Advergames and Children

Abstract

Online gaming has become a popular form of entertainment which has shifted children's playgrounds to computers, laptops, mobiles, tablets, etc. Children spend their time surfing, playing, and downloading games from the internet. Advergaming is one of the latest digital advertising techniques used by marketers to interact with the children for longer hours by embedding the brand messages in the game action. Advergaming is a blend of fun and promotion to capture the attention of children towards the advertising message associated with the branded product. The objective of this chapter is to determine how children pay attention and absorb the message given by the companies by considering hierarchy of effects models such as AIDA model and DAGMAR model. The purpose of this work as a whole is to bring more understanding of this innovative technique of promoting by detailing the elements, characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of advergames to achieve communication goals.