HISPANIC ATTITUDES TOWARD ADVERGAMES: A PROPOSED MODEL OF THEIR ANTECEDENTS

Monica D. Hernandez, Sindy Chapa, Michael S. Minor, Cecilia Maldonado, and Fernando Barranzuela
Abstract: Advergames are gaining recognition around the world as a new, captivating, and persuasive environment among advertisers. Despite its growing popularity, very little is known about the formation of attitudes toward advergames in emerging economies. The objectives of our study were the refinement and empirical testing of a model of the reactions generated by exposure to advergames among Mexicans, Peruvians, and Americans. A series of experiments revealed that Hispanics exhibited positive attitudes toward advergames. Intrusiveness was found as the factor accounting for most of the negative attitude toward advergames. Lack of congruence was found to be a precursor of intrusiveness. Interestingly, although ads in games were perceived as more intrusive, they were perceived as less irritating. Implications for advertisers are discussed.

Advergaming is the delivery of advertising messages through electronic games. This technique aims to build brand awareness, to offer product information, and to provide a means to compare similar products. Advergaming's ultimate objective is to develop lasting exchange relationships with customers (Hernandez and Minor 2003). Advergaming or product placement in electronic games is gaining recognition among advertisers, attributable to the increasing popularity of this medium, and the unique capability to maintain players' full attention during the time the game is being played. Because of their many advantages, advergames are acquiring increasing attention among companies as a new and captivating advertising medium. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of an advergame. Figure 1: Example of advergame screenshot

Attitude toward the ad represents either favorable or unfavorable consumer feelings toward the ad itself, representing an affective mediator variable to brand attitude and purchase intention (Lutz, MacKenzie, and Belch 1983; MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch 1986). Several models of ad attitude have been proposed and tested to explain the relationship between ad attitude and brand attitude in traditional advertising contexts (Brown and Stayman 1992). Chen and Wells (1999) extended the concept of attitude toward the ad to websites, defining attitude toward the website as the online surfers' predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to web content in natural exposure situations. By extension, we suggest that attitude toward the advergame could represent an affective construct assessing favorable or unfavorable consumer predisposition toward the advergame itself resulting from active user-game interaction. Product placement refers to the practice of including a brand name product, package, signage, or other trademark merchandise within a communication medium. Product placement effectiveness through memory recall measures has been recently studied in American television (Russell 2002) as well as in American movies (Brennan, Dubas, and Babin 1999). Later, Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Krauter (2000) analyzed product placement in movies in a cross-cultural study. Recent scholarly studies have addressed the effectiveness of product and brand placements in electronic games via assessment of brand recall and attitudes toward brand placements. Nelson (2002) addressed short- and longterm brand recall and attitudes toward brand placements in commercial games among a small group of American players. Hernandez et al. (2004) assessed brand recall in online settings
JournalofInteractiveAdvertising,Vol5No1(Fall2004),pp.7483. 2010AmericanAcademyofAdvertising,Allrightsreserved ISSN15252019

Game Mini MiniGolf (game B) http://www.nabiscoworld.com/games/nw_shock_nwmm.htm

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across a group of four countries, finding differences in recall due to processing language. Very little is known about the elements involved in the formation of players' attitudes toward product placement and advertising messages in electronic games globally. A model has been proposed listing antecedents to the formation of attitudes toward advergames. The proposed model by Youn and Lee (2003) integrated escapism, competition, boredom relief, and fun as antecedents toward positive attitudes, whereas curiosity was identified as a negative antecedent. Identified consequences of attitudes included attitude toward the site, relationship building, and purchase intentions. Pop-up ads constitute another framework in which consumers experience forced exposure to ads on the Internet. Edwards, Li, and Lee (2002) proposed a model testing psychological reactance toward pop-up windows. Identified consequences of perceived intrusiveness included irritation and ad avoidance. Identified antecedents to intrusiveness were cognitive intensity and congruence of the advertising content with the current task. Interestingly, the duration of 10 and 20 second ads was found to be not related to perceptions of intrusiveness. An important difference between pop-up ads and advergames is the time exposure. Typically, the time exposure to pop-up ads is a few seconds, whereas in 1999, the average electronic player spent approximately 6 hours a week using a video game console, and 10 hours a week using the Internet (Nielsen Media Research 2002). Therefore, testing of time exposure in a considerably different online medium is crucial in order to achieve generalization to other web site viewing behaviors. We extend previous work in several respects. First, by the inclusion of an attitude toward the advergame variable, our study emphasizes the possible mediating role attitudes might play in influencing brand attitude and purchase intention. Second, we adapt and refine a model previously tested in popup windows to be tested in the online game context, a highly interactive and entertaining medium. Finally, we test our model in a diverse geographic area, specifically in Latin American countries and a Hispanic American region. In sum, the purpose of our paper is to explore Hispanic online players' formation of attitudes toward advergames while advertising is constantly displayed. This purpose is accomplished by pursuing two objectives. The first objective is to extend and adapt a model of the characteristics of advergaming, which could be suggested as antecedents of negative attitudes toward advergames. The second objective is to empirically test the proposed model within the advergaming setting in the Latin American geographic context. The paper is organized as follows: First, we develop a series of hypotheses. The experimental stimuli, rationale for countries' selection for the study, pilot study, sampling procedure, instrument, and procedure of the data analysis are described in the subsequent section. We follow with the hypothesis testing results. Finally, managerial implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed. HYPOTHESES Figure 2 summarizes the structural equation model presenting the proposed relationships of the antecedents of the attitudes toward advergames, our construct of interest. The proposed antecedents include lack of congruence, extended exposure, lack of entertainment, intrusiveness, and irritation. Figure 2: Conceptual Model and Expected Valence

