You bought Kinect to be like them, didn't you?.
Kinect has been a hit. Wee gamers know about it; the old woman down the block does, too; even my girlfriend, who is not a gamer, is familiar with Kinect. We've been bombarded with commercials featuring hired actors dancing to the jive tunes of Dance Central and pausing and playing video by voice command. This has translated into over 8 million Kinect devices sold since its launch.
So, obviously, Microsoft's 500 million dollar marketing push was a success. But was all that advertising the reason for Kinect's success? Well, maybe, maybe not. Let's break it down.
For starters, researchers haven't produced a clear answer on whether exposure to advertising causes viewers to purchase a product. In fact, results are very mixed.
For instance, research by Kwak, Andras & Zinkhan (2009) suggested that when consumers experience passive exposure to TV, their earlier attitudes did not change in both the South Korean and American samples studied. However, active exposure to television and to television ads (in South Korea only) showed a more positive relationship between advertisements and its product.
Did this trailer make you want to "Finish the Fight?"
Here's another one: All-Share & Al Salaimeh (2010) found that demand for canned food increased as consumer viewed more advertisements about the product. They also noted that consumers altered their beliefs about canned food after viewing related advertisements.
Others have found no effect at all.
So, what do you think? Is advertising an effective way to get consumers to buy a product? How much of a game's success or failure is due to advertising? Has an advertisement ever influenced your gaming purchase?
