore, the heretofore undiscovered determinants of advergaming success represent an important research inquiry and could provide insights to help managers reduce failure rates of branded content. Second, SNSs are a web-based service that allow users to construct a public or semi-public prole and exchange information. SNSs represent the most popular forms of consumer-generated content, and are explicitly recognized as an

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emergent research priority (Marketing Science Institute, 2008). Though advergames are often embedded in SNSs, the two topics rarely appear in joint studies. Juxtaposing both themes in a single model could answer a crucial question about the role of advergaming in SNSs for branding. Third, because this study examines an SNS in a mobile Internet context, the previous contributions gain even more strength. As 3G-enabled cell phones proliferate worldwide, the medium is becoming an increasingly effective channel for delivering value-added transaction services (Varnali & Toker, 2009). The popularity of mobile social networking continues to increase, especially in countries with high mobile Internet penetrations. This study offers pioneering exploration in this area. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. We review relevant literature pertaining to advergames, then introduce our primary theoretical tenet based on categorization theory. On this basis, we formulate a series of hypotheses. Then, we explain our methodology in detail and describe the results. In closing, we draw several theoretical and managerial implications and acknowledge some limitations. 2. Literature review Advergames are usually custom created by rms for the sole purpose of promoting their brands and are accessed via their corporate or brand websites. By contrast, in-game advertising is often coordinated and sold by independent gaming organizations through dynamic ad-insertion networks (Winkler & Buckner, 2006). Prior research suggests that advergames are likely different from in-game advertising in terms of necessary cognitive resources for game play, in that the latter requires higher levels of involvement and attention to play than the former (Grigorovici & Constantin, 2004; Lee & Faber, 2007). Researchers tend to regard in-game advertising as an extension of product placement, in which the desired meaning transfer occurs when consumers associate a conditioned stimulus (brand) with unconditioned (game) features (Winkler, 2006). Here, the positive association and feeling from game play transfer to the sponsors brand, and result in a positive brand attitude. For example, Nelson (2005) conducted two experiments with university students, using car-racing games that contained numerous background billboard advertisements. In the rst experiment, 7 out of 20 participants aged 1825 remembered at least one brand placed in the game, while almost 30% of the brands were recalled in the second experiment (Nelson, 2005). Using a similar car-racing game, Schneider and Cornwell (2005) found that prominently placed billboards (rated on a combination of size, color, position, and attractiveness) were remembered better than subtle ones, and that previous game experience positively affected recall. In terms of attitudinal research, the arousal and valence provoked by the game were found to improve brand attitudes (Mau et al., 2010). In a very recent study, Cauberghe and De Pelsmacker (2010) examined the impact of in-game brand exposure strength on the advertising effects of brand prominence and game repetition. Their results indicate that brand prominence positively affected brand recall, but did not inuence brand attitude. Interestingly, however, repeated play of an identical game had no inuence on brand recall, but did have a negative impact on brand attitude. Unlike in-game advertising, research on advergames is relatively limited. From the perspective of children, Mallinckrodt and Mizerski (2007) examined the effects of advergames on their preferences for a cereal brand and fresh fruit. Children at 10 primary schools were asked to score points by throwing cereal or pieces of fruit into a moving monsters mouth. The ndings suggest that the older children who played the advergame exhibited a signicantly greater preference for the brand. Wise et al. (2008) used

40 adult participants in an experimental study that examined their preferences for high (travel-related) and low (non-travel-related) thematic advergames sponsored by an online travel company. They found that those who played the highly thematic games showed a stronger positive relationship between attitude toward the advergame and attitude toward the brand. In a recent exploration, Gross (2010) examined the effects of high versus low gameproduct t, using two Oreo cookie advergames in which the brand was the central object of the game. Their ndings suggest that advergames are effective in driving brand awareness. In particular, high game-product t led to superior explicit memory relative to low game-product t. Quite recently, more and more rms have begun sponsoring SNSs by offering free online games. Firms understandably are paying greater attention to SNSs for their advertising and branding efforts, because games help rms to increase the sites entertainment value and thereby enhance the stickiness factor. Such stickiness becomes contagious buzz that stimulates electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about the sites. Prior research indicates that online game players spend time chatting and engaging in social exchange that does not have a specic game benet (Grifths, Davies, & Chappell, 2003). Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that advergames embedded in SNSs could convert into an entertaining reason to talk, prompting users to spread word in their networks.

