Persuasive Structures in Advergames. Conveying Advertising Messages through Digital Games

Abstract

The evolution of the game industry and changes in the advertising landscape in recent years have led to a keen interest of marketers in using digital games for advertising purposes. Digital games specifically designed for a brand with the aim of conveying an advertising message, are known as advergames. The increasing interest in the use of digital games as a marketing strategy is undoubtedly related to the development of new technologies and the proliferation of broadband and mobile devices and the closely popularization of digital games. However, despite the increasing interest in this marketing strategy, marketers and marketing companies still need more knowledge about the potential of digital games as a medium to convey advertising messages. This thesis aims at broadening the understanding of how advertising messages can be embedded within digital games. In this thesis an interdisciplinary framework is used in order to outline a theoretical model aiming to structure the existing knowledge to help explain how persuasive communication works within digital games. This framework consists of theories from game studies, media studies and studies on persuasion undertaken from a humanities perspective. This interdisciplinary approach allows for a broadening of the understanding of how persuasiveness can be implemented within digital games. It does so by forging new interdisciplinary links within the area of game studies where the emphasis of this study clearly lies, while also taking up new subjects that are important to this field. Furthermore, this study explores contemporary design theories and their relation to games as well as how this relationship may be used in a practical context. By giving order and intelligibility to specific aspects of persuasive games the theoretical model developed in this dissertation renders visible how persuasiveness can be structured within digital games and identifies specific aspects of persuasive games that might not be visible at first glance. This thesis builds upon game scholars Salen and Zimmerman's (2004) statements about how digital games convey meaning through semiotic principles by claiming that persuasiveness can be implemented within digital games by making use of three persuasive levels: (1) the signs embedded within the game, (2) the system that allows players to interact with the signs of the game and (3) the context in which games are played. The theoretical model of this thesis explains how all the persuasive dimensions that can be used within digital games are structured according to the three levels of persuasion. This model thus facilitates the study and implementation of persuasive strategies within digital games from a new and specific perspective.