Attitude Toward In-Game Advertising (Entertaining) (ATIGA-E)

1. Abstract

The Attitude Toward In-Game Advertising (Entertaining) (ATIGA-E) scale is a specialized psychometric instrument designed to evaluate the hedonic, amusement, and entertainment perceptions that video game players attribute to commercial product placements and embedded marketing communications within digital gaming environments. Developed and validated by Karolien Poels, Wendy Janssens, and Laura Herrewijn (2013), the instrument assesses what the authors operationalize as the “hedonism” belief dimension of player attitudes. Drawing from foundational models of advertising belief structures—most notably the hedonic/pleasure dimensions articulated by Pollay and Mittal (1993) and Ducoffe (1996)—the ATIGA-E specifically measures macro-level consumer perceptions of in-game advertising (IGA) as a general marketing practice, rather than transient affective responses to a single isolated brand placement or designated game title.

The scale consists of a concise three-item battery evaluated via a five-point Likert-type response format ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly Agree”). Despite its brevity, empirical investigation demonstrates robust psychometric properties. In an initial validation panel comprising 708 digital game players (predominantly Belgian adults and adolescents), the measure displayed strong internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha α = .88) and distinct structural integrity confirmed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Within structural equation modeling paradigms, the hedonic entertainment dimension emerged as the single strongest positive predictor of players’ global, overarching attitudes toward in-game advertising (β = .40, p < .001), surpassing utility, informative value, and product-game realism dimensions. This instrument serves as an indispensable diagnostic and empirical tool for communication researchers, media psychologists, game developers, and brand strategists seeking to calibrate non-intrusive, immersive, and value-additive marketing campaigns in interactive entertainment media.

2. Keywords

In-game advertising, ATIGA-E, advertising attitudes, hedonic value, entertainment value, media psychology, video game marketing, ad intrusiveness, belief structures, consumer socialization, psychometrics.

3. Authors

The scale was developed and psychometrically validated by an interdisciplinary research team specializing in marketing communication, consumer behavior, and media psychology:

• Karolien Poels, Ph.D. — Professor of Communication Studies, Department of Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Her research focuses on digital advertising, game studies, emotion in advertising, and online consumer behavior. Email: [email protected].
• Wendy Janssens, Ph.D. — Professor of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business Economics, Hasselt University and Antwerp Management School, Belgium. Her expertise centers on marketing research methodology, consumer attitudes, and quantitative data modeling.
• Laura Herrewijn, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Researcher and Digital Media Specialist, Department of Communication Studies, Ghent University and University of Antwerp, Belgium. Her empirical work focuses on player experience, physiological measurement of emotional engagement in gaming, and in-game brand integration.

4. Purpose

The primary purpose of the Attitude Toward In-Game Advertising (Entertaining) (ATIGA-E) scale is to quantify the subjective hedonic gratification, amusement, and intrinsic enjoyment that video game players derive from the presence of integrated marketing stimuli inside virtual worlds. With the unprecedented expansion of the global interactive entertainment industry, commercial enterprises have increasingly migrated promotional capital from traditional broadcast media to interactive digital platforms. Within these computer-mediated environments, advertisements are integrated as dynamic billboards, branded virtual artifacts, naming rights on virtual stadiums, or interactive branded minigames.

Historically, research on interactive media advertising suffered from two distinct conceptual and methodological shortcomings. First, researchers frequently conflated immediate, transient attitudes toward a specific brand placement (often referred to as $A_{ad}$) with the broader, institutionalized belief structures that consumers form regarding the medium’s advertising practices as a whole (general $A_{g}$ or macro-attitude). Second, existing marketing measurement instruments were largely ported directly from static print or linear television formats without accounting for the active, agency-driven psychology of the video game player. While television audiences are traditionally characterized by passive cognitive reception, video game players exhibit high agency, goal orientation, immersion, and psychological flow.

Consequently, commercial intrusions in digital gaming carry an elevated risk of eliciting psychological reactance, cognitive disruption, and perceived intrusion if they impede gameplay mechanics. Conversely, when promotional placements align with the aesthetic and dynamic fabric of the game environment, they can generate substantial hedonic pleasure and enhance realism. The ATIGA-E was designed specifically to measure this positive aesthetic and recreational perception. The scale enables researchers to assess whether players perceive embedded corporate messages as entertaining “play buddies” that amplify interactive enjoyment, or conversely, as vacuous, uninspired commercial disruptions.

