The Effect of Involvement on Ad Judgment in a Video Game Environment:
The Mediating Role of Presence
Stefan G. Nicovich
Lynchburg College
Abstract
In this study the relationship between involvement, presence, and ad judgment in a computer-mediated communications environment was investigated. A popular computer game was modified to incorporate advertisements within the actual game play. Results indicated that involvement affects ad judgment and that the degree of experienced presence within the environment mediated this relationship.
Introduction
The
impact of computers on our daily lives over the past few years has
increased dramatically. For many of us, interacting with a computer has
become a daily experience. From shopping to correspondence to
entertainment, the personal computer is fast becoming our first
resource of choice. Perhaps the most popular activity on the computer
is the video game. Indeed, in the United States, video games accounted
for over $9 billion in 2001. To put this into perspective, the movie
industry recorded revenues of $8.1 billion for the same year
(GameWatch.com 2002). Online entertainment is poised for explosive
growth within the next few years. It is projected that the worldwide
video game market will be worth $55.6 billion by 2008; exhibiting a 20%
growth rate. Most of this growth will be seen in Asia followed by
Europe and America (Ulmer 2004). As consumers are becoming more
involved with Computer-Mediated Communication ("CMC") events such as
video games, it becomes more important to investigate the computer as a
means of delivering advertising content. As such, it appears that the
use of video games as an advertising channel is quite likely to take
off in the next few years.
Common to
much of the study of computer-mediated communication is the idea that
the participant may become psychologically immersed in the CMC event,
that is, to become "present" in the experience. It is believed that it
is the computer's ability to deliver a sense of presence to the
consumer that makes it such a powerful tool for advertisers. The
purpose of this paper was to investigate how feeling "present" affects
one's judgments of ads encountered while in a CMC event. To do so, a
CMC experience was engineered, and participants were asked about their
reactions to the ads they saw.
Theoretical Review of Presence
The exploration of presence by academics in many disciplines has been divided along two major paths. One path explored the concept in terms of the necessary conditions to produce the phenomenon and the other has been concerned with describing the psychological phenomenon itself.
Environmental Understandings of Presence
There has been much discussion in the literature as to exactly what aspects of an environment will promote a sensation of presence. Akin et al. (1983) considered manipulation of remote events and the dexterity needed for such manipulation coupled with a means of feedback over a channel to a remote location as causes of presence. Steuer (1995) linked presence to the vividness of the displayed environment and the degree of presented interactivity within it. Zeltzer (1992), however views the degree of presented autonomy, interaction and presence as causes of telepresence (presence specifically experienced via a communications channel). Autonomy is the range of possible interactions (similar to Steuer's view of interactivity) and therefore, presence is a reflection of the match between human sensors (sight, hearing, touch) and machine sensory inputs (visual display, sound reproduction, tactile inputs). Zeltzer (1992) stated that presence is "a rough, lumped measure of the number and fidelity of available sensory input and output channels" (p. 128). As such Presence can be viewed as a consequence of our perceptions of the environment as provided by the sensory channels provided. Witmer and Singer (1998), however, perceive presence as requiring four distinct precursors: control, sensory, distraction, and realism factors. Control factors are when the consequences of the action performed are consistent and apparent. This is similar to Steuer's degree of interactivity and Zeltzer's degree of interaction. Sensory factors are the factors that will impact the physical receptors and are similar to Steuer's degree of vividness. Distraction factors are sensory signals from the natural world and not the mediated environment, whereas realism factors represent the continuity and connectedness of the experience. Similarly, Draper (1998) suggests that presence is a matter of attention and focus. He proposes that the ratio of attention resources applied to the mediated environment versus that of the natural world can be a measure of presence.