3. Theoretical framework The conceptualization of advergames can gain insights from brand extension literature. A brand extension is based on the mental category of the parent brand in consumers minds. Marketers believe that extended brands are evaluated favorably by consumers because consumers transfer positive attitudes or affect toward the parent brand to its extension (Aaker, 1996). Categorization theory suggests that when a consumer encounters a brand extension, the overall affect associated with the original brand is transferred to the newly extended product categories (Aaker & Keller, 1990). If the consumers perceive a t or relatedness between the original and extension brand classes, they would transfer general affect to the new brand extension. This t has been dened as any parent brand association, including category, brand concept, or brandspecic associations, [that] can connect the parent brand with an extension (Bridges, Keller, & Sood, 2000, p. 1). Prior research suggests that brand-unique abstract meanings may play a central role in consumers perceptions of the t between the brand name and its extensions (Park, Milberg, & Lawson, 1991). Such t appears in a wide range of conceptualizations in marketing, including brand placement and event sponsorship (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Speed & Thompson, 2000). In brand placement, advertisers may locate their brands in games that seem to t well with their products, whereas others appear in games that seem unrelated. This relationship has been referred as brand-game t (Lee & Faber, 2007). A good t between brand and game generally should induce more positive responses, including brand recognition, image transfer from game to brand, and favorability toward the brand (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Johar & Pham, 1999). Desired meaning transfer occurs when the brand and a conditioned stimulus appear well matched (Speed & Thompson, 2000). In event sponsorship, a good relationship between t and sponsor identication accuracy occurs because congruent information is more easily remembered than incongruent information (Olson & Thjme, 2009). Chien, Cornwell, and Pappu (2011) suggest that consumers process sponsorship properties afliated with a brand on the basis of category and attributes. Sponsorship categories typically refer to sporting events, social causes, and the arts (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999). An attribute, on

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the other hand, is an independent property or trait of an object (Yamauchi & Markman, 1998), such as its personality. Following the same logic, a good t between the type and content of the game and the brand may be a necessary condition for effective advergaming (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Speed & Thompson, 2000). Consumers likely rst determine the extent to which the pairing of the brand and the nature of the game seem well matched. When they perceive a good t, their responses should be positive, which could motivate them to talk about their gaming experience on the site. 4. Hypotheses development Our study context is mobile SNSs where an advergame is embedded. Registered members can freely access and play the game, while chatting or posting comments on the site. Prior research suggests that a closer match between individuals interests and those exhibited by the website should result in a stronger tie between a website and user (Brown, Broderick, & Lee, 2008). Such network strength might lead to active transmission of interpersonal information. Algesheimer, Dholakia, and Herrmann (2005) explicate how members of a brand community are actively engaged in social interaction building within the network. Their study suggests that community engagement affects community recommendation intentions, then behavior. The concept of community engagement essentially matches the concept of commitment in online brand communities, which predicts members intention to solve problems for others, offer help, and participate in eWOM communication (Hennig-Thurau & Walsh, 2004; Jang, Olfman, Ko, Koh, & Kim, 2008). On this basis, we posit that when SNS users are actively engaged in topics of common interest to the network, they also likely share information with other SNS members. They might recommend enjoyable advergaming experiences, because they want to achieve common goals. Therefore, the following hypothesis is suggested: H1. Mobile SNS engagement signicantly and positively affects SNS users eWOM intentions. In light of categorization theory, while playing an advergame embedded in the network, SNS users would begin assessing whether the nature of the game matches the brand. Users would make an overall judgment as to whether the image of the sponsoring brand ts this type of online game, while trying to relate features of the game to the presence of a brand logo, trade symbol, product, or spokesperson. Here, a good t between the brand and the game would encourage active transmission of the gaming experience, such as joy and other positive opinions of the game, thus creating more stickiness factor or buzzmain drivers of eWOM. Thus, it seems reasonable to posit the following: H2. The perceived t between the brand and game signicantly and positively affect SNS users eWOM intentions. When the perceived t is salient and relevant, the implicit or explicit image transfer of the brand is induced (Johar & Pham, 1999; Park et al., 1991). Sponsorship literature suggests that the use of sporting events can create an extended experience for customers and thus add important value to the brand, while greatly improving brand image (Cliffea & Motion, 2005; Gwinner & Eaton, 1999). Such an effect will be greater if the event ts the sponsor brand well (Speed & Thompson, 2000). Prior research indicates that perceived t should generally induce more positive brand responses (Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Johar & Pham, 1999; Speed & Thompson, 2000). By the same token, there is evidence that an advergame may improve the recall of the sponsored brand through its identication and compliance with, and sensory transfer of,

