Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool

BACKGROUND: Video games have grown in popularity since the 1970s, and tobacco imagery is present in a substantial subset of games, including those oriented to youth. Much like exposure to tobacco content in films, exposure to tobacco content in video games may influence smoking uptake and use; howev...

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Autores principales: McDaniel, Patricia A., Forsyth, Susan R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6657901/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31344096
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220407
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author McDaniel, Patricia A.
Forsyth, Susan R.
author_facet McDaniel, Patricia A.
Forsyth, Susan R.
author_sort McDaniel, Patricia A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Video games have grown in popularity since