From the preceding review it is concluded that there are three major CMC environmental factors that engender a sense of presence. The first factor is the environmental fidelity of the simulation, or how well the environment is represented. Fidelity has been reported as the vividness (Steuer 1995), quality (Usoh et al. 2000), sensory factors (Witmer and Singer 1998), and sensory information (Sheridan 1996) of the displayed environment. As such these factors all contribute to the "realism" of the displayed environment. The second factor is the degree of interaction that the participant has with the simulated environment. This is the extent that one can modify and change the course of events in the CMC situation. This could be as simple as a choice board on a website or as complex as altering the plot in a role-playing computer game. Interaction factors have been reported in terms of the degree of represented interactivity (Steuer 1995), interaction (Usoh et al. 2000), control (Witmer and Singer 1998) and modifiability (Sheridan 1996). The final factor that contributes to a sense of presence is the consistency of the represented display. This is the degree to which all sensory input remains the same. The degree of interactivity doesn't change nor does the fidelity of representation change during the course of the event. Such changes would be a discontinuity and a reminder to the participant that the environment is not "real." This understanding of the consistency of the displayed environment has been reported in terms of distraction factors (Witmer and Singer 1998) and consistency across all displays (Usoh et al. 2000). As a result, one's degree of experienced psychological presence is engendered by a CMC environment that is consistent, interactive, and displayed with a high degree of fidelity.
Psychological Understandings of Presence
Presence, as a psychological construct, has generally been accepted as the sensation of "being" in an environment (Heeter 1992, 2000, 2003; Lessiter et al. 2001; Lombard and Ditton 1997; Schloerb 1995; Schlosser 2003). Perhaps the seminal work on presence as a psychological understanding of the environment comes from Lombard and Ditton (1997). Lombard and Ditton discuss presence as the perception of non-mediation. They argue that the degree to which a medium can produce an environment that is accurate in its representations leads to an experience that seems real. Heeter (1992, 2003), on the other hand, defines presence as the process of discerning and validating the existence of self as part of, but separate from, an artificial environment. Heeter's "environment presence," therefore, is where the environment appears to know that you are there and reacts to you. Lessiter et al. (2001) examine presence in terms of a sense of the physical space of a represented environment. It is the level of engagement (or involvement) with the events in the environment and the ecology of the representation. The degree of presented ecology is a representation of truthfulness or unity as expressed by the CMC environment.
Drawing from this review, a concept of presence is proposed as a sense of "being" in an environment that consists of two major environmental understandings: spatial ecology and engagement. Spatial ecology is the understanding that an environment is a holistic unified thing. There is no psychological reaction to elements that may not "fit." This could be so because of perceptual filters used by the participant that would keep them from consciously recognizing inconsistencies or it could be because the environment is seamlessly represented. Spatial ecology, therefore, is an acceptance of the environment and is most likely enhanced or promoted through a combination of good representation and an elimination of distracting factors that would otherwise serve to remind the participant that they are "in" an artificial place. Engagement is how we interact with the spatial representation that is before us, to what extent we can move around in, and manipulate elements of the environment. It is the psychological understanding of the way things interact with each other and with the participant. It is what seems natural in terms of movement and manipulation. As with the degree of spatial ecology, the degree of engagement should be consistent throughout the CMC event.
Theoretical relationships
Presence can best be understood as the psychological conception of being in a specific place. Presence in a mediated environment, therefore, is the projection of one's self into an environment that does not actually surround the participant (full immersion body suits and head mounted displays not withstanding). As such, it is envisioned as a form of vicarious understanding of the presented environment with a connection to the events portrayed. For example, when one plays a computer game one learns where things are and how to interact with the elements of the environment. Depending on the nature of how these events are portrayed one may be psychologically drawn into the world of these events. It is this "drawing in" phenomenon that makes presence an interesting tool for marketers. If one can engender a sense of presence during a CMC event then the communication being presented should have a greater impact on the participant. Since the nature of entertainment is predominately a positive experience, that is, one the participant has sought out for reasons of enjoyment, it is therefore posited that under the appropriate CMC conditions a sense of presence will engender stronger more positive evaluations of any encountered advertising. As such:
H1: The greater the degree of felt presence the stronger the evaluation of advertising experienced during the CMC event.
