The effectiveness of computer games in social campaigns : a case study

Purpose: The objective of this article is to present an experiment in which social campaign messages could embedded in different types of computer games and to propose a framework to assess effectiveness of such approach with the use of cognitive neuroscience techniques (for example electroencephalography and eye-tracking) and questionnaires.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is designed to gather data from two different sources, survey and cognitive neuroscience tools and to integrate obtained information.

Findings: The obtained results, focusing mostly on recall and interest of experiment’s participants allow to state that using computer games for the purpose of social campaigns is very promising. Moreover, evaluating the efficacy of the messages and the medium itself using two very distinct methods, considering both conscious and subconscious opinions of examined subjects offers an additional quality to this type of research.

Practical Implications: The proposed solution of testing the effectiveness of computer games in social campaigns can be used both by pracitioners that develop such campaigns and by scientists aiming to conduct advertising reserch.

Originality/Value: Taking into account data from two different sources allows to capture both conscious and subconscious opinions about the social advertsising in the game, which shows the comprehensive image of the advertising’s effectiveness.