Beth A. Cianfrone

Virtual advertising and brand awareness

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of virtual advertising on consumer memory of brand sponsorship. More specifically, we sought to compare the capacity of consumers to identify brand sponsors virtually inserted within a televised sporting event to their ability to remember conventional television commercial sponsors. A 40-minute segment of a televised broadcast of a Southeastern Conference (SEC) football game, complete with television commercials and virtual advertisements, was the means of study used to assess the effectiveness of the different forms of advertising in terms of brand sponsorship identification. The findings suggest differences between spectator identification of virtual ads and television commercials on consumer memory. Management and marketing implications are discussed. This exploratory study serves as a foundation for further research on the effectiveness of virtual advertising and additional research streams are proposed.

Dimensions of motivation associated with playing sport video games : Modification and extension of the Sport Video Game Motivation Scale

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to modify and extend the Sport Video Game Motivation Scale (SVGMS).Design/methodology/approach – The original scale included seven factors (Competition, Diversion, Enjoyment, Fantasy, Interest with Sport, Social Interaction, and Sport Knowledge Application) with a total of 20 items. Initial modification and revision were conducted through a review of literature, adoption of pertinent theories, and a test of content validity by a panel of experts and a sample of sport video game (SVG) players. The scale was modified with additional items and three additional motivation factors, resulting in ten factors with 34 items. The revised SVGMS was administered to gamers (n=232) who played two popular SVGs.Findings – In total, eight factors were determined in a confirmatory factor analysis (Competition, Diversion, Enjoyment, Fantasy, Social Interaction, Sport Interest, Sport Knowledge Application, and Team Identification).Originality/value – Overall, the modified SVGMS showed g...