The perception of advergame and its effects on the attitudes and behavioural dispositions towards a brand

Advergames, which are used as a means of advertising, communicate the message of the brand to the consumers on the basis of video games and entertainment. The aim of this research is to find out how people who play games online perceive the advergames from a "game" and "advert" perspective and how this perception is reflected on the brand in the game. The first three chapters of the dissertation present the literature review in order to show the theoretical framework of the research. The fourth chapter outlines the conceptual framework and describes the methods of research. The data is obtained by means of quantitative and qualitative research methods applied on a sample group of young Internet gamers aged between 18 and 24. The fifth chapter presents the content analysis and the data analysis which was carried out by using statistical methods. The sixth chapter discusses the conclusions and the implications of the research. The findings of the research reveal that although gamers are aware that advergames are designed for a commercial purpose, they perceive these applications as games and play them under certain conditions. Furthermore, it has been observed that whether a gamer perceives advergames as a game or an advert does not have any effect on his attitude towards the game and the brand, or on his behavioral disposition to the brand. On the other hand, it was determined that the attitude towards the game and the brand and the behavioral disposition to the brand were mutually influential regardless of the perception. Key Words: Advergame, advertainment, video game, entertainment marketing, perception, entertainment, game-brand interaction.