An irritating commercial is defined as provoking, causing displeasure, and momentary impatience (Aaker and Bruzzone 1985). Irritation in the advertising setting has been studied in television commercials (De Pelsmacker and Van den Bergh 1998; Fennis and Bakker 2001; Fritz 1979), and in pop-up ads (Edwards, Li, and Lee 2002). Some discrepancies are found in the literature regarding the effect of irritation in advertising effectiveness. For instance, Fritz (1979) found that irritating advertising is better remembered than non-irritating advertising, while Aaker and Bruzzone (1985) claimed later that high irritation levels are related to a decrease in advertising effectiveness. The foundation of the study of irritation is its effect on the effectiveness of the ad and therefore the effect on attitudes. Indeed, Greyser (1973) claims that the effectiveness of an ad is tied to the attitudes toward the ad. Additionally, there is an apparent consensus in the literature that irritation is an antecedent to the formation of attitudes (Aaker and Bruzzone 1985; Wang et al. 2002). Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited:

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H1: Feelings of irritation will be positively related to negative attitudes toward the advergame. Intrusiveness is defined as the interruption of the goals of consumers in traditional media (Li, Edwards, and Lee 2002). The literature confirms than when advertising interrupts the goals of consumers, consumerscould react either by passively ignoring the ad, or avoiding it. Li, Edwards, and Lee (2002) concluded that intrusiveness is a precursor to feelings of irritation, and Edwards, Li, and Lee (2002) added that intrusiveness might lead to avoidance behaviors. Ha (1996) found that intrusiveness has a negative effect on attitudes toward the ad. Therefore, the following hypotheses are posited: H2: The perception of intrusiveness will be positively related to feelings of irritation. H3: The perception of intrusiveness will be positively related to negative attitudes toward the advergame. Incongruent or absurd ads refer to those atypical ads falling outside expectations or current cognitive activities. In particular, absurd ads are defined as "incongruously juxtaposing pictorial images, words and/or sounds perceived as bizarre, irrational, illogical and disordered" (AriasBolzmann, Chakraborty, and Mowen 2000, p. 37). Conversely, editorially congruent ads might generate a perception of the ads as informative and less intrusive (Edwards, Li, and Lee 2002). Some divergences are found in the literature regarding the effect of congruency on advertising effectiveness. AriasBolzmann, Chakraborty, and Mowen (2000) found that incongruence in most instances had a positive influence on advertising effectiveness as measured by attitude toward the ad. In contrast, Edwards, Li, and Lee (2002) claimed that incongruent online ads generate additional mental processing demands, identifying incongruence as a precursor of intrusiveness. Mixed results were found by Luna and Peracchio (2002) conducting a study with Spanish/English speakers. Findings revealed that evaluation of web sites containing information presented in a second language was enhanced by congruent graphics with the verbal content, whereas evaluation of web sites containing information presented in the first language was favored when low congruity existed. In particular, in the electronic game context, ad placements that match real life advertising enhance the playing experience (Nelson 2002). Similarly, electronic game players enjoy product placement displays when they make sense in the game context (Hernandez et al. 2004). Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited: H4: Product placement that is congruent with the gameplay will be perceived as less intrusive than will product placement that is not congruent with the advergame. Product placements in electronic games have a long exposure time. Previous studies have examined the effect of exposure time in other settings, finding that the duration of the placement might affect the perception of intrusiveness. Brennan, Dubas, and Babin (1999) examined the effect of short exposure time on product placement recognition in the films setting, finding that such an effect is greater when the product is part of the story. Miller (1976) showed that moderate exposure to a printed ad could be sufficient to familiarize the target segment. Miller (1976) also claimed that overexposure of the ad might diminish the positive attitudinal effects. Lastly, Edwards, Li, and Lee (2002) hypothesized that the longer the interruption in online settings, the greater the psychological discomfort and therefore, the greater the possibility that the ad would be perceived as intrusive. Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited: H5: Extended product placement exposures in advergames will be perceived as more intrusive than will shorter exposures. The advergaming context is appreciated and extensively used. According to YaYa (2003), online players spend on average 13 hours a week playing games. Liked contexts have a positive influence on attitudes toward the ad (Moorman, Neijens, and Smit 2002). In particular, players have exhibited positive attitudes toward product placement in electronic games (Hernandez et al. 2004; Nelson 2002). According to Wang et al. (2002), entertainment is a factor contributing to attitude towards advertising. Specifically, entertainment is one of three factors accounting for most of the variation in attitudes toward online sites (Chen, Clifford, and Wells 2002; Chen and Wells 1999). In addition, entertainment in online settings was not found as interrupting the cognitive goals of the user (Edwards, Li, and Lee 2002). Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited: H6: More entertaining advergames will be perceived as less irritating than less entertaining advergames. METHOD Experimental Stimuli Since the sports games genre simulates real life sports, it is expected that sports' characteristics extend to the electronic

