Title: Exploring advergaming and its online advertising implications

Authors: Alan D. Smith

Addresses: Department of Management and Marketing, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, USA

Abstract: Traditional methods of Internet advertising, such as banners and pop-ups, have lost their support by marketers in recent years. Good businesses recognise the value of ongoing customer relationship management and the potential profits that come from cultivating and strengthening that relationship over time. The end of the Information Technology (IT) boom has brought managers| attention back to the essence of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). When IT companies were no longer able to sustain their billion dollar businesses, they began focusing their attention to the importance of retaining loyal customers. Advergaming is potentially a dramatic way, because advertising online is cheaper than companies can through more traditional media and more effectively than using banners and pop-ups. Advergames may be able to take advantage of the recent trend of online gaming by targeting many different and specific demographic groups of consumers. Many companies that utilise advergaming have seen a great response from consumers. The Diffusion of Innovations Theory may assist in explaining the basic evolution as some companies are adopting the usage of advergaming in their marketing strategies.

Keywords: adoption; advergaming; online advertising; banners; brand awareness click-through; customer relationship management; CRM; diffusion of innovations theory; information technology; pop-ups; marketing strategy; internet advertising.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2007.011981

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2007 Vol.2 No.3, pp.298 - 311

Published online: 07 Jan 2007 *

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