brand concepts (Gross, 2010). Lin (2009) argues that an online game is a key in differentiating a brand from those of other online competitors, and in effectively achieving a high level of gamer satisfaction or preference. Analogous to sponsorship logic, a high t between the sponsoring brand and sponsored game offers rms the ability to create positive brand experiences for customers, through the cultivation of emotionally laden experiences, which, in turn, create vivid awareness of the sponsoring brand for the consumer (Cliffea & Motion, 2005; Meenaghan, 2001). Indeed, a recent study conrmed that advergames are an effective vehicle for driving brand awareness (Gross, 2010). Collectively, the above arguments lead us to hypothesize as follows: H3. The perceived t between the brand and game signicantly increases perceived brand value. It seems reasonable to assume that, when talking about the advergame on SNSs, users may refer to the brand sponsoring the game. Prior research suggests that WOM communication would strengthen brand awareness (Berry, 2000) as a part of external brand communications, meaning information customers absorb about the company and its service that essentially is uncontrolled by the company (Berry, 2000, p. 129). In addition, consumerbrand relationship literature suggests that, regardless of ofine or online brand communities, the value gained by the members stems not from the brand itself, but from the social links formed as a result of using the brand (Brown et al., 2008). This implies that the value is created within a community when the members feel close to their area of interest, and demonstrate their knowledge to other network members through eWOM. This logic seems extendible to our study context. Furthermore, speaking of a brand name could signicantly affect consumers perceptions, moderating the processing of WOM messages, since brand name is a major cue in making purchase decisions (Sundram & Webster, 1999). By the same token, recent research suggests that the true value of WOM communication is its power as a tool of value creation on longterm customer equity (Villanueva, Yoo, & Hanssens, 2008). A similar impact of WOM has been reported on brand trust (Delgado, Munuera, & Yage, 2003), and brand loyalty (Gruen, Osmonbekov, & Czaplewski, 2005; Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan, 2008). Taken together, we posit the following: H4. eWOM intention signicantly increases perceived brand value. Finally, two control variables, age and gender, are examined. Control variables are potentially confounding variables but are not a part of our theoretical proposition. The inclusion of controls enables us to identify additional variable biases for further validation of the proposed model. Prior research suggests that age has signicant impact on new IT adoption, online community participation, and responses to advergaming (Chung, Park, Wang, Fulk, & McLaughlin, 2010; Teng, 2010; van Reijmersdal et al., 2010). In addition, the literature suggests that males are more active computer gamers than females (Chou & Tsai, 2007). Grifths et al. (2003) found that the majority of the 11,457 players on the Everlore fan sites were male (84%). Williamson, Yee, and Caplan (2008) reported a similar guremen outnumbering women four to onebased on 7000 players of the massively multiplayer online game. Thus, we posit age and gender as exogenous variables of eWOM intention. The nal research model is shown in Fig. 1. 5. Method 5.1. Campaign design The site of this study is Japan, a country with a high penetration of mobile SNSs, which represents a necessary condition for testing

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Fig. 1. Research model.