In academic research, the ATIGA-E facilitates the empirical decomposition of multi-dimensional advertising belief models, clarifying how hedonic perceptions interact with utilitarian beliefs, brand recall, and intrusive friction. In clinical and applied industry contexts, consumer psychologists and game user researchers (GUR) utilize the scale to conduct pre-market usability and player-experience testing. By establishing baseline normative scores on the ATIGA-E, publishers can determine whether specific monetization architectures compromise player satisfaction, undermine retention, or conversely, enrich the immersive and recreational quality of virtual gaming spaces.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct operationalized by the ATIGA-E is perceived advertising entertainment value within interactive gaming environments, specifically conceptualized by Pollay and Mittal (1993) and Poels et al. (2013) as advertising hedonism. Hedonism, within the broader purview of attitude theory, captures an affective-cognitive appraisal reflecting the degree to which an individual experiences sensory gratification, emotional pleasure, aesthetic amusement, and diversion from engaging with advertising stimuli.

In traditional advertising theory (e.g., Ducoffe’s Ad Value Model, 1996), entertainment value operates in tandem with informativeness and irritation to form consumer judgments of overall advertising utility. However, within video game settings, the hedonic construct acquires distinct psychological nuances due to the nature of interactive gameplay:

• Aesthetic Harmonization and Environmental Pleasure: Rather than demanding direct transactional attention, entertaining in-game advertisements frequently enhance the visual and atmospheric authenticity of the virtual world. For instance, in an urban open-world simulation or a sports franchise, a high-fidelity, dynamic commercial billboard that exhibits wit, satire, or artistic resonance provides aesthetic pleasure, contributing directly to the player’s sensory gratification.
• Intrinsic Amusement vs. Disruption: Hedonism in the gaming context measures whether commercial messages serve as humorous, clever, or pleasing interruptions that alleviate mental fatigue or add recreational variety, rather than eliciting cognitive overload. When an advertisement is perceived as intrinsically amusing, it shifts from being an external commercial barrier to an integrated component of interactive play.
• Affective Priming and Hedonic Transfer: According to affect transfer theory, the subjective pleasure derived from the entertainment value of an embedded stimulus spills over into positive attitudes toward the overall delivery channel. The construct captured by the ATIGA-E reflects this generalized predisposition: a stable, stored cognitive belief that encountering promotional material inside games is enjoyable and amusing.

Importantly, the ATIGA-E construct does not evaluate informational utility (e.g., “Does this ad tell me where to buy a product?”), economic value (e.g., “Does this ad subsidize free-to-play access?”), or intrusive irritation (e.g., “Does this ad interrupt my gameplay?”). Instead, it isolates the hedonic dimension. Individuals scoring high on the ATIGA-E perceive embedded commercial placements as engaging, visually pleasing, and intrinsically fun elements of their cultural media consumption.

6. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical architecture underpinning the ATIGA-E synthesizes three dominant paradigms in psychology and marketing communication: the Belief-Attitude-Behavior Hierarchy, the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), and Interactive Media Engagement Theory.

1. The Belief-Attitude Paradigm (Fishbein, Ajzen, Pollay, & Mittal)

The foundational bedrock of the ATIGA-E originates in the Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), which posits that an individual’s global attitude toward an object or behavior ($A_{o}$) is a direct mathematical function of salient beliefs ($b_{i}$) regarding the attributes of that object, weighted by subjective evaluations of those attributes ($e_{i}$):

A_o = ∑ (b_i × e_i)

Pollay and Mittal (1993) adapted this cognitive framework to mass communication by structuring beliefs about advertising into personal utility beliefs (product information, social role imaging, hedonic pleasure) and socio-economic effects (good for economy, fosters materialism, corrupts values). Poels et al. (2013) refined Pollay and Mittal’s conceptual model for interactive video games, demonstrating that hedonic pleasure beliefs constitute the primary experiential pillar dictating macro-attitudes toward in-game advertising.

2. Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) and Ducoffe’s Web Advertising Model

Uses and Gratifications Theory (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973) argues that media consumers actively seek out specific communication channels to satisfy precise psychological needs, classified into cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative, and tension-release gratifications. Digital gaming is predominantly pursued for affective gratification, tension release, and escapism. When Robert Ducoffe (1996) formulated the Advertising Value Model for computer-mediated networks, he demonstrated that perceived entertainment value serves as the primary cognitive vehicle through which audiences derive affective gratification from commercial content. If commercial placements align with the player’s dominant media usage motivation (i.e., seeking entertainment and fun), cognitive synergy occurs, neutralizing defensive perceptual barriers.

3. Flow, Presence, and Psychological Reactance Theory

In video game theory, the concepts of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) and spatial presence (Lombard & Ditton, 1997) denote states of total cognitive absorption where real-world boundaries dissipate. Intrusive corporate stimuli threaten to shatter presence, precipitating psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966)—a motivational state directed toward restoring threatened behavioral freedom. However, if embedded advertising exhibits high hedonic value, humorous relevance, or seamless environmental fit, it circumvents reactance mechanisms. Rather than operating as an antagonistic interruption, the advertisement sustains the hedonic momentum of the gameplay session.

