Visualizing Persuasive Structures in Advergames

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
Procedural rhetoric alone is insufficient for advergames; the authors argue they should combine narrative, visual, audiovisual, and textual persuasion across five communication levels, forming a "double pyramid" structure.
02
In the double pyramid model, one persuasive dimension is dominant and guides players through the others, ensuring the intended message is received rather than left to optional content players may ignore.
03
Arcade Wire: Airport Security was found to lack full autonomy and to have a misalignment between learning and game goals, since players could succeed without absorbing the persuasive message.
04
Nespresso Variations relies almost entirely on audiovisual emotional appeal, with underused text and procedural layers and mechanics too simple to sustain engagement.
05
Honda Grrr is driven primarily by procedural rhetoric reinforced by an anti-pollution slogan, but it offers little product information; Get the Glass! distributes persuasion across five layers with narrative as the primary driver.
06
Drawing on research into transportation imagery and narrative persuasion, the authors argue stories can reduce counterargument, foster identification, and supply context that procedural games often lack.
07
The authors conclude that a message's effectiveness ultimately depends on the player's attitude toward the game and on how well the persuasive layers combine to draw players into the experience.

Summary

This document proposes a framework for analyzing persuasive structures in advergames, arguing that procedural rhetoric alone is insufficient to convey a message and should be complemented by narrative, visual, audiovisual, and textual persuasion. Building on Heide Smith and Nørholm's (2009) model, the authors contend that a well-constructed advergame should combine these five persuasive dimensions across five communication levels, forming what they call a "double pyramid." In this structure, one dimension is dominant and guides players through the others, ensuring that the intended message is actually received rather than left to optional content that players may ignore.

The framework is tested through a close analysis of the Arcade Wire: Airport Security game, which the authors find lacks full autonomy and suffers from a misalignment between its learning and game goals, since players can succeed without absorbing the persuasive message. The model is then applied to three FWA-recognized advergames. Nesspresso Variations relies almost entirely on audiovisual emotional appeal, with underused text and procedural layers and mechanics too simple to sustain engagement. Honda Grrr uses procedural rhetoric as its primary driver, reinforced by an anti-pollution slogan, though it offers little product information. Get the Glass! distributes persuasion across five layers, with narrative as the primary driver supported by audiovisual and procedural elements.

Drawing on research into transportation imagery and narrative persuasion, the authors argue that stories can reduce counterargument, foster identification, and supply the context that procedural games often lack. The authors conclude that the double pyramid model is a useful tool for analyzing advergame persuasion. However, they emphasize that a message's effectiveness ultimately depends on the player's attitude toward the game and on how well the persuasive layers combine to draw players into the experience.