our hypotheses. In designing the study, we searched the industry for potential collaborators in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, where brands frequently use advergaming (Mallinckrodt & Mizerski, 2007). We identied two companies that could support our data collection: the well-known consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G) agreed to use its popular potato chip brand, Pringles, as a campaign stimulus, and the advergaming campaign involved one of the largest mobile SNSs in Japan, Mobage-town, which is operated by DeNA. Since its inception in 2006, Mobage-town has gained more than 10 million subscribers, most of whom are young consumers who become quickly attached to and engaged in eWOM among their circles of friends and family (Toto, 2008). Thus, Mobagetown offers an ideal study context. Registered users can exchange information through three main functions: diary, mini-email, and circle. In the diary, users update their personal activities, opinions, pictures, and videos for access by only their network friends. Miniemail allows users to send private messages directly to other users on the site. The circle is essentially an online bulletin board, on which any users may freely post, circulate, and read comments. We designed a main game character, Shaberings, a penguin-like, imaginary creature whose beak is made of potato chips. (The term shaberu is the verb talk in Japanese.) An actual game screen featuring Shaberings is shown in Fig. 2. Qualitative interviews with general consumers demonstrated that this character t well with Pringles brand image. As the game was uploaded to Mobage-town, simultaneous cross-media campaigns (Shaberings Gran-Pri) promoted the Pringles advergaming campaign. Game winners automatically entered a sweepstakes to win Shaberings avatars as a prize. 5.2. Procedure

Fig. 2. Advergame featuring Shaberings. Note: Shaberings, the Pringles campaign character (at the right) ghts with Yubizo, Mobage-towns main character (at the left). Reproduced by a permission of P&G Japan and DeNA.

the survey, we offered free entry to a music CD coupon sweepstakes. 5.3. Measurement

Three days after the end of the campaign, we conducted the mobile-based online survey by sending a survey invitation to the registered SNS users via SMS. When users accepted the invitation and clicked the link, they were brought to the mobile survey site where the rst question appeared with a welcome message. To minimize the abandonment rate of survey completion, we created a system that required respondents to complete each question in order to proceed to the next question without much scrolling down. That is, only one question appeared onscreen at a time. When the respondents nished the question, they clicked next to move to the next screen (i.e., question). As an incentive to participate in

The survey consisted of two parts: (1) questions related to demographic information (sex, age, and occupation), and (2) items related to the research constructs. In order to avoid boredom effects, we had to limit the total number of questions to 30. The measure of mobile SNS engagement included the frequency of usage (posting and reading) of the three main SNS functions. For the perceived brand-game t construct, we used four items, in which we asked about the level of congruency between the game (game type and game character) and the brand. This measure was adapted from the scales published by Gwinner and Eaton (1999) and Speed

