Marc Du Peloux
Assistant Professor, EBS Paris, France.
Eric Lombardot
Assistant Professor, University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, PRISM
Sorbonne, France.Psychological and Behavioural Effects Triggered by
Participation and Promotional Games
The influence of the promotional game on the behaviour of the
consumer has been little studied, due to complex regulations and very
different practices. Nevertheless, hedonic benefits, the suspense and the
uncertainty of such games generate effects more complex than the
simple behaviourist model of answer reflex which is generally
associated with them. The aim of this research is to check the impact of
promotional games on the intentions of very short-term purchases, and
also to understand by which antecedents this process is activated. The
use of a consolation prize is frequent in practice, although no research
has studied its effect so far. This research considers both the effect of the
gain and that of the consolation prize.
Our series of hypotheses concerning the effects of the result of the
promotional game was tested by means of an experimental protocol
recreating realistic conditions of participation. The respondents
participated at first in a game using a cereal bar of fictitious brand. They
received at once their gain (1 euro), their consolation prize (1 small bag
of Haribo candies) or nothing (around one-third of the sample per
group). The document was collected and a questionnaire was then
administered. Participants’ mood and level of disappointment were
measured, as well as their intention to purchase and their consumer
habits of cereal bars.
It emerges that a more favourable mood is generated by the gain or
the consolation prize. This result strengthens the parallel with the effect
of advertising, and it proves the emotional dimension of promotional
games. Then, at the level of the intentions to purchase, the influence of
the gain, even modest, is validated, which remains the main objective of
promotional games today. This can be explained by the theory of
commitment. To participate in a game or to accept a prize does
certainly not suggest a great deal of involvement, but favours more
concrete later commitments. This result is moderated by the influence
of buying habits. For individuals who are not used to buying cereal
bars, the gain or the consolation prize are going to exert a relatively
strong influence on the intentions to purchase while, for individuals
used to this type of purchase, the gain or the loss will not modify their
intentions a great deal. Finally, the use of a consolation prize gives