The Role of Game Involvement on Attention to Ads: Exploring Influencing Factors of Visual Attention to Game Ads on Instagram Stories
This study applies eye-tracking to measure attention to Instagram Story ads for mobile games. It reveals how gamers and nongamers respond differently to ad content and format. Video ads boost attention overall, while static character ads suit low-involvement users. Marketers can use these insights to personalize strategies and expand user reach. The method sets a benchmark for ad effectiveness studies across social media platforms.
Figure 4. Interaction effects between ad format and ad content on TFD for nongamers.
Technology Overview
This study introduces a cutting-edge method using eye-tracking technology to analyze viewer attention to mobile game ads on Instagram Stories, based on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) model. It integrates physiological signal analysis to objectively measure ad effectiveness, overcoming subjective biases typical of traditional surveys. By focusing on visual attention across ad formats and content types, this method identifies which design elements most effectively capture and sustain user interest. The approach also distinguishes between different user involvement levels (e.g., high-involvement gamers vs. nongamers) to optimize ad personalization. This provides a data-driven foundation for refining mobile game marketing strategies.
Applications & Benefits
The findings help marketers design more effective mobile game ads tailored to user involvement levels. High-involvement gamers prefer complex gameplay ads, while nongamers respond better to character introductions. Video ads offer higher attention retention, and static images work well for character-focused ads. These insights enable personalized advertising strategies, enhancing viewer engagement and expanding the gamer base. The study also establishes a replicable model for evaluating visual attention in SNS advertising, with potential applications in broader marketing domains.
Abstract：
Instagram Stories advertising has the advantages of precise targeting, diverse advertising formats, and a wide range of users; it has, thus, become an important medium for mobile game marketing. To find the most effective ad designs for mobile games on Instagram Stories, this study applied the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory to investigate how game involvement and ad designs affect users’ visual attention. Visual attention is an important physiological indicator of advertising effectiveness, and eye-tracking technology can accurately assess consumers’ visual attention. This study applied eye-tracking technology to 80 participants, grouped as follows: high-involvement gamers, low-involvement gamers, and nongamers. This study used the eye movement indicators for first fixation duration (FFD) and total fixation duration (TFD) to, respectively, evaluate the attentional salience and hold of mobile game ads. The ads were presented in three formats (5 s video, 15 s video, and 5 s image) with two types of content (gameplay and game characters). Results showed that the mobile game ads on Stories exerted the highest attentional hold on high-involvement gamers. In terms of ad format, video ads offered a higher attentional hold and attentional salience. In terms of ad content, ads that introduced game characters resulted in better attentional salience; however, ads that introduced gameplay exerted better attentional hold for nongamers. This study examined both individual differences in media users and ad design to provide recommendations for the personalization of mobile game ads for social media. For example, ads designed for a high-involvement gamer should incorporate more diverse and complex information. In addition, we found that when the marketing goal is the promotion of game characters, image ads are the most appropriate format.
The Role of Game Involvement on Attention to Ads: Exploring Influencing Factors of Visual Attention to Game Ads on Instagram Stories
Author：Yi-Ting Huang, An-Di Gong
Year：2024
Source publication：Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, Volume 2024, Issue 1
Subfield Highest percentage：98% General Social Sciences #5 / 285