How placement affects brand preferences in advergames: A test of inhibition and facilitation processes during search

In advergames, marketers can place brands at multiple different locations. For example, brands can be placed as the main target that consumers search for, on a target, near a target, or separated from the target. So far, knowledge about the effects of such brand placement strategies is limited and current theoretical models do not sufficiently incorporate the attentional processes unique to search tasks. The objective of the present research is to take into account such search-specific attentional processes and to systematically test different brand placement strategies in an advergame. We argue that brand placement on a target or close to it induces inhibitory processes and impedes positive effects on brand preferences. In three experiments, we find consistently positive effects on brand preferences when a brand is placed as the main target of a search task in an advergame. In line with our assumption, we do not observe such effects when the brands are placed on the target or near a target. Our results advance current advertising theories and suggest that presenting a brand close to the focus of attention during search can have undesired consequences.