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game setting. Hence, sports games with different characteristics and pace were selected for the study. Racing players compete against each other to reach a goal, usually under a time constraint. In comparison, golf is a solitary and slow-paced game where players battle par, rather than a human opponent directly. These different characteristics appeal to different segments of players. Thus, two online games exhibiting these characteristics were selected for our study. The games selected were Arctic 3D Racer (http://www.nabiscoworld.com/games/nw_shock_nwar.htm) and Mini MiniGolf (http://www.nabiscoworld.com/ games/nw_shock_nwmm.htm) from nabiscoworld.com. The game Arctic 3D Racer (game A) is a snowmobile racing game exhibiting three brand products and one corporate brand. The brand products are Chips Ahoy! Cremewiches, Xtreme Jello, and LifeSavers Kickers. The corporate brand is Nabisco. The brands are visible on the skymobile, helmet, driver jacket, dashboard, obstacles, signs, signal flags, and on the walls along the road. Additionally, the products are displayed along the snow road as part of the game play. Background music and sound effects (driving, crashing, shooting) are heard during the gameplay. The game Mini MiniGolf (game B) promotes six brand products and one corporate brand. The brand products are Ritz Bits sandwiches, Mini Chips Ahoy!, Nutter Butter Bites, Mini Oreo, Cheese Nips and Teddy Grahams. The packages of the product exhibiting the brand names are shown as part of the obstacles of the game. Each brand is shown one by one in the different holes. The brands are always visible in the frame of the play window. Sound effects are heard when the ball hits the obstacles. Country Sampling Rationale Spanish speakers constitute a very large and rapidly growing segment of users. Spanish occupies the fourth position among the most spoken languages in the world, with an estimate of 358 million speakers (World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003). By 1999, over 72% of the 31 million Hispanics in the United States spoke Spanish. The projected annual growth rate is 35%, leading to an estimated 41 million Hispanics by 2010 (Levey 1999). In addition to the expected increase in the Hispanic population in the United States, the merging of economic groups, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the South American Free Trade Area (SAFTA) with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by 2010, will also increase the necessity to address this population in Spanish (Martin 2003). Latin America has the fastest growing Internet user population in the world (eMarketer 2003). The number of Mexican Internet users has exceeded 3.6 million, ranking second in the number of users among Latin American countries (Brazil occupies first place with more than 14.3 million Internet users), and possessing the largest number of Internet users speaking Spanish in Latin America. By 2002, Peru's Internet users had surpassed 2 million. Peru exhibits a parallel growth rate in number of users compared to Argentina and Chile, all of which exceed Colombia and Venezuela's number of users (Instituto Nacional de Estadstica, Geografa e Informtica 2003). These statistics set the stage for fast growth of the online gaming audience in these countries. At the same time, there is very little information about the Latin American online gaming audience. By the inclusion of Latin American countries, in particular Mexico and Peru, the present study provides valuable information about these emerging markets. Pilot Study Data was collected during Summer 2003 in a large Southwestern university. The participants were provided with instructions in English for the games. To avoid demand artifacts, they were told this was an electronic games study. The participants were instructed to play two games for 10 minutes each. Following the game play, participants completed the questionnaires in English independently. The original questionnaire included 24 items addressing extended exposure, congruence, entertainment, intrusiveness, and irritation. One hundred seven subjects voluntarily participated in the pilot study. All participants were Hispanic undergraduate students, ranging from 16 to 50 years old. Fifty percent were male. Ninety-three percent of the subjects have a computer at home, and fifty-nine own an electronic game console (e.g. PS2 or Xbox). Cronbach alphas confirmed internal consistency of the measures, except for "extended exposure". Thus, two "extended exposure" items were dropped from the study. The overall reliability was .85. In addition, all individual scales were above .75, exceeding the minimum standards recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988). The structural equation modeling technique was used separately for each game played in order to assess confirmatory validity for the multi-item scales constructs. The chi-squared values were not significant at the .10 level, indicating a difference between the predicted and the actual

