DESIGNING ADVERGAMES FOR AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS: AN ENGAGING TOOL

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mass communication department , Alsun & mass communication faculty, Misr International University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Awareness campaigns lack the interactivity and engagement factors, especially when the target audience are children. Gaming provides an engagement tool that may help change attitudes, behaviors and ideas of the audience. “Advergames” could be used to integrate information and awareness messages in a more engaging and effective manner. The originality of this research is that, to the best of the researcher knowledge, this is the first time that advergame is used in an awareness campaign in Egypt. As suggested, this research addresses the bullying among children issue by showing all kinds of bullying and how to face them in different situations. The importance of the paper is to state the steps, stages, and suggested design for the awareness advergame. The goal of this paper is the suggestion of creating an advergame as part of an awareness campaign to engage children and make them aware of a serious social issue. According to the research framework that was derived from the social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura 1986,and Vanissa Wanick’s four layers. The effectiveness of the advergame in achieving the campaign objectives is tested using two questionnaires: the first was addressed to experts in different fields, and the second was distributed among Egyptian primary students. The results indicate that an advergame can be applied in awareness campaigns according to the suggested framework, taking in consideration that player prefers to play with members of the same gender and that there has been a little variation in preferring of a game character according to age variation.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

REFERENCES
Agante, L. and Pascoal, A., 2019. How much is “too much” for a brand to use an advergame with children?. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 28(2), pp.287-299.
Alismail, S. and Zhang, H., 2018, January. The use of Emoji in electronic user experience questionnaire: an exploratory case study. In Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp.3366-3375
Arnarsson, A, and Bjarnason, T., 2018. The problem with low-prevalence of bullying. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 7.
Balzotti, J., 2016. Storyboarding for Invention: Layering Modes for More Effective Transfer in a Multimodal Composition Classroom. Journal of Basic Writing, pp.63-84.
Bullying 2019, viewed 10 January 2018, <www.unicef.org/egypt/bullying>.
Bullying 2019, viewed 20 February 2019 < www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaming>.
Cancer Council 2017, Causes of cancer, Cancer Council, viewed 21 May 2018, <https://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/>. 
Canty, J., Stubbe, M., Steers, D. and Collings, S., 2016. The trouble with bullying–deconstructing the conventional definition of bullying for a child‐centered investigation into children's use of social media. Children & Society, 30(1), pp.48-58.
Catalán, S., Martínez, E. and Wallace, E., 2019. The role of flow for mobile advergaming effectiveness. Online Information Review, 11(43), pp. 1228-1244.
Černý, M., Barták, R., Brom, C. and Gemrot, J., 2016. To plan or to simply react? An experimental study of action planning in a game environment. Computational Intelligence, 32(4), pp.668-710.
Červenka, P., Naščáková, J., Bednárová, L., Daneshjo, N. and Dudáš-Pajerská, E., 2018, November. Development Tendency Testing and Success of Marketing Communications. In 2018 16th International Conference on Emerging eLearning Technologies and Applications (ICETA) (pp. 87-92). IEEE.
Coy, D. R., 2001. Bullying. ERIC. Accessed on 19 December 2019, < www.counseling.org › resources › library › Bullying_ERIC_Digest>.
Curtain-Phillips, M. 2016. The causes and prevention of math anxiety, accessed on 9 December 2019, < http://www.mathgoodies.com/article/math_anxiety.html>.
Danaher, P.J., Lee, J. and Kerbache, L., 2010. Optimal internet media selection. Marketing Science, 29(2), pp.336-347.
Draganska, M., Hartmann, W.R. and Stanglein, G., 2013. Internet versus television advertising: A brand-building comparison. Journal of Marketing Research, 50(5), pp.578-590.
Ensmenger, N., 2016. The multiple meanings of a flowchart. Information & Culture, 51(3), pp.321-351.
Farías, P., 2018. The effect of advergames, banners and user type on the attitude to brand and intention to purchase.
Fawzy, A.M., 2010. ‘Trouble Behaviour and its Relationship to self-efficacy and Machiavellian Students in Basic education’, MA thesis, Banha University, Banha, Cairo.
