Entertainment matters! The relationship between challenge and persuasiveness of an advergame for children

We investigate the extent to which the challenge of playing an advergame impacts children's brand attitudes. Results show that brand attitudes are highest for those optimally challenged (i.e. ‘in the flow’) and lowest for those who are underchallenged. However, such effects are qualified by the children's persuasion knowledge (PK) of the advergame; identification of the commercial content has a significantly negative effect on brand attitudes. Further, significant two-way interactions of challenge and PK show that brand attitudes suffered the most for those who are underchallenged and recognized the commercial content. Implications for advergame effectiveness are discussed in detail in this article.