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matrices and demonstrating acceptable fits. The fit indicators, in both games, indicated good fit for all the constructs at the recommended level of .90 (Hair et al. 1998; Kline 1998), such as the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) [congruence = .99 and .98; entertainment = .98 and .96; intrusiveness = .97 and .85; irritation = .99 and .98] and adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) [congruence = .94 and .86; entertainment = .91 and .94; intrusiveness = .93 and .88; irritation = .99 and .94]. In addition, the root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) and the root mean residual (RMR) were at a marginally acceptable level, under .10 and .08 (Hair et al. 1998). The nested model was tested in both games. Both models excluded the "extended exposure" variable (due to the lack of internal consistency for this measure), which rather than reflecting an improvement in the fit of the model, represented a reduction in the fit indexes (GFI, AGFI, TLI) and an increase in the squared errors (RMSEA and RMR). The results indicated that the Arctic 3D Racer model fit improved significantly: chi-squared= 302.57, chi-squared/df = 1.66, GFI = .80, RMSEA = .07, and TLI = .86. The consistent results obtained in testing the Mini MiniGolf model confirmed that the model achieved a good level of fit: chi-squared= 292.36, chi-squared/df = 1.54, GFI = .81, RMSEA = .07, and TLI = .89 To test the hypotheses, we examined the regression weights obtained in both models. As predicted, except for H5, all the hypotheses were supported. Both "irritation" (.32 and .15) [H1] and "intrusiveness" (.40 and .53) [H3] were found to be important indicators of a negative attitude toward advergames. "Intrusiveness" was found positively related to "irritation" (.82 and .35) [H2]. "Congruence" was negatively related to "intrusiveness" (-.85 and -.92) [H4]. "Entertainment" was negatively related to "irritation" (-.12 and - .07) [H6]. Overall, the pilot study provided evidence supporting a robust model of antecedents to negative attitudes toward advergames, including incongruence, lack of entertainment, intrusiveness, and irritation. The pilot study revealed three major findings. First, extended exposure to the brand was not found to be a factor leading to intrusiveness. According to the conceptual model, it was expected that extended and forced exposure could result in perceptions of intrusiveness. The empirical support provided by the model indicated that players exposed to product placement during the time that the game was being played perceived ads as another element of the gameplay, and thus perceptions of intrusiveness did not occur. Second, congruence of the brand display is a major determinant in the perception of intrusiveness. Incongruent or absurd ads within the gameplay might lead to feelings of intrusiveness. Therefore, perceived intrusiveness might be lessened for ads matching the playing environment. Finally, fantasy advergames (those creative and fictitious games featuring unrealistic settings) such as the Mini MiniGolf game are welcomed by players. Nelson (2002) found that players considered important how well the context of the game matched reality. Since ads exist in real life sports, racing, and wrestling/fighting settings, ads in these types of games were found to enhance the gameplay experience. The pilot study demonstrated that, although fantasy ads were perceived as more intrusive than a simulation of real life ads, they were perceived as less irritating. MAIN STUDY MEASURES The instrument was translated into Spanish and backtranslated to achieve construct equivalence across nations. Because of their low reliability in the pilot study, two items addressing extended exposure were dropped from the study. Five items addressing attitudes toward the advergame were added. The final questionnaire included 27 items addressing extended exposure, congruence, entertainment, intrusiveness, irritation, and attitudes toward the advergame. The items were answered using seven-point likert-type scales with response categories from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Seven additional items addressed demographics. Five items were adapted from Ducoffe (1996) to measure irritation. The five items measuring irritation were: annoying, obtrusive, irritating, deceptive, and confusing. Intrusiveness was measured through a scale developed by Li, Edwards, and Lee (2002), consisting of seven items: distracting, disturbing, forced, interfering, intrusive, invasive, and obtrusive. The entertainment dimension was measured using a modification of a scale proposed by Ducoffe (1996), which consisted of six items: attractive, entertaining, enjoyable, fun to watch, pleasing, and exciting. Congruence was measured using four items: the brand placement goes well together with the gameplay, the brand placement didn't make sense with the game, the brand placement was misplaced, and the brand placement was another element of the game context. One item addressed the extended exposure of the ad display. Specifically, the players' perception of how long the ad lasted was addressed.