Presence has been explored as a combination of environmental characteristics and user characteristics. One such user characteristic could be the degree of involvement experienced during the CMC event. Involvement has been explored by many scholars with many conceptualizations. However, running through the literature is the acceptance of involvement as the degree of personal self-relevance an individual has with, in the case of marketing, a product or, perhaps, an advertisement. Presented here is a brief examination of involvement as it relates to persuasive communication, predominately advertising. For a thorough review of the role of involvement on advertising see Muehling, Laczniak, and Andrews (1993).
Krugman (1965) was the first to make a distinction between high and low involvement and present the idea that individuals may process information differently under each condition. In order to be involved with an event or object one must first attend to the phenomenon and then process the stimulus cognitively (Leavitt and Greenwald 1981; Mitchell 1981). The degree of attention and elaboration is indicative of one's level of involvement. Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann (1983) have postulated that involvement moderates the degree of learning and the effect a communications message has on recipients. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) states that central routes of persuasion will elicit more cognitions and therefore will have a greater impact. Park and Young (1986) corroborate this model and suggest that advertising should be designed in accordance with the anticipated level of involvement.
A high level of involvement should lead to a positive evaluation of the advertising being viewed. Under these conditions, the participant is paying greater attention and exhibiting a greater degree of interest. Celsi and Olson's (1988) findings support this supposition. They found that as the level of involvement increased, more elaborations and inferences were produced. Celsi and Olson further stated that involvement is derived from two main sources: intrinsic and situational. Intrinsic motivational sources (ISPR) are internal motivations and can only be tapped into by the advertisement. Situational sources of motivation (SSPR), however, can be manipulated by the communication and are perceived to activate self-relevant consequences, goals and values. For example, Rose, Miniard, and Bhatla (1990) found that incentives increased involvement levels and this led to higher levels of elaboration. Similarly Lee, Hu, and Toh (2000) reported that higher levels of involvement led to more positive attitudes formed toward both the advertisement and the brand being advertised.
In addition to studying the effect of an advertisement on the consumer, researchers have examined the impact the context surrounding the ad has on the consumer's perceptions of it. This stream of research, however, has reported mixed results. Several studies have reported that a high level of involvement with the surrounding context of an ad (in most cases the show the ad was imbedded in) had a negative effect. Soldow and Principe (1981) found that ads aired during a high involvement program were less effective. Park and McClung (1986) echoed this assessment in that a curvilinear relationship was found. Under conditions of low to medium involvement with the program, there was a high level of involvement with the advertisement. However, as the degree of involvement with the program increased, the degree of involvement with the ad decreased. On the other hand, Feltham and Arnold (1994) found that greater program involvement carried over to the ads. De Pelsmacker, Geuens, and Anckaert (2002) reported that ads that were congruent with their surrounding context were found to be clearer and more likable under conditions of low involvement. However under conditions of high involvement, ads in a contrasting context were found to be clearer and more likeable. There is support, however, outside the involvement literature that indicates that the context surrounding a communication in a CMC experience will have a positive effect. Nelson (2002) reported that brand placement recall was good for computer games and that brands that were a major part of game play were recalled better than brands that were not a major part of game play.
Based on the preceding understanding of the role involvement plays with respect to communication it is believed that a CMC event that garners a high degree of situational involvement will engender more positive levels of communication encountered during the experience. This is based on the more direct nature of surrounding context (an ad within an event that does not have any real separation from the context as opposed to an ad that is a separate entity from the program), as well as the congruent nature of the surrounding CMC event. Therefore it is posited:
H2: The greater the degree of involvement with the CMC situation the stronger the evaluation of the communication.