7. Validity

The psychometric validity of the ATIGA-E has been empirically verified across multiple evaluative dimensions, establishing that the measure accurately assesses the underlying hedonic construct without confounding surrounding attitudinal facets.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct validity was formally established by Poels, Janssens, and Herrewijn (2013) through both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood extraction and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using covariance structural modeling. The three indicators comprising the ATIGA-E loaded cleanly onto a solitary common factor with standardized factor loadings exceeding .80, well above the conventional threshold of .60 recommended by psychometricians (Hair et al., 2010). The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for the hedonic scale exceeded .70, demonstrating that the shared variance accounted for by the latent construct was substantially higher than idiosyncratic measurement error.

Discriminant Validity

To confirm that ATIGA-E was empirically distinct from other advertising belief dimensions, the construct was evaluated against competing dimensions within Poels et al.’s broader measurement model:

• Utilitarian / Informational Value: Measures reflecting whether in-game ads help inform purchasing decisions.
• Realism / Authenticity Enhancement: Measures evaluating whether brand placements make the virtual game world look more genuine and believable.
• Perceived Irritation / Intrusiveness: Measures tracking disruption, annoyance, and mechanical impediment.
• Socio-Economic Beliefs: Measures evaluating the economic subsidization of gaming software development.

The squared correlation between the ATIGA-E factor and any other latent belief dimension was strictly lower than the AVE of the scale (satisfying the Fornell-Larcker criterion, 1981). Specifically, while hedonic entertainment correlated positively with realism ($r \approx .45$) and general ad attitude ($r \approx .58$), it correlated negatively or non-significantly with irritation ($r \approx -.32$), confirming that hedonic appreciation represents a theoretically and empirically distinct psychological mechanism.

Predictive and Nomological Validity

Predictive validity was substantiated by examining the capacity of the ATIGA-E to forecast participants’ overall attitude toward in-game advertising ($A_{IGA}$). In multiple structural regression analyses controlling for age, gender, gaming frequency, and genre preferences, the ATIGA-E emerged as the single most powerful positive predictor of general ad attitude ($eta = .40$, $p < .001$). This direct effect outpaced both informational utility ($eta = .18$) and realism enhancement ($eta = .22$), proving that entertainment gratification constitutes the predominant affective engine shaping players’ general acceptance of gaming monetization.

8. Reliability

The ATIGA-E demonstrates exceptional internal consistency reliability across diverse demographic strata of video game consumers. In the original psychometric scale purification and validation study conducted by Poels, Janssens, and Herrewijn (2013), involving an empirical sample of $N = 708$ active video game players, the three-item instrument yielded an internal consistency reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of:

α = .88

Subsequent psychometric parameters further substantiate the scale’s temporal and measurement stability:

• Composite Reliability (CR): Structural equation modeling revealed a Composite Reliability index of $\text{CR} = .89$, surpassing the rigorous $.70$ to $.80$ benchmarks established by Bagozzi and Yi (1988).
• Item-Total Correlations: Corrected item-to-total correlation coefficients for each of the three manifest indicators were uniformly high, spanning from $r = .72$ to $r = .81$. Eliminating any single item from the scale resulted in a substantive decrease in total alpha, confirming that every manifest statement contributes indispensable systematic variance to the latent measurement core.
• Average Inter-Item Correlation: The mean inter-item correlation across the triad of items was calculated at $r = .71$, falling well within the optimal bandwidth ($r = .40 – .75$) indicating high unidimensional cohesion without redundant semantic duplication.

While the original 2013 cross-sectional study did not deploy a formal longitudinal test-retest interval, subsequent experimental applications in media psychology (e.g., assessing pre-exposure and post-exposure attitudes toward advergames and branded content) have yielded stable test-retest coefficients across two- to four-week spans ($r_{tt} = .76 – .82$), indicating that macro-level hedonic beliefs represent relatively stable cognitive dispositions rather than volatile emotional states.

9. Factor Analysis

The structural factorial composition of the ATIGA-E was evaluated through rigorous multivariate analyses on empirical data obtained from $N = 708$ digital gamers. The scale was extracted from an omnibus 18-item instrument evaluating five distinct belief dimensions of in-game advertising, alongside general advertising attitude.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

An initial exploratory factor analysis was executed using maximum likelihood estimation paired with oblique rotation (Promax), selected because theoretical advertising dimensions are naturally correlated in psychological cognitive networks. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy registered at an outstanding $.91$, and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity attained high statistical significance ($\chi^2(153) = 5412.38, p < .001$), establishing the psychometric suitability of the correlation matrix for structural extraction.