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Data Collection Procedure Data was collected during Fall 2003. Lab experiments were conducted in university computer labs in Mexico, Peru, and the United States. Subjects participated on computers assigned individually. To avoid demand artifacts, the participants were told this was an electronic games study. They were provided with instructions in Spanish for the games. The participants were instructed to play two games for 10 minutes. Following the game play, participants completed the questionnaires independently. The instruments were presented in Spanish in all countries. Completing the full survey took participants about 5 minutes. Samples Convenience samples representing both sexes and various age categories were used for the study. Three hundred fifteen subjects from three countries voluntarily participated in the study. The same procedure was used in the recruitment of subjects across countries. All subjects were recruited from selected universities in each country. United States. The American participants were ninety-eight subjects from a large Southwestern university in Edinburg, Texas, and ranged in age from 17 to 44 years old. Forty-three percent were male, and ninety-one percent were students. Eighty-five percent of the subjects have a computer at home. Fifty-four percent of the subjects own a video game console. Mexico. One hundred twenty-six subjects from a community college at Reynosa, Mexico and ranging from 17 to 47 years old took part in the study. Sixty-five percent were male, and ninety-three percent were students. Thirty-three percent have a computer at home, and twenty-three percent own a video game console. Peru. Ninety-one subjects from a university at Piura, Peru and ranging from 19 to 27 years old participated in the study. Fifty-five percent were male. Ninety-eight percent were students. Seventy-one percent of the subjects have a computer at home. Ninety percent of the subjects own a video game console. Data analysis Confirmatory factor analysis performed through the structural equation modeling technique was used separately for each of the five constructs in an attempt to assess the reliability and validity of the multi-item scales. The chi-squared values were not significant at the .10 level (Tables 1 and 2), indicating a difference between the predicted and the actual matrices and Table 2: Model II Constructs Measurements Game Mini MiniGolf demonstrating acceptable fits. Similarly, the fit indicators, such as the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) indicated good fit for all the constructs in both games. In addition, the root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) and the root mean residual (RMR) were at a marginally acceptable level (Hair et al. 1998). Table 1: Model I Constructs Measurements Game Arctic 3D Racer

Cronbach alphas confirmed internal consistency. All the individual scales exceeded the minimum standards recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988): xcongruencex = .78, xentertainmentx = .92, xirritabilityx = .84, xintrusivenessx = .88 and xnegative attitude toward advergamex = .75. The overall reliability was .84 RESULTS In an attempt to explore the conceptual model in Latin America, one first-order factor, two second-order factors and three third-order factors were tested. First the model was tested with the Artic 3D Racer game (A). This model included the "extended exposure" variable, which in this case, reported good fit statistics. Although the RMR and the TLI were not satisfactory, the results indicated that the model fit significantly: chi-squared = 642, chi-squared/df = 2.07, GFI = .85, AGFI = .82, RMSEA = .05, and TLI = .86. Additionally, in order to explore the conceptual model in a different framework, we tested the model with the Mini MiniGolf game (B). The results confirmed that the model achieved a good level of fit: chi-squared = 140, chi-squared /df =3.36, GFI = .81, AGFI = .77, and RMSEA = .08.