The Mediating Role of Presence
The debate over the nature of experience can be traced all the way back to Plato. While the philosophical nature of experience is not the intent of this paper it is important to distinguish the nature of direct versus indirect experience. Direct experience has been characterized as "unmediated" (Li, Daugherty, and Biocca 2002), whereas indirect experiences are funneled through some sort of communications channel (such as television or radio or computer). Heeter (2000) characterizes all forms of mediated experiences as indirect. Therefore, the nature of a virtual experience, by definition, is an indirect one. Direct experiences have been found to have greater impact on attitudes than indirect experiences (Singh, Balasubramanian, and Chakraborty 2000) and beliefs (Wright and Lynch 1995).
The degree of presence experienced is a matter of sensory information, not a matter of "reality." As such, if one were to be sufficiently stimulated by an artificial environment then the experience could very well become "direct" as long as the nature of the representation in terms of interactivity and vividness were sufficient. If this is so, then the impact of the experience could very well vary due to the degree of presence experienced. The degree of experienced presence should fundamentally alter the nature of the relationship between the participant and the environment. It is this logic that leads to the proposition that presence should mediate the nature of the experience (See Diagram 1). The degree of experienced presence should mediate the relationship between one's level of involvement and one's attitudes formed as a result of the event. As such:
H3: The degree of experienced presence will mediate the relationship between one's level of involvement and formed ad judgment.
Diagram 1. The Mediating Role of Presence Model of Relationships
Methodology
In order to test the preceding hypotheses, an experiment using a popular computer game was devised. Using this game, an interactive camping scenario was created in a fictitious nature park. The game of Morrowind© (2002 Bethesda Softworks LLC, All Rights Reserved.) is a role-playing game where everything is seen from the participants perspective, as if you are looking through the camera. There were several reasons for choosing a computer game in general and Morrowind© in particular, for this study. As stated earlier, computer games appear to be on the cusp of becoming a major communications channel. Much like brand placement in movies, computer games offer a unique method of reaching the consumer.
It is also believed, however, that computer games and simulation in general hold the key to the nature of many forms of human computer interaction in the near future. The Internet over the past five years has become more interactive and immersive in its approach. The majority of current commercial web sites are still essentially static catalogues in cyberspace but the use of Flash, Java, Javascript and other platform independent programming languages are allowing for ever more animation and video based means of communication. It is believed that this trend will continue in the foreseeable future. As such, the kind of interactive three-dimensional world created in Morrowind© may become the basis for many forms of commercial communication. One only has to look at the popularity of such online commercial experiences as The Sims Online, Everquest, and Ultima Online to realize that online entertainment venues are already commercially viable. Moreover, online entertainment will become more popular as the offerings increase and become more broadly appealing.
Morrowind© was used specifically in this experiment due to its customizability and its ability to deliver a convincing interactive experience. Bethesda Softworks LLC (the company that created and distributes Morrowind©) packages a construction editor with the game to encourage game players to create their own adventures. In addition to modifying the existing environment with the supplied construction editor, new content in the form of billboard advertisements was created using the three dimensional modeling program 3DS Max Studio.
For this experiment first a part of the existing Morrowind© world was selected and cleared of all fantasy based elements including characters and animals. The area was then populated with non-fantasy characters for purposes of interaction and information. Players could converse with each character via a menu system of topics (see Figure A in the Appendix). From these characters players could get directions as well as learn a little bit about the area. Finally the area was populated with billboard advertisements (see Figure B in the Appendix). These items included a fictitious brand of tent, rain jacket, backpack, and sleeping bag. The advertisements were based on the web page of a popular outdoor recreational catalogue using similar images and rhetoric. The billboards were placed in several locations in the area but were specifically placed near the entrance where participants started the experiment to ensure that they saw at least two of them. Overall the game portrayed a very realistic and appealing environment including a realistic three-dimensional sound field that included the sounds of insects, running water, and general nature sounds. This sound field helped to center the participant in the world by reflecting movement and placement of the participant within the environment.
