干擾或溝通？線上遊戲廣告置入效果之研究－－置入形式、置入地點暨玩家回憶度、偏好度為例

The Study on the Effectiveness of Advertising Placement in the Online Games—Format, Location, and Players’ Recall and Preference

近年來由於線上遊戲使用人口急速竄升，讓廣告主注意到遊戲中置入廣告的可行性。由於傳統媒體(例如：電視、廣播、報紙、雜誌及戶外)廣告的操作與效果的測量，無論是理論基礎或實務應用都已臻成熟，但反觀線上遊戲的廣告置入與效果的測量卻亟待研究探索。線上遊戲種類相當多元，再加上操作模式與效果測量相關理論的缺乏，使得線上遊戲的廣告置入成功案例不多。本研究試圖從廣告效果的角度，去評估線上遊戲廣告的置入形式(包括：In-game與Around-game等不同位置)的注意程度，遊戲玩家對知名品牌暨新奇品牌廣告的回憶度及偏好度。
本研究分為二階段進行，第一階段主要針對線上遊戲置入的型態，包括：In-game advertising與Around-game advertising置入位置的效果測量，從使用者瀏覽廣告的視覺軌跡動線到廣告的回憶測試調查。作者採用實驗法，並使用眼球追蹤儀(Eye-tracking System)，觀察使用者在進行遊戲時的眼球凝視點(Fixations)分布情況及視覺動線(Scan paths)位置，研究中測量五十位線上遊戲的使用者，研究發現新奇品牌廣告(玉露桔茶)的整體凝視時間、平均凝視時間及百分比皆高於知名品牌(麥香)，作者推測受測者在等待遊戲下載時，不需耗費太多的注意力在遊戲上，因而有多餘的時間與精神去注意新奇的廣告，而知名品牌的廣告對於受測者而言，因為已經過於熟悉，故花費較少的時間去閱讀廣告訊息。
第二階段的調查重點則在於驗證第一階段的研究結果。作者與線上遊戲業者合作，規劃不同的廣告置入物於「全民打棒球」的遊戲中，並結合調查法進行，調查遊戲玩家對廣告的回憶度及品牌的偏好度，此次問卷調查總共有7,303位玩家來填寫問卷，刪除無效樣本後為6,443位。研究主要發現為：新品牌廣告在Around-game的環境下，比較會被注意，但在回憶度的效果測試上卻還是知名品牌較優；知名品牌廣告在In-game的環境下，較有機會被玩家注意到，玩家看見知名品牌廣告時，可能會知覺到這是熟悉的訊息而不自覺多加凝視，但當看見不熟悉的訊息時則無法耗費太多的關注力在新品牌廣告上。此外，玩家遊戲涉入度越高，越不容易注意到廣告，研究發現無論是在Around-game或是In-game的環境下，玩家遊戲的經驗與使用的頻率越高越不容易注意到廣告，作者判斷，由於玩家對於遊戲的環境過於熟習或對於遊戲涉入的程度太高，太專注在遊戲上，因而忽略周圍置入的廣告。

As the online game players increase dramatically, advertisers are aware of their potentials to place advertising and brand in the online games. Unlike the operation and evaluation of traditional media advertising, such as television, radio, newspaper, magazine and outdoor, have been firmly constructed both in theoretical and practical applications , the effectiveness of online game advertising and its evaluation are still ambiguous . It needs further study and investigation. Owing to the increasing of users and the families have connected to the internet, the ages of online game players have sprayed from young, teenager to other ages, thus make the advertisers willing to invest more budgets on the online game advertising. On the other hand, the categories of the online games are complexity, and their formats of advertising placement are also difficult to measure, therefore, very few of successful cases are found in the advertising industry. The study is to investigate the viewers’ attention upon different format of advertising placements (both in-game and around game) from the perspective of advertising effectiveness, and understand viewers’ recall and preference toward different brand.
In the first year, the author evaluated the effectiveness of both in-game and around game advertising through eye-tracking study and observed subjects’ scan paths, number of fixations, and times of duration. Fifty participants were recruited in the study. The authors found that the novel brand’s advertisement’s total numbers of fixations, times of visual gaze and subjects’ eye movements were higher than the famous brand’s advertisement. The authors referred that participants did not pay much attention on the game while they were waiting for patching, therefore they could put more efforts on the novel brand’s advertisement. Because they were already familiar with the famous brand, the participants did not spend much time on the famous brand’s advertisement.
In the second year, the study was to verify the first year’s finding from the eye-tracking experiment. The study collaborated with the online game company, Cayenne Entertainment Corporation, to place both novel brand and famous brand’s advertisements in their online game, “the Baseball Online.” The survey method was conducted to investigate the players’ recall and brands’ preferences. The survey recruited 7303 players to submit the questionnaires and 6443 samples were valid. The survey found that the novel brand’s advertisement was attracted more attention than the famous brand’s advertisement during the around game environment, but in the recall test, the famous brand’s advertisement was better than the novel brand’s. While during the in-game environment, the famous brand’s advertisement performed better both in players’ recall and visual attention, the authors inferred that players unconsciously gazed on the familiar message. On the other hand, the players were unable to pay attention on the novel brand message while they were immersing in the game scenario. In addition, the authors also found that both in around game environment and in-game environment, the experienced and high frequency players tended to ignore the advertisements. The authors concluded that those players are too familiar with the game environment or focusing on the game, therefore did not pay too much attention on the advertisements.