Running Over Virtual Pedestrians Helps In-Game Ad Recall 144
neuroworld writes to point out a study which found a correlation between in-game violence and a player's ability to recall advertisements seen while playing. The test subjects were given two versions of a driving game, which included "unobtrusive" billboard ads, and their eye movements were recorded by a camera. One version had players hitting targets for points, and the other version had them running down pedestrians. "[The researchers] found ads displayed along with violent scenes to be more memorable to players than those shown with nonviolent content, even though players spent less time looking at them. The results are contrary to expectations stemming from research on television, where violence has been shown to decrease attention to advertisements."
I'm Sold (Score:5, Funny)
Careful (Score:5, Funny)
Quick, hide this research as fast as you can. Otherwise the next Bioshock will have you kill little sisters to various advertising jingles. I can just see the little girl in my hands, begging for mercy while in the background you hear, "J. E. L. L. O, Its Alive!" In Wait...that might actually work.
a close one (Score:5, Funny)
So, a real Death Race 2000 ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072856 [imdb.com] ) would have helped Burma Shave ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-Shave [wikipedia.org])
Obligatory (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I'm Sold (Score:3, Funny)
Have pedestrians shout ads (Score:3, Funny)
Now, what would be even more memorable is pedestrians shouting ad slogans as they die. "Aaahh, I should have drank Coca-Cola-a-a-a" or "Oh, no! My Nike shoes!" or "Whew! Missed me like a little Fiat, you loser!"
Murder! Rape! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If I ever see (Score:3, Funny)
Dwarf Fortress. ..hang on, am I only mentioning homebrew here?
Achron.
Blueberry Garden.
Wrong place to put the ads (Score:5, Funny)
What about putting the advertisements on the pedestrians' shirts? Then we might remember them better AND be able to run down walking advertisements with satisfyingly bloody results!
"In the Shirt Test, the test subjects did not fare quite so well in the game portion of the test, score-wise. What they seemed to prefer to do is hit pedestrians with advertisements on their shirts, back over them, and repeat the process until either the pedestrian was removed from the game or time ran out. However, the subjects DID remember the ads better, if not only in the sense of, as one subject put it, the satisfaction of hitting 'that stupid-looking tool with the Coca-Cola shirt on'. Further research is needed. Here's our grant application."
Re:I'm Sold (Score:5, Funny)
Now I'm Thirsty... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Make sure to read to the very end. (Score:2, Funny)
TV needs more audience participation (Score:3, Funny)
Perhaps we could have a show where people call in to violently electrocute one of an array of adorable animals. Behind each animal, obviously, we'd place an advertisement. Fluffy goes boom, return on investment goes up, PETA cries like a little girl as always, and suddenly the recession is over!
PS - I will be patenting this process. To any TV studio seeking to use this patented new revolutionary business model, I wish to mention that I accept checks and PayPal.
Thank you.