Marketing Communications

128 CHAPTER 4 TARGET GROUPS

the trailer. In the fourth treatment, children were asked to watch the trailer and to play the advergame afterwards.

Group 5 was shown a traditional TV ad for Ola. All 125 children were randomly assigned to one of the five treat-

ments. The experiment was conducted using groups of four children. They were taken to a room where they were

given the experimental treatment, depending on the group to which they were assigned. After the experimental

treatment, every child was taken separately to a freezer, where they were allowed to pick one popsicle. They were

taken there individually to avoid their choice being influenced by that of others. The freezer contained three brands

of popsicles: a generic store brand (Carrefour), an ‘IJsboerke’ or an ‘Ola’. All popsicles were rocket shaped. The

child’s preference was registered. Subsequently, the children were administered a survey.

A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test whether the different experimental treatments

had an effect on children’s ability to recall the advertised brand. The number of prompts needed before correct

identification of the brand was used as a dependent measure for recall. The average number of prompts needed by

children in the advergame condition was significantly higher than that of children in the traditional ad condition.

Children who were exposed to the advergame needed significantly more help to recall the brand behind the persuasive

message than children who got to see a traditional TV ad. Advergames engage children and induce feelings of

telepresence, a sensation of being present in the gaming environment.^35 Since advergame playing is an enjoyable

experience, a feeling of being present in the advergame can produce more positive evaluations of the brand and the

game. The focus in the advergame is on actively engaging with the brand or the product, rather than on passive

exposure to brand identifiers. This implies that gamers receive less explicit cues that could give away persuasive

intentions or information about the brand, which might explain why explicit recall memory for Ola is significantly

lower in the advergame condition.

It was also investigated whether persuasion knowledge moderated the effect of the experimental treatments on

brand attitude. A 5 (experimental treatments) × 2 (persuasion knowledge, yes/no) full-factorial, one-way ANOVA

was performed using the attitude towards Ola as the dependent variable. Children without persuasion knowledge

develop a significantly more positive attitude towards the brand than children with persuasion knowledge. Within the

group of children without persuasion knowledge, children that were exposed to the trailer and played the advergame

afterwards developed a significantly more positive attitude towards Ola than children that were exposed to only the

trailer and the traditional TV commercial. Children without persuasion knowledge developed a significantly more

positive attitude towards the brand than their counterparts when they were shown a trailer followed by playing the

advergame. These results are consistent with the literature on integrated marketing communications. Carefully

designed interplay between different forms of marketing communications may lead to a seamless communication

process which minimises consumer irritation and has beneficial effects on consumers’ reactions towards the brand.

People with persuasion knowledge are thought to be more resilient to such persuasive efforts; those who are less

knowledgeable about advertisers’ tactics are more susceptible to these techniques.

In 2008, Obama approached American voters by consistently delivering a message of ‘Change’. He did not talk

to his audience but interacted with them. He spoke to the younger generations directly through his website

my.barackobama.com (MYBO). By using the keyword ‘my’ at the beginning of his domain name, he brought it to

a personal level. The site allows users to take control of their relationship with the Obama brand by customising

and personalising the site when they log on. The site offers the use of tagging, discussion boards, photo uploads

and other interactive Web 2.0 elements. Obama also hit the millennials’ hearts by talking about ending the war in

Iraq, about the environ ment, improving education and his philosophy that every person can make a difference. This

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Obama’s campaign spoke to millennials... and they listened

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