An Opportunity for In- Game Ad Placement: The History of the Video Game Industry Interpreted Through the Meaning Lifecycle

In-game ad placement, defined as the process of placing advertisements in video games, is a rapidly growing industry with $295 million spent in 2007, $403 million spent in 2008, and $443 million spent in 2009 (Verna, 2008; Verna, 2009). However, video game sales for 2008 were $22 billion, with $11.7 billion of that being in entertainment software sales, $8.9 billion in hardware console sales, over $2 billion in portable software sales, and $700 million in PC game sales (Hewitt, 2009). So there is still plenty of room for advertising growth. In the academic realm, in-game ad placement has been subjected to an increasing amount of research over the last decade (Nelson, 2002; Chaney, Lin, & Chaney, 2004; Grigorovici & Constantin, 2004; Nicovich, 2005; Yang, Roskos-Ewoldsen, Dinu, & Arpan, 2006; Lee & Farber, 2007; Wise, Bolls, Kim, & Venkataraman, 2008). It is argued here that the potential connections advertisers can build with consumers makes this new medium a strong force in the digital media world. The power of gaming rests in its high entertainment value, which is engaged in repeatedly by an active consumer. As outlined, each new wave of video game consoles AbstrAct