Children's advertising literacy for new advertising formats: the mediating impact of advertising literacy on the (un)intended effects of advergames and advertising funded programs

Abstract:The current study investigates how advergames and Advertising Funded Programs (AFP) differentially affect children (7-to-9-years). Advergames interactively engage the viewer with the content, whereas an AFP does not, which may lead to lower levels of advertising literacy for advergames. A 2 (Format: AFP versus Advergame) by 2 (Training session: Yes versus No) between-subjects experimental study shows that children have a higher level of affective but not of cognitive advertising literacy for AFPs than for advergames, which leads to a lower impact on pester power and materialism. A training session improves children’s cognitive and affective advertising literacy for both formats.

Publication year:2014

Accessibility:Open