20 years of research on gamified advertising

Entitled "Twenty years of research on gamified advertising: a systematic overview of theories and variables”, the paper was published in the International Journal of Advertising. One of the world’s  most highly regarded communications publications, it ranks among the top 4% of journals according to the Scopus database of peer-reviewed literature. Professor Waiguny is an expert in product placement, entertainment science, gamification and advertising impact, and devised the theories that underpin the analysis in the article.

Spotlight on gamification

Over the past two decades, advertising researchers have paid particularly close attention to the topic of gamification in advertising. The literature distinguishes between two main forms: in-game advertising (IGA) and advergames (AGs). The article provides an overview of research carried out on these types of advertising over the past 20 years, with an emphasis on the role played by the International Journal of Advertising (IJA). Based on an analysis of 280 academic papers, the researchers provide systematic insights into the theories most commonly used to explain the persuasive effect of IGA and AGs (in other words, advertising through games ). They also discuss the main conclusions that can be drawn from the literature on gamified advertising. The product of the analysis is the model of effects of gamified advertising (MEGA) – it correlates the key characteristics of advertising, games and gamers in order to explain the effectiveness of gamified advertising. In conclusion, the authors look ahead to the future, discussing the potential outcomes of research on gamified advertising over the next few years, as well as identifying the main gaps in current knowledge.

Original Publication