Strengthening Children’s Defenses Against Advergames: The Effectiveness of an Approach-Avoidance Training

• In Event: Understanding and Countering Effects of Advertising on Youth

Abstract

This study examined whether children’s susceptibility to advergames can be decreased by strengthening their advertising defenses. To this end, an intervention was developed based on the approach-avoidance task (AAT). The goal of this intervention was to induce an avoidance tendency (i.e., negative attitude) towards a character named Reccie. It was expected that, when Reccie was placed in an advergame, the intervention-induced negative attitude towards Reccie would transfer to the game and advertised brand, resulting in more negative responses towards the game (i.e., game involvement, game attitude) and the brand (i.e., brand attitude, brand choice). An experiment among 7 to 11 year old children (N = 58) showed that the intervention had no effect on children’s self-reported attitude towards Reccie, nor on their game involvement, game attitude or brand attitude. However, results did show a significant effect of the intervention on brand choice: Children who participated in the intervention were less likely to choose the advertised brand after playing the advergame. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications regarding the underlying mechanisms of children’s advertising defenses.

Authors

• Kirsten van Iersel, Radboud University

• Esther Rozendaal, Radboud University Nijmegen