Most of the original elements of the game were retained as to keep the artistic flavor of the representation. The billboards were designed accordingly so as to fit into the environment. Upon entering the world participants were instructed to find a campground some distance away from the starting point. Along the way participants encountered a small town and locals with whom they could converse. Once they found the campground they were then encouraged to more fully explore the area. Participants could, if they so chose, follow the trails in the park, strike off to areas off the trail, enter and explore buildings and caves, climb hills or even go swimming. The environment afforded a remarkably unrestricted experience and subjects were encouraged to explore and investigate the environment. Due to the open nature of the representation there was quite a bit of variation as to what the participants did. Most (81%) wandered off the path and many (67%) got lost. Most participants (92%) conversed with the locals and some (25%) even decided to go swimming.
Upon entering the room participants were randomly assigned to one of 24 computers. The computers were arranged in such a way so that participants could see only their own screens. Each participant wore headphones to further isolate them and to provide a more enveloping three-dimensional sound field. For each session participants were assigned to computers and given instructions. After the instructions were given the lights were dimmed and participants were free to explore the world for 30 minutes. After their experience they were then guided to a web page that held the post questionnaire. Participants were free to leave after they had finished the questionnaire.
Results
Sample
College undergraduate students were recruited to participate in this experiment. The sample consisted of 152 undergraduate business students. The average age was 20.5 with 49% male and 51% female. Forty-seven percent said they played computer games occasionally, 24% reported playing often or very often, and 28% reported not playing computer games at all. All participants had at least a basic understanding of computers and a basic level of computer knowledge.
Scale Validity and Factor Analysis
Previously validated scales were used to test the developed hypotheses. To test for involvement, Zaichowsky's Personal Involvement Inventory (1985) scale was used. To test participant's judgment of the billboard ads, Feltham's (1994) ad judgment scale was used and to test the degree of presence experienced, the SOPI-ITC Sense of Presence Inventory scale was employed (Lessiter et al. 2001). Each of these scales was chosen as they have already established records of reliability and validity. Even though the scales were established, two had not been used in a CMC context. As such, all the scales were subjected to factor and reliability analyses. The final scales returned adequate factor loadings and reliabilities above .7 (Nunally 1978) and are reported in Table 1.
Zaichowsky's (1985) Personal Involvement Inventory scale was used in this context due mainly to its long track record. Factor analysis of this scale returned two basic factors. These factors reflected the dimensions of interest and importance. Presence was measured using part of the SOPI-ITC Sense of Presence Inventory scale. This scale has been used in several studies and is designed for exactly this kind of setting. The two factors returned reflected the spatial ecology and engagement elements of the environment.
Ad judgment was measured using Felthan's (1992) ad judgment measure. This measure was used as it is an attempt to deliver scales of attitude toward the ad that are not context driven. Since this experiment used a computer game as the test engine a non-context driven scale was desired as very few scales have been developed for this context. Feltham's scale is designed to measure one's reaction to three aspects of an ad. These three factors are based on Plato's theory of rhetoric and comprise the ethos (source), logos (argument) and pathos (emotionality) aspects of an ad. Since the message presented by the ads in this study did not have a recognizable source (the billboards did not have a spokesmodel to which the message was attributed) only the logos and pathos subscales were used. Factor analysis returned two factors using all items. Factor analysis results are reported in Table 1, scale correlations and means, are reported in Table 2.
Table 1. Factor Analyses, Scale Reliabilities and Scale Means
Table 2. Reported Means and Factor Scale Correlations
Hypotheses Testing
To test hypotheses one and two a series of regressions were performed. For hypothesis one the degree of spatial ecology and engagement were each regressed onto the degree of ad believability (logos) and ad emotionality (pathos). The degree of experienced spatial ecology was regressed onto the perceived logos of the ads and returned an R2 of .096. The degree of experienced spatial ecology was then regressed onto the perceived pathos of the ads and returned an R2 of .126. Next, the degree of experienced Engagement with the CMC event was regressed onto logos and returned an R2 of .069. The degree of experienced engagement with the CMC environment was then regressed onto pathos and returned an R2 of .103. For all of the regressions the model and the entered variable were significant at the .01 level. As such hypothesis one was supported. Results are reported in Table 3.