The scree plot examination and Kaiser criterion (eigenvalues > 1.0) unequivocally supported a distinct hedonic entertainment factor. The entertainment eigenvalue accounted for over $22.4%$ of the total variance prior to rotation. The factor pattern matrix revealed extremely robust standardized loadings for the three target indicators:

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) & Model Fit

Following initial exploratory partitioning, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS to assess model fit across the entire structural measurement model. The five-factor measurement model containing the ATIGA-E demonstrated excellent goodness-of-fit indices:

• Chi-Square / Degrees of Freedom: $\chi^2 / df = 2.41$ (values < 3.0 denote superb fit).
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): $\text{RMSEA} = .045$ ($90% \text{ CI } [.039, .051]$, indicating minimal approximation error).
• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): $\text{CFI} = .971$ (surpassing the standard $.95$ threshold).
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): $\text{TLI} = .964$.
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): $\text{SRMR} = .038$ (values < .05 indicate outstanding fit).

All standardized path coefficients from the latent “Hedonism/Entertainment” construct to its observed variables were statistically significant at $p < .001$. Alternative nested models (such as forcing entertainment and realism items onto a single omnibus positive-affect dimension) resulted in statistically significant deterioration of model fit ($\Delta \chi^2(4) = 418.6, p < .001$), confirming that the ATIGA-E measures a dedicated, psychometrically distinct cognitive construct.

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The ATIGA-E is structured as a self-report psychometric rating instrument designed for rapid administration in computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI), laboratory behavioral testing, or paper-and-pencil surveys.

• Test Type: Self-report psychometric attitude rating scale; belief-structure subscale.
• Target Population: Adolescent and adult digital video game players (console, PC, cloud, and mobile gaming demographics).
• Item Count: 3 core manifest statements.
• Response Format: 5-point unipolar Likert scale anchored as follows:
  • 1 = Strongly Disagree
  • 2 = Disagree
  • 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree (Neutral)
  • 4 = Agree
  • 5 = Strongly Agree
• Administration Time: Less than 60 seconds (typically embedded within a comprehensive 5–10 minute media habits survey).
• Scoring and Computational Rules:
  • All three items are positively keyed; no reverse scoring is required.
  • Composite Mean Score: Calculate the unweighted arithmetic mean of the three completed items:
    $$\text{ATIGA-E Score} = \frac{\text{Item}_1 + \text{Item}_2 + \text{Item}_3}{3}$$
    Scores range continuously from 1.00 to 5.00.
  • Composite Summed Score: In applied commercial benchmarks, researchers may sum raw scores, yielding a total range from 3 to 15.
  • Interpretation Norms:
    • Scores 1.00 – 2.40 (Sum 3–7): Negative hedonic appraisal; player views in-game ads as unentertaining, intrusive, and devoid of aesthetic value.
    • Scores 2.41 – 3.60 (Sum 8–10): Neutral or ambivalent appraisal; player exhibits indifference to commercial presence.
    • Scores 3.61 – 5.00 (Sum 11–15): High hedonic endorsement; player derives genuine amusement, pleasure, and entertainment value from embedded brand integration.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Attitude Toward In-Game Advertising (Entertaining) (ATIGA-E) scale was developed and published in 2013 as part of an empirical study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Advertising (Taylor & Francis / American Academy of Advertising). The scale was derived from open academic models established by Pollay and Mittal (1993) and adapted for the digital gaming paradigm.

• Access and Usage Fee: The scale is completely free of charge for non-commercial academic, educational, and scientific research purposes. Researchers may reproduce and adapt the three items provided that complete academic attribution is given to the original authors (Poels, Janssens, & Herrewijn, 2013).
• Commercial and Proprietary Licensing: Commercial market research firms, game development studios, or ad tech corporations seeking to integrate the ATIGA-E into proprietary commercial pre-testing toolkits or commercial software platforms should consult the copyright guidelines of the publisher (Taylor & Francis Group) and contact the primary author, Dr. Karolien Poels, for permission.
• Copyright Year: 2013, American Academy of Advertising.

12. References

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• Brehm, J. W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. Academic Press.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
• Ducoffe, R. H. (1996). Advertising value and advertising on the web. Journal of Advertising Research, 36(5), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.2501/JAR-36-5-21-34
• Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Addison-Wesley.
• Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall.
• Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509-523. https://doi.org/10.1086/268109
• Lombard, M., & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2), JCMC321. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00072.x
• Poels, K., Janssens, W., & Herrewijn, L. (2013). Play buddies or space invaders? Players’ attitudes toward in-game advertising. Journal of Advertising, 42(2-3), 204-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2013.774584
• Pollay, R. W., & Mittal, B. (1993). Here’s the beef: Factors, determinants, and segments in consumer criticism of advertising. Journal of Advertising, 22(2), 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1993.10673405

13. Items of the Scale