Uh… Ads “Enhance” Video Game Experience?

Activision and Nielsen Entertainment would have us believe ads integrated into video games not only are more persuasive than traditional ads, but make the games more enjoyable.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to consider news releases with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Video game maker Activision and Nielsen Entertainment have released the results of a “pioneering” study on in-game advertising. Their conclusions? Directly integrating advertisement and product placement into games not only increased the persuasiveness of those ads, but some participants said that the ads actually increased their enjoyment of the game (emphasis mine).

Gosh, what an interesting thing for a video game maker to say! And should I believe a cat if it told me mice actually enjoy being chased and torn to pieces?

Skepticism aside for a moment, the study is the fourth in a continuing research program designed to create standardized methods of evaluating the effectiveness of in-game advertisements. Advertisers love the idea of having some sort of metric to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising; they use these numbers to guide and justfy specific ad placements. Activision and Nielsen’s studies started in early 2004 with a survey of U.S. gamers’ demographics and behaviors. A second “groundbreaking” study found that gamers were more inclined to recall and express interest in brands advertised within games, while a third study focused on the lifespan of top-selling games in 2004.

The current study took place in eight cities and focused on male U.S. gamers between the ages of 13 and 44; the research attempted to assess the persuasiveness of in-game advertising. Gamers were assigned to test cells (oooh