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Figure 3: Nested Model I Game Arctic 3D Racer the literature, "intrusiveness" was found to be negatively related to "irritation" (-.10 and -.07 respectively). Overall, except for "intrusiveness" that was found to be highly positively related to "negative attitude toward advergames" (.41 and .98 respectively), the variables in the model do not show a consistent and significant effect on negative attitude toward advergames experienced among Hispanic students. Therefore, in an attempt to understand the contradictory results, we examined the means across variables. Table 3 contains the analysis of means. The results indicate that the highest means in game A and B are in the "entertainment" variable and the lowest means are found in the "negative attitude toward advergames." This indicates that the Hispanic students did not exhibit negative attitudes toward advergames, and they found the games to be entertaining. The analysis might explain the very low correlations in the models. Table 3: Analysis of Means

Figure 4: Nested Model II Game Mini MiniGolf

To test the hypotheses, we examined the regression weights obtained in both models (game Arctic 3D Racer and game Mini MiniGolf). Contrary to our expectations, only hypotheses 3 and 4 were supported. Opposite to the results of the pilot test, "congruency" [H4] was negatively related to "intrusiveness" (-.03 and. -.27). And, as expected in H3, "intrusiveness" was found to be positively related to the "negative attitude toward advergames" (.41 and .98). Hypotheses 1, 5, and 6 were only partially supported. Extended exposure [H5] was positively related to "intrusiveness" in game B (.02) but it was negatively related to "intrusiveness" in game A (.-11). Also, while the standardized weights were significant, the numbers were very low meaning that they might not be practical. Likewise, "entertainment" [H6] was negatively related to "irritation" in game A, but it was positively related to "irritation" in game B (-.04 and .08 respectively). Again, the numbers were not substantial. In the case of H1, "irritation" was positively related to "negative attitude toward advergames" in game A (.07), but it was negatively related to "negative attitude toward advergames" in game B (-.27). Finally, hypothesis 2 was rejected. Contrary to

CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE WORK As more companies adopt the trend of promoting their products through placement in electronic games, the identification and understanding of players' attitudes acquires critical importance in order to suitably position advertisements for products and services. Our study provided evidence supporting a model of antecedents to negative attitudes toward advergames, such as intrusiveness and incongruence. Our model suggests several implications for marketers and advertisers in the electronic game environment. Intrusiveness was found to be the factor accounting for most of the negative attitude toward advergames. Our findings also revealed that perceptions of intrusiveness do not lead to irritation. Our study demonstrated that, although fantasy ads (such as those in the Mini MiniGolf game) were perceived as more intrusive than a simulation of real life ads, they were perceived as less irritating. We could conclude that irritation is not always an antecedent of negative attitudes toward advergames. This

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finding supports the Edwards, Li, and Lee (2002) claim that not all forced advertising may be unwelcome. Consistent with previous findings, lack of congruence was found to be a precursor of intrusiveness. Nelson (2002) found that players considered how well the context of the game matched reality as important. Since ads exist in real life sports, racing, and wrestling/fighting settings, ads in this type of game were found to enhance the gameplay experience. The exposure time effect should be examined closely in the advergaming setting. Results from the pilot study and only partial support for the hypotheses may indicate that extended exposure is not a factor leading to intrusiveness. Previous studies of the effect of exposure time in other setting, such as in films, examined the effect of product placement exposure for only few seconds (Brennan, Dubas, and Babin 1999). In our experiment, the subjects were exposed to advertising during the entire playing time, for a total of 20 minutes. A study examining the effect at different intervals could provide explanation for why extended exposure was not a factor leading to intrusiveness among American players. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that lack of entertainment is a precursor of irritation. This might indicate that some game genres are found to be more entertaining than others. The characteristics of games that lead to higher entertainment, such as creativity, ease of use, or image and sound quality, remain to be investigated. Overall, Hispanics exhibited a positive attitude toward advergames. Although our sample failed to provide strong support for our model indicated by the low regression weights obtained, our examination of the means across variables revealed that negative attitudes toward the advergames did not occur. In particular, fantasy ads were welcomed by players. Advertisers might consider this medium as an alternative channel to target this population. The present study also contributes to the need for experimental research in international advertising. As Garret, Zou, and Taylor (2003) claim, less than 10 percent of published work on international advertising corresponds to conducting experiments internationally. In addition, by isolating specific variables, our model contributes to the generalization in countries where advertising might be conducted differently. An examination of the relationships between irritation and perceived value, and intrusiveness and perceived value, might be addressed in future work. Future research could determine whether the extent of irritation toward the ads could be lessened as long as the player perceives the electronic game as providing great value. Future work could also extend the model by exploring alternative consequences of negative attitudes toward advergames, such as avoidance or negative attitudes toward brands. The importance of such study of attitudes lies in the possible mediating role attitude toward advergames might play in influencing brand attitude and purchase intention. Additionally, other theoretically supported changes to the model that would lead to a better fit remain to be investigated. As a laboratory experiment, the study was susceptible to some limitations. First, the advergames were always presented to the subjects in the same order, leading to the possibility of order effects. Presentation in random order of the advergames might answer if such effects actually occur. Second, the games selected for the study promote global brands of an international corporation with considerable time in the market. Therefore, respondents might have formed attitudes based on past experiences rather than based on the exposure in the advergame. Future work could test local or hypothetical brands in the same context to ensure that the findings hold. Despite the limitations, this study contributes to the better understanding of the elements involved in the formation of players' attitudes toward product placement and advertising messages in electronic games globally. REFERENCES Aaker, David A. and Donald E. Bruzzone (1985), "Causes of Irritation in Advertising," Journal of Marketing, 49 (2), 47-57. Arias-Bolzmann, Leopoldo, Goutam Chakraborty, and John C. Mowen (2000), "Effects of Absurdity in Advertising: The Moderating Role of Product Category Attitude and the Mediating Role of Cognitive Responses," Journal of Advertising, 29 (1), 35-50. Bagozzi, Richard P. and Youjae Yi (1988), "On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16 (1), 74-94. Brennan, Ian, Khalid M. Dubas, and Laurie A. Babin (1999), "The Influence of Product-Placement Type & Exposure Time on Product-Placement Recognition," International Journal of Advertising, 18, 323-337. Brown, Steven P. and Douglas M. Stayman (1992), "Attitudes and Consequences of Attitude Toward the Ad: A Metaanalysis," Journal of Consumer Research, 19 (1), 34-51.