Table 3. Regression Analysis of Presence onto Ad Judgment
To test hypothesis two a series of regressions were also performed. The degree of experienced situational involvement was regressed onto the judgments formed about the ads. The degree of interest experienced and the degree of importance attributed to the CMC event were each regressed onto the degree of ad believability (logos) and ad emotionality (pathos). The degree of experienced interest was regressed onto the perceived logos of the ads and returned an R2 of .042. The degree of experienced interest was then regressed onto the perceived pathos of the ads and returned an R2 of .092. Next, the degree of experienced importance was regressed onto logos and returned an R2 of .038. The degree of experienced importance was then regressed onto pathos and returned an R2 of .111. The model and variable statistics for the regressions onto logos were significant at the .05 level and the model and variable statistics for the regressions onto pathos were significant at the .01 level. To this end hypothesis two was supported. Results are reported in Table 4.
Table 4. Regression Analysis of Involvement onto Ad Judgment
To test for mediating effects it is necessary to satisfy several basic conditions: 1) the independent variable is found to significantly affect the mediator; 2) the independent variable is found to significantly affect the dependant variable in the absence of the mediator; 3) the mediator has a significant (and unique) effect on the dependant variable; and 4) the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable reduces upon the addition of the mediator to the model. These conditions, however, are not conclusive as to whether or not a variable is truly a mediator. To this end the Sobel statistic was used to determine if the mediating path was significantly different from zero (Baron and Kenny 1986; Goodman 1960; MacKinnon, Warsi, and Dwyer 1995; Sobel 1982).
To test Hypothesis 3, eight relationships were tested to see if a mediating effect was observable. The relationship between interest and logos was tested with both spatial ecology and engagement as mediators, and the relationship between interest and pathos was tested with both mediators. Further, the relationship between importance and logos was tested with both mediators, as was the relationship between importance and pathos. In all cases the Sobel test statistic returned a significant result. However different levels of mediation were observed for the different relationship combinations. The relationship between one's level of involvement (both interest and importance) and one's logos ad judgment was completely mediated by the degree of experienced presence (both spatial and engagement) as can be seen by the reduction to nonsignificance by the independent variable when the mediator is present. However, the relationship between one's degree of involvement (both interest and importance) and one's pathos ad judgment is only partially mediated by the degree of experienced presence (both spatial and engagement) as can be seen by the general reduction of the independent variable but not to insignificance. In all cases a significant Sobel test statistic was returned. This would appear to be a result of a generally stronger relationship between involvement and pathos as can be seen from Tables 5 and 6.
Table 5. Mediation Tests of the Relationship between Interest and Ad Judgment with Presence as a Mediator
Table 6. Mediation Tests of the Relationship between Importance and Ad Judgment with Presence as a Mediator
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that experiencing a sense of presence would have on one's judgment of advertising in a CMC experience. This investigation sought to explore 1) whether experiencing a sense of presence has an effect on one's ad judgments formed and 2) to investigate the mediating relationship of presence between user characteristics (involvement) and attitude (ad judgment).
Results indicated that the degree of experienced presence does have an effect on ad judgment. Both aspects of presence measured had significant impact on both aspects of ad judgment. However, there was a greater impact of presence on pathos than on logos. This difference is not great but it is intriguing. It is important to note that there was no emotional content in the ads themselves as they were modeled after factual catalog ads (Examples are in Figure B in the Appendix). While no studies have addressed the cognitive versus emotional component of presence, the assumption appears to be that it is more cognitive than affective or emotional. A stronger impact of presence on the emotional judgment of an ad could indicate that presence may be more emotional than cognitive in nature. In other words it might be more of the feeling of being in a place and less the thought of being in a space. From a management perspective this may mean that content with an emotional component may be more effective under higher conditions of presence.
