Advertising Effects through Violent Virtual Experience - Presence, Arousal, Brand Memory and Attitude in 3D Violent Games

With the increase of computer game users, violent games have attracted attention because of their potential for effects on user behaviors. However, as most violent game studies have focused mainly on aggression, there are relatively few studies about the advertising effects in violent games. Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), this study investigated whether sensory realism cues (blood and screams of pain) and users’ trait aggression affect brand memory and attitude through the users’ physiological arousal (measured via skin conductance) and the sense of presence. A popular 3D first-person shooter game, Half-Life 2, was used for the experiment, and path analyses were used to test mediation models. Results show spatial presence strongly predicts brand memory while it reduces positive brand attitude in the violent game, and physiological arousal increases brand attitude although it does not influence brand memory. The effects of sensory realism cues and trait aggression on arousal and presence were tested, and congruity and familiarity effects were examined as well. Findings and implications are discussed.