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Chen, Qimei, Sandra J. Clifford, and William D. Wells (2002), "Attitude Toward the Site II: New Information," Journal of Advertising Research, 42 (2), 33-45. Chen, Qimei and William D. Wells (1999), "Attitude Toward the Site," Journal of Advertising Research, 39 (5), 27-38. De Pelsmacker, P. and J. Van den Bergh (1998), "Advertising Content and Irritation: A Study of 226 TV Commercials," Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 10 (4), 5-28. Ducoffe, Robert H. (1996), "Advertising Value and Advertising on the Web," Journal of Advertising Research, 36 (5), 21-35. Edwards, Steven M., Hairong Li, and Joo-Hyun Lee (2002), "Forced Exposure and Psychological Reactance: Antecedents and Consequences of the Perceived Intrusiveness of Pop-Up Ads," Journal of Advertising, 31 (3), 83-95. eMarketer (2003), "Latin America Online: Demographics, Usage & E-Commerce," <http://www.emarketer.com/ products/report.php?latin_am>. Fennis, Bob M. and Arnold B. Bakker (2001), "'Stay Tuned-We Will Be Back Right After These Messages': Need to Evaluate Moderates the Transfer of Irritation in Advertising," Journal of Advertising, 30 (3), 15-25. Fritz, Nancy K. (1979), "Claim Recall and Irritation in Television Commercials: An Advertising Effectiveness Study," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1 (1), 1-13. Garret, K. Jason, Shaoming Zou, and Charles R. Taylor (2003), "International Advertising: A Review of the Empirical Research from 1990 to 2002," Paper presented at the 2003 American Marketing Association Summer Educators Conference (August). Gould, Stephen J., Pola B. Gupta, and Sonja Grabner-Krauter (2000), "Product Placements in Movies: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Austrian, French and American Consumers' Attitudes Toward This Emerging, International Promotional Medium," Journal of Advertising, 29 (4), 41-58. Greyser, Stephen A. (1973), "Irritation in Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research, 13 (1), 3-10. Ha, Louisa (1996), "Advertising Clutter in Consumer Magazines: Dimensions and Effects," Journal of Advertising Research, 36 (4), 76-84. Hair, Joseph F., Rolph E. Anderson, Ronald L. Tatham, and William C. Black (1998), Multivariate Data Analysis, Fifth edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Hernandez, Monica D. and Michael S. Minor (2003), "A Decision Tool for the Assessment of Advergaming Suitability," Paper presented at the 2003 American Marketing Association Summer Educators Conference (August). ---, ---, Jaebeom Suh, Sindy Chapa, and Jose A. Salas (2004), "Brand Recall in the Advergaming Environment: A CrossNational Comparison," in Advertising, Promotion and the New Media, Marla R. Stafford and Ronald J. Faber, eds., M.E. Sharpe, Inc. (in press). Instituto Nacional de Estadstica, Geografa e Informtica (2003), "Usuarios de Internet por Paises Seleccionados 19952002," <http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/ tematicos/mediano/pai.asp?t=tinf142&c=4870> Kline, Rex B. (1998), Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, New York: Guilford Press. Levey, Richard H. (1999), "Give Them Some Credit," American Demographics, 21 (5), 41-43. Li, Hairong, Steven M. Edwards, and Joo-Hyun Lee (2002), "Measuring the Intrusiveness of Advertisements: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Advertising, 31 (2), 37-47. Luna, David and Laura A. Peracchio (2002), "Bilinguals, Graphics, and the Web: A Language Processing Approach," Advances in Consumer Research, 29, 186-187. Lutz, Richard J., Scott B. MacKenzie, and George E. Belch (1983), "Attitude Toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: Determinants and Consequences," Advances in Consumer Research, 10, 532-539. MacKenzie, Scott B., Richard J. Lutz, and George E. Belch (1986), "The Role of Attitude Toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations," Journal of Marketing Research, 23 (2), 130-143. Martin, Sumitha (2003), "English is not Enough," New Straits Times-Management Times (February 23). Miller, Richard L. (1976), "Mere Exposure, Psychological Reactance and Attitude Change," Public Opinion Quarterly, 40 (2), 229-233. Moorman, Marjolein, Peter C. Neijens, and Edith G. Smit (2002), "The Effects of Magazine-Induced Psychological Responses and Thematic Congruence on Memory and Attitude Toward the Ad in a Real-Life Setting," Journal of Advertising, 31 (4), 27-40.