These results also indicate that the degree of experienced presence mediates the relationship between user characteristics, in this case involvement, and the judgments formed about the advertising. Again it is important to note that in this experiment what was measured was the participant's involvement with the event, not the ad. As such these results would indicate that the situation surrounding the ad is quite important. Accordingly, even if the participant is involved with the situation, but is not experiencing presence, then the ad will have significantly less impact. In this manner the degree of presence experienced may act like a door. One may look through the window but not be in the environment, open the door and one can "step" inside. As such this "outside" perspective will lead to less impact by the ads than if one is "inside" the environment.
Results also indicated a generally stronger mediation effect for the spatial ecology presence component than for the engagement component. It is understood that the environment that engenders presence needs to be holistic and consistent without distractions for presence to be engaged. Similarly if one becomes distracted by a bad edit or a jump cut in a movie the degree of connection will be lessoned. It is contended that the spatial ecology component of presence has a greater mediation effect in that it is mostly visual and this is the main conduit into the presented environment. If the visual nature of the representation is not as compelling then the degree of presence experienced will be less and likewise the impact of the ads will be less. Visually the representation of CMC events is very sophisticated and refined whereas the methods of engagement are less developed. CMC events, like computer games, are becoming almost like playable movies in detail and representation. However, actions initiated within the environment are still performed by multipurpose proxies such as mice and joysticks. One cannot pick up an object in a CMC event. One has to click a mouse and the item is put into one's inventory or checkout basket. This lack of sophistication may constantly remind the player that he or she is an artificial situation. Consequently, engagement may not mediate the relationship between involvement and ad judgment as effectively as spatial ecology due to the constant reminder factor of the artificiality of the interaction.
It is important to note that the relationship between involvement and presence is by far the strongest relationship measured. This would indicate that higher levels of involvement lead to higher levels of presence. This may simply mean that under higher conditions of involvement one pays more attention to the situation and the event itself and is, therefore, more likely to be receptive to presence. Presence is a factor of the environment as well as the participant. Involvement may be necessary for presence but it is most likely not sufficient. The environment needs to be presented in such a way so that presence may be engaged.
Limitations and Future Directions
No study is without limitations and this one is no different. The first limitation is the use of an undergraduate population for testing. While this is usually seen as a very narrow market segment and a compromise on generalization, this population is seen as appropriate for this study. While general web based communication draws from a general cross section of the population, computer games tend to have a younger audience. Whereas the generalizability of this study may not be as strong as desired (however the randomization employed in this study does mitigate this issue), it is valid for the most likely market of interactive CMC events, younger audiences.
Future directions for this stream of research would follow two main paths. First, as researchers we need to better explicate and operationalize the concept of presence. While the scale used in this study has been employed by several other studies, it still may not capture the true essence of presence, especially in light of the possible cognitive versus emotional elements that may be a part of this construct. The second main path of future research lies along the connection between presence and behavior. Does engaging in presence alter one's behavior during or after the experience? If it has an effect on behavior, then presence could be a useful tool for advertisers in on-line shopping situations. For, as stated at the beginning of this paper, the kind of interactive worlds created for entertainment purposes could be used for more mainstream activities such as web based catalogues and kiosk-based shopping systems.
The world of communication is changing and new means of communicating and persuading consumers are being developed and explored. With the advent of very sophisticated CMC entertainment vehicles being developed it is important for advertisers to use these channels to reach and communicate with prospective consumers. But advertisers also need to determine the best way to persuade and inform these consumers. The concept of presence could be the kind of engaging communication element that can effectively reach and impact consumers.
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About the Author
Stefan G. Nicovich (Ph.D., The University of Memphis) is currently an Assistant Professor at Lynchburg College. Dr. Nicovich's research focuses on artificial environments with an emphasis on video games and how consumers respond to them. His work has been published in The Journal of Interactive Marketing, The Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, The Information Resources Management Journal and the Journal of Business and Economic Studies.
Appendix
Figure A
Character Interaction within Morrowind©
Figure B
Billboard Placement within Morrowind©