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and Thompson (2000). eWOM intention was measured by two items which were adapted from Kamins, Folkes, and Pemer (1997). Perceived brand value was measured as a second-order, reective construct with brand favorability, brand awareness, and brand uniqueness, adapted from Netemeyer et al. (2004) and Yoo and Donthu (2001). With the exception of mobile SNS engagement, all constructs were assessed using a multiple-item measure of ve-point Likert-type scales, with 3 as an anchoring point. All questionnaire items are listed in Appendix A with sources. 6. Results 6.1. Respondents proles Because we are mainly interested in the effects of brand-game t on perceived brand value after playing the advergame, we only selected respondents who actually played the advergame. In total, we obtained 925 usable responses, for an approximate response rate of 20%. We summarize the demographic characteristics of the game participants and nonparticipants in terms of SNS usage frequency in Table 1. Among participants, female users outnumbered male users, whereas nonparticipants displayed the opposite pattern. In terms of age, more than 65% of the participants were between 20 and 39 years of age, though to our surprise, more than 70% of the nonparticipants were younger than 29 years, and almost 40% were teenagers. Almost half of the respondents, regardless of their advergame participation, worked in ofces or were self-employed. This may imply that mobile SNSs and related campaigns largely get accessed by young professional adults, which contrasts with the conventional wisdom that teenagers are the primary users of mobile services. In terms of SNS usage frequency, advergaming participants are heavy to median users; more than 60% of them use SNSs more than ve times per day. 6.2. Measurement assessment To examine the direct links between the constructs depicted in our research model, we followed the two-step approach of Anderson and Gerbing (1988). In this approach, the estimation of a conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) precedes the estimation of the structural model. First, a conrmatory factor analysis was built with six latent constructs (mobile SNS engagement, eWOM intention, brand-game t, and three rst-order constructs of perceived brand value), and was tested with maximum likelihood method using AMOS 18. To take into account the widely accepted recommendations, multiple indexes were used to assess the goodness of t of the overall model: the chi-square statistic, the goodness-t-index (GFI), the comparative t index (CFI), the TuckerLewis index (TLI), and the standardized root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006). In a model with good t, the chi-square statistic should not be signicant at the 5% level; the values of the GFI, CFI, and TLI indexes should be between 0.95 and 1.0; and the RMSEA index should be close to 0 (Byrne, 2001). First, testing yielded a chi-square value of 214.77 with 62 degrees of freedom and a probability of less than .001. This suggests that the t of the data to the hypothesized model is not entirely adequate. However, it has been widely pointed out that the chi-square statistic tends to be substantial when the sample size is large (Byrne, 2001). Other indexes showed a good t: CFI = 0.98; AGFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.052. Thus, we deemed the measurement model to be satisfactory. All items exhibited high standardized loadings on their intended factors. Thus, a good convergent validity was conrmed. Next, construct validity was evaluated (Table 2). With regard to Cronbachs alpha, two constructs (mobile SNS engagement and uniqueness) were

below a generally recommended cut-off, 0.70. However, the literature suggests that Cronbachs alpha is largely inuenced by the number of construct items: the lower the number of construct items, the lower the alpha (Hair et al., 2006). Thus, the construct reliability was reexamined through composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE). Both measures are considered more stringent evidence that accurately reects the extent to which a set of latent construct indicators share in their measurement of a construct (Hair et al., 2006). As for the former, all scores exceeded 0.70 which is considered sufciently supportive of acceptable internal consistency. As for the latter, all but mobile SNS engagement exceeded 0.50. Overall, we considered that construct validity was sufciently established. Next, discriminant validity was assessed. In Table 3, the correlations between the constructs are reported in the lower left offdiagonal elements in the matrix. Hair et al. (2006) suggest that average variance shared between a construct and its measures should be greater than the variance shared between the construct and other constructs in the model. Thus, discriminant validity is satised when the diagonal elements (square root AVE) are greater than the off-diagonal elements in the same row and column. This condition was met for most of the combinations with the exception of favorability and awareness. However, they are second-order factors of brand value, and thus necessarily highly correlated. Thus, discriminant validity was deemed to be established. 6.3. Hypotheses testing The structural paths on the hypothesized relationships between the proposed constructs were examined with maximum likelihood method (AMOS 18). Most of the indexes indicate an adequate model t, with the exception of the chi-square statistic: v2 96 365:73 (p < 0.001), CFI = 0.96; AGFI = 0.93; TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.055. Therefore, it was judged that the multiple indexes sufciently justify the adequacy of the models t to the sample data (Byrne, 2001). The results of structural model analysis are shown in Fig. 3. H1 posits that mobile SNS engagement directly and positively affects eWOM intention. The results from structural equation modeling indicate that unstandardized b of this path is 0.40 which is statistically signicant. Thus, H1 was supported by our data. By the same token, H2 contemplates a causal relationship between perceived brand-game t and eWOM intention. This path exhibits modest but signicant unstandardized b of 0.09, which rings true for H2. H3 predicts that perceived brand-game t directly affects perceived brand value. Our results support this relationship with unstandardized b of 0.30. In H4, eWOM intention is hypothesized to improve perceived brand value. The results suggest that this relationship is statistically signicant (unstandardized b = 0.17). Thus, H4 was supported. The results of hypotheses testing are summarized in Table 4. 6.4. Control variables The next analysis added control variables and examined their potentially confounding effects on our key construct. The path from age and gender to eWOM intention was added to reect possible demographic differences and intuitive correlation between youth and game-related eWOM. The results indicate that both paths were statistically nonsignicant, which lead us to conclude that the analytical data still support the study hypotheses when considering potential confounding effects of two control variables. 7. Limitations For the benet of the objectivity of our ndings, we must recognize a few important limitations. First, this study does not control

Table 1 Participant versus nonparticipant proles (%). Demographics Total participants1 SNS usage frequency2 >10 times per day 35.5 32.7 37.7 36.1 36.0 31.1 50.0 27.3 35.0 38.0 26.9 40.0 19.4 19.7 18.9 24.3 17.2 15.3 14.3 20.0 23.4 18.9 15.6 13.0 36.0 59 times per day 25.7 24.3 26.8 26.4 26.0 24.6 25.0 30.3 15.0 22.3 50.0 22.2 20.1 20.4 19.7 21.5 20.2 23.7 21.9 21.6 21.5 13.0 12.0 34 times per day 18.4 24.3 13.8 19.4 19.0 19.7 30.3 15.0 18.2 19.2 11.1 15.8 16.4 15.2 15.9 20.2 8.5 21.4 17.2 24.3 15.6 8.7 8.0 12 times per day 11.4 12.1 10.9 11.1 12.0 13.1 6.1 25.0 11.6 15.6 16.2 16.4 15.9 13.1 18.2 16.9 21.4 20.0 10.9 8.1 19.3 17.4 24.0 56 times per week 4.1 4.7 3.6 2.8 3.0 4.9 16.7 3.0 4.1 8.9 3.9 5.9 1.5 5.6 3.0 7.1 20.0 7.8 5.4 2.2 4.3 34 times per week 3.3 0.9 5.1 4.2 2.0 3.3 8.3 3.0 5.0 3.3 3.8 2.2 6.3 5.9 6.8 1.9 9.1 10.2 7.1 1.6 5.4 8.1 17.4 12 times per week 0.8 0.9 0.7 1.0 1.6 1.7 7.0 5.3 9.1 9.3 3.0 8.5 14.3 10.9 5.4 5.2 8.7 8.0 Few times a month 0.4 0.7 1.0 5.0 6.0 5.3 6.8 2.8 7.1 8.5 14.3 1.6 5.4 8.1 13.0 Very seldom 0.4 0.7 1.6 0.8 5.3 4.6 6.1 5.6 2.0 8.5 40.0 4.7 5.4 4.4 4.3 12.0 S. Okazaki, M.J. Yage / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 7886

Total Gender Male Female Age <19 2029 3039 4049 >50 Occupation High school students University and other students Ofce workers and self-employed Housewives Unemployed

100.0 43.7 56.3 29.4 40.8 24.9 4.9 0.0 8.2 13.5 49.4 10.6 18.4

100.0 53.5 46.5 37.7 34.9 20.8 4.9 1.8 22.5 13.0 47.5 8.1 8.8

Notes: The left-hand number in each column indicates the percentage of those who played the advergame (n = 925), and the right-hand number in each column (in italics) indicates the percentage of those who did not play the advergame (n = 284). 1 Sum to 100% vertically in each demographic category. 2 Sum to 100% horizontally in each row.

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84 Table 2 Construct quality indicators. Construct Mobile SNS engagement eWOM intention Brand-game t Perceived brand value Favorability Uniqueness Awareness Alpha 0.64 0.77 0.85 0.75 0.62 0.88

S. Okazaki, M.J. Yage / Computers in Human Behavior 28 (2012) 7886 Table 4 Summary of hypotheses testing. CR 0.87 0.89 0.97 0.93 0.89 0.96 AVE 0.40 0.59 0.69 0.73 0.62 0.82 Hypotheses H1: Mobile SNS engagement signicantly and positively affects SNS users eWOM intentions H2: The perceived t between the brand and game signicantly and positively affect SNS users eWOM intentions H3: The perceived t between the brand and game signicantly increases perceived brand value H4: eWOM intention signicantly increases perceived brand value Results Supported Supported Supported Supported

Note: CR = composite reliability; AVE = average variance extracted.

Table 3 Discriminant validity. Construct Mobile SNS engagement eWOM intention Brand-game t Favorability Uniqueness Awareness 1 0.63 0.41 0.10 0.16 0.22 0.35 2 0.77 0.19 0.28 0.22 0.35 3 4 5 6

ipated in a promotional campaign for P&Gs popular potato chip brand, Pringles. The data support the hypothesized relationships between the variables and thereby offer some important implications for both scholars and practitioners.

0.83 0.62 0.55 0.49

0.85 0.81 0.87

8.1. Theoretical implications

0.79 0.63 0.91

Note: Diagonal elements in bold are the square root of average variance extracted (AVE) between the constructs and their indicators. Off-diagonal elements are correlations between the constructs.

for the respondents in terms of their advergaming campaign exposure. That is, we do not compare perceived brand value before and after the campaign. Second, we did not control for prior knowledge and experience with the brand, Pringles. Third, this study only used one game and did not test for the effects of variations. Fourth, this study did not take into account a no game condition, as we used only the responses from those who played the advergame. These important limitations demand caution before generalizing any of our study results. 8. Implications Our study makes an interesting and useful case for the impact of advergaming on perceived brand value in a mobile SNS context. Our respondent sample consists of actual advergamers who partic-

Our study makes an important theoretical contribution in that it provides evidence about a missing link between eWOM toward advergaming on SNSs and perceived brand value. Although prior research infers that community participation, and resultant eWOM behavior, may strengthen brand and/or product loyalty, no studies examine advergaming in this context. We conrm that eWOM intention actually improves perceived brand value in terms of brand favorability, awareness, and uniqueness. Drawing from categorization theory, we corroborate the importance of perceived t between the advergame and the sponsor brand. We used a global measure of t that includes both type and content of the game. Our advergame had a unique character called Shaberings that was widely promoted in a multimedia campaign as a new symbol of Pringles. Our results imply that the insertion of brand-related attributes in a game could generate effects similar to brand extension. This impact of perceived brand-game t is not so surprising, given that much research on advergames sheds a similar light. However, what is surprising is its effect on perceived brand value. While existing approaches to advergaming research are based on brand placement, we drew our theory upon

Fig. 3. Structural model results. Notes: n = 925. RMSEA = 0.05.

p < 0.001; n.s. = nonsignicant. Goodness-of-t indexes:

v2 96 365:73 (p < 0.0001), CFI = 0.96; AGFI = 0.93; TLI = 0.95,

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event sponsorship literature, which collectively demonstrates affect transfer of the sponsored event to the extended categories. In our study context, Pringles advergame can be viewed as an extension of the sponsor brand, thus inducing a positive brand association. This is the theoretical rationale of why we contemplate the brand-game t as a powerful driver of perceived brand value. Likewise, we nd that good t perceptions have a direct impact on eWOM intentions. Although we acknowledge the danger of oversimplication, this nding seems to suggest that when consumers perceive a greater match in the pairing of a brand and a game, they are more likely to nd a good reason to enjoy the game and thus a good reason to talk about it. This nding seems consistent with previous research that shows game site users spend approximately half of their time online chatting with others (Nelson, 2005). However, the relationship between perceived brand t and eWOM intentions remains premature and needs further examination. 8.2. Managerial implications Our results encourage marketers and advertisers to recognize mobile SNSs as a platform for branded entertainment for consumers. In terms of the network effect, it would be wiser for rms to identify opinion leaders in the network to encourage exponential information dissemination. In a gaming context, the leaders would likely be winners or high point earners, but they also tend to possess a wider and deeper network across the site, which should make them relatively easy to identify. Firms can use these opinion leaders as network seeds who effectively spread information to other SNS users. Firms also should recognize advergaming as an effective viral branding tool that improves perceived brand value. In our conceptualization, brand value derives primarily from favorability, uniqueness, and awareness, which affect consumers purchase decisions. Therefore, advergaming may be especially effective for promoting FMCG, because in these highly competitive marketspaces, consumers often must make quick selections among diverse alternatives. Therefore, the brand must be easily identiable, and an advergaming campaign may effectively increase identiable attributes and familiarity with the brand. Our demographic analysis indicates that relatively frequent SNS users include adults between 20 and 39 years of age, which matches the primary target market of FMCG. This consumer segment contains the pre-marriage parasite singles group, who enjoy stable incomes and are regular clients of 24-h convenience stores in Japan. These convenience stores sell more than 45 million FMCG, which seems like a clear justication for budget allocations to advergaming in high-technology telecommunication media. For mobile device rms, this study offers a useful case study pertaining to the tactical use of mobile marketing through SNSs. To date, mobile commerce research tends to focus on more specic aspects (e.g., advertising, coupon usage, GPS, banking), but a more comprehensive usage study of specic sites may be of interest. Our scenario is particularly realistic, because touch-screen cell phones substantially improve general usability and thus ubiquity. Practitioners should pay closer attention to this perspective. Finally, our campaign design pertaining to a participation prize offers some interesting insights for practitioners. A sweepstakes appears to offer an attractive incentive for eWOM among advergamers, and, therefore, those who did not win avatars might have been reluctant to spread information, turning them into obstacles to campaign dissemination. Thus, participation alone might not have created buzz; receiving an incentive may be

necessary to elevate behavioral intentions into actual behavior. In other words, from users perspectives, playing games alone may not satisfy their needsfor fun, escapism, or relaxationand the expectation of a reward may also need to be fullled. However, we caution that this effect may depend on the type of incentive (e.g., monetary versus non-monetary), a topic that deserves further research attention. Acknowledgments The preparation of this paper has been facilitated by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation EC02008-01557). The authors gratefully acknowledge the invaluable technical support from P&G Japan, DeNA and D2 Communications for the research design and data collection. Appendix A. Questionnaire items 1. Mobile SNS engagement [original items] Please indicate how often you usually participate, post, or search comments through the following SNS functions: How many peoples diaries do you usually visit and read on this site? 1. Very few 2. 14 3. 59 4. 1014 5. 1519 6. 20 or more How many mini-emails do you usually send on this site? 1. Very few 2. 14 3. 59 4. 1014 5. 1519 6. 20 or more How often do you post comments in the circle on this site? 1. Very seldom 2. A few times a month 3. 1 or 2 times a week 4. 3 or 4 times a week 5. 5 or 6 times a week 6. 1 or 2 times a day 7. 3 or 4 times a day 8. 59 times a day 9. 10 or more times a day 2. eWOM intention [adapted from Kamins et al., 1997] On this site, if somebody were looking for information on a topic you are familiar with, would you be willing to help him or her? On this site, if somebody were looking for information on a topic you are not familiar with, would you be willing to help him or her? 3. Brand-game t [adapted from Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Speed & Thompson, 2000] It makes sense to me that this brand sponsors this type of game. The sponsor brand and the game type t together well. The brand and the main game features have similar images. The ideas I associate with the brand are related to the ideas I associate with the main game character. (continued on next page)

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Appendix A. (continued) 4. Perceived brand value [based on Netemeyer et al., 2004; Yoo & Donthu, 2001] Favorability  After participating in Shaberings Gran-Pri, how has your feeling toward Pringles changed? (unfavorable favorable)  Compared with your feeling before participating in Shaberings Gran-Pri, what do you think about Pringles? (unfamiliarfamiliar) Uniqueness  When you think about Pringles, can you imagine their characteristics or taste immediately? (unlikelylikely)  Right now, can you remember Pringles logo or symbol? (unlikelylikely) Awareness  The next time you buy potato chips in a convenience store, do you think you would look at Pringles more consciously than before? (unlikelylikely)  If you nd Pringles in a convenience store, do you think you would buy them more often than before? (unlikelylikely)

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