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Nelson, Michelle R. (2002), "Recall of Brand Placements in Computer/Video Games," Journal of Advertising Research, 42 (2), 80-92. Nielsen Media Research (2002), "1999 Nielsen Media Research Fourth Quarter Home Technology Report," <http://www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/1999/hometech. html>. Russell, Cristel A. (2002), "Investigating the Effectiveness of Product Placements in Television Shows: The Role of Modality and Plot Connection Congruence on Brand Memory and Attitude," Journal of Consumer Research, 29 (3), 306-318. Wang, Chingning, Ping Zhang, Risook Choi, and Michael DEredita (2002), "Understanding Consumers Attitudes Toward Advertising," Paper presented at the Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems. <http://melody.syr.edu/hci/amcis02_minitrack/RIP/Wang.pdf >. World Almanac & Book of Facts (2003), "Languages Spoken by the Most People," World Almanac Education Group Inc., 633. YaYa (2003), "Why /why/index_why.html>. Games," <http://www.yaya.com Michael S. Minor is professor of Marketing and International Business and director of the PhD program at The University of Texas-Pan American. He has published in the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, International Studies of Management and Organization and elsewhere, and is the coauthor of two consumer behavior texts and International Business: The Challenge of Global Competition. Email: msminor@hotmail.com Cecilia Maldonado is currently a doctoral student at The University of Texas-Pan American. She holds a BS from Monterrey Tech. Her work has appeared in numerous conference proceedings. Her research areas include virtual communities, web page design, consumer ethics, and expression of emotions in the Internet. Email: cmaldonadoz@panam.edu Fernando Barranzuela holds an MBA from Universidad de Piura, Peru. He is the Director of the Department of Advertising and Marketing at the Universidad de Piura and a marketing consultant. Email:fbarranz@udep.edu.pe

Youn, Seounmi and Mira Lee (2003), "Antecedents and Consequences of Attitude toward the Advergame in Commercial Web Sites." Paper presented at the 2003 Conference of the American Academy of Advertising (March). ABOUT THE AUTHORS Monica D. Hernandez is currently a doctoral candidate in International Business at The University of Texas-Pan American. She holds a BBA from Monterrey Tech. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, a book chapter in the book Advertising, Promotion and the New Media and various conference proceedings. Areas of research interest include Internet Advertising, International Marketing and Consumer Psychology. Email: mgarcia34@panam.edu Sindy Chapa is currently a doctoral candidate in Marketing at The University of Texas-Pan American. She is coauthor of a book chapter in Advertising, Promotion and the New Media, and her work has appeared in numerous conference proceedings. Areas of research interest include cross-national shopping behavior, effect of country of origin, children's consumption, group decision-making, gender issues, political Advertising, and memory and advertising. Email: control57@aol.com