Feng, Y., Liu, Z., Qian, W., Guo, M. and Chen, J., 2019, July. Research on the influence mechanism of gamification elements on users' willingness to continue using in interest-based virtual communities‐‐based on ECM-ISC Model. In 2019 16th International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Folkvord, F. and van‘t Riet, J., 2018. The persuasive effect of advergames promoting unhealthy foods among children: A meta-analysis. Appetite. 129, pp. 245- 251.
Goh, K.Y. and Ping, J.W., 2014. Engaging consumers with advergames: An experimental evaluation of interactivity, fit and expectancy. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15(7), p.2.
Gutsche, J., 2011, Child poverty ads in India: begging child on glass. Trend hunter, accessed 28 May 2019 <www.trendhunter.com/trends/child-poverty-awareness-ads-in-india-begging-child-on-glass>.
Horton, W.K., 1994. The icon book: Visual symbols for computer systems and documentation. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
I Am against Bullying. 2019, accessed 28 May 2019 <https://www.setaat.com/%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%B6%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%85%D8%B1 >.
Ismail, H. and Nasidi, Q., 2018. Adver-games and consumers: measuring the impact of advertising on online games. International Journal, 3(12), 35-40.
Khalil, N., 2017. ‘School bullying between preparatory school pupils and its relationship by social and personal characteristics’, M.A. thesis, Ain Shams University, Cairo. 
Kim, T.W. and Werbach, K., 2016. More than just a game: ethical issues in gamification. Ethics and Information Technology, 18(2), pp.157-173.
Klemm, C. and Pieters, W., 2017. Game mechanics and technological mediation: an ethical perspective on the effects of MMORPG’s. Ethics and Information Technology, 19(2), pp.81-93.
Kobayashi, F., 1999. Bullying in Japanese Schools. ERIC. Accessed 19 December 2019, <https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED434755>.
Konrad, R.A., 2019. Designing awareness campaigns to counter human trafficking: An analytic approach. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 67, pp.86-93.
LaMarco, N., 2019. 10 kinds of advertising, accessed on 3 December 2019  <https://bizfluent.com/info-7736409-10-kinds-advertising.html>.
LaMorte W.W. 2019. Behavioral change model, accessed 10 December 2019,  <http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPHModules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories5.html>.
Larson, K., 2019. Serious Games and gamification in the corporate training environment: A literature review. TechTrends, pp.1-10.
Latif, A., 2016. Creating cartoon character inspired by Islamic arts. Architecture, Arts and Humanistic Science Magazine, 1(1), 274-289.
Lemmens, J.S. and Hendriks, S.J., 2016. Addictive online games: Examining the relationship between game genres and Internet gaming disorder. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(4), pp.270-276.
Liu, D., Santhanam, R. and Webster, J., 2017. Toward Meaningful Engagement: A Framework for Design and Research of Gamified Information Systems. MIS quarterly, 41(4), 1011-1034.
Lyznicki, J.M., McCaffree, M.A. and Robinowitz, C.B., 2004. Childhood bullying: implications for physicians. American family physician, 70(9), pp. 1723-1728.
Mago, Z., 2018. The Concept of Timelessness Applied to Advergames. Acta Ludologica, 1(2), pp.18-33.
Maibach, E., 1993. Social marketing for the environment: using information campaigns to promote environmental awareness and behavior change. Health promotion international, 8(3), pp.209-224.
Matsova, S. (2000). Bullying and violence in the Slarkian school. European Education, 32 (1), pp.51-65.
McClowry, R.J., Miller, M.N. and Mills, G.D., 2017. What family physicians can do to combat bullying? Journal of family practice, 66(2), pp.82-89.
Mohamed M.Y., 2019. Designing Advertising campaigns for social marketing. MA thesis, Helwan University, Cairo.
Moriarty, S., Mitchell, N.D., Wells, W.D., Crawford, R., Brennan, L. and Spence-Stone, R., 2015. Advertising: Principles and practice. London: Pearson, pp.1-556
Nairn, A. and Dew, A., 2007. Pop-ups, pop-unders, banners and buttons: The ethics of online advertising to primary school children. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 9(1), pp.30-46.
Natvig, G.K., Albrektsen, G. and Qvarnstrøm, U., 2001. School-related stress experience as a risk factor for bullying behavior. Journal of youth and adolescence, 30(5), pp.561-575.
Ofosu-Ampong, K., Boateng, R., Anning-Dorson, T. and Kolog, E.A., 2019. Are we ready for Gamification? An exploratory analysis in a developing country. Education and Information Technologies, pp.1-20.
Olweus, D. (2004). A Profile of Bullying at School. Accessed 19 December 2019, <https://lhsela.weebly.com/uploads/7/9/0/8/7908073/_olweus_profile_of_bullying.pdf>.
Peguero, A.A. and Williams, L.M., 2013. Racial and ethnic stereotypes and bullying victimization. Youth & Society, 45(4), pp.545-564.
Peterson, S.M., Furuichi, E. and Ferris, D.P., 2018. Effects of virtual reality high heights exposure during beam-walking on physiological stress and cognitive loading. PloS one, 13(7), p. e0200306, pp.1-17
Piano Staircase Initiative. 2009, viewed 28 May 2019 <youtube.com/watch?v=SByymar3bds>.
Refaat, R, 2012. ‘Profile of family interactions in children with aggressive behaviour’, MA thesis, Helwan university, Cairo.
Rodgers, S. and Thorson, E., 2018. Special issue introduction: digital engagement with advertising. Journal of Advertising, 47(1), 1-3.
Šafhalter, A., Vukman, K.B. and Glodež, S., 2016. The effect of 3D-modeling training on students’ spatial reasoning relative to gender and grade. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54(3), pp.395-406.
Salmivalli, C., 1999. Participant role approach to school bullying: Implications for interventions. Journal of adolescence, 22(4), pp.453-459.
Sandra, L.B., 2000. When victims turn into bullies. The Psychotherapy Review, 2(2), pp. 59-60.
Sean, P. (2004) The problems with bullies for: Teens all over the U.S. bullying has become a serious health crisis. Journal Scholastic, 106, (12), pp.8-11.
Silva, R., Rodrigues, R. and Leal, C., 2019. Gamification in management education-A literature mapping. Education and Information Technologies, pp.1-33.
Smith-Heavenrich, S., 2001. Kids hurting kids: bullies in the schoolyard. Mothering Magazine, pp.70-77.
Sreejesh, S., Anusree, M.R. and Ponnam, A., 2018. Does game rules work as a game changer?
Analyzing the effect of rule orientation on brand attention and memory in advergames. Computers in Human Behavior, 81, pp.325-339.
Stroessner, S. and Good, C., 2011. Stereotype threat: An overview.  9(2), accessed 10 December 2019, <https://diversity.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/stereotype_threat_overview.pdf>.
Sufi, Osama, and Al-Maliki, Fatima, 2012.  “Bullying in children and its relation to parenting methods among primary school students in Baghdad and Iraq. Journal of Education and Psychological research, (35), pp. 146-188.
Sullivan, K., Cleary, M. and Sullivan, G., 2004. Bullying in secondary schools: What it looks like and how to manage it. Paul Champman, pp.19-40
Tuten, T.L. and Ashley, C., 2016. Do social advergames affect brand attitudes and advocacy?. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(3), pp.236-255.
Van Kerrebroeck, H., Brengman, M. and Willems, K., 2017. When brands come to life: experimental research on the vividness effect of Virtual Reality in transformational marketing communications. Virtual Reality, 21(4), pp.177-191.
Vashisht, D. and Royne, M.B., 2019. What we know and need to know about the gamification of advertising: A review and synthesis of the advergame studies. European Journal of Marketing, 53(4), pp.607-634.
Vinney, C., 2018. Social cognitive theory: How we learn from the behavior of others, accessed  9 December 2019, <https://www.thoughtco.com/social-cognitive-theory-4174567>.
Wallace, F., 2018. Gaming: VR gaming and the technology’s impact on the world. accessed 15 February 2019 <www.headstuff.org/entertainment/gaming/vr-technology-and-the-gaming-world >.
Wanick, V., Dunn, R., Ranchhod, A. and Wills, G., 2019. Analysing cross-cultural design in advergames: a comparison between the UK and Brazil. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Serious Games, 18(1).
Yang, M., Roskos-Ewoldsen, D.R., Dinu, L. and Arpan, L.M., 2006. The effectiveness of" in-game" advertising: Comparing college students' explicit and implicit memory for brand names. Journal of Advertising, 35(4), pp.143-152.
Yücel, Y. and Rızvanoğlu, K., 2019. Battling gender stereotypes: A user study of a code-learning game,“Code Combat,” with middle school children. Computers in Human Behavior, 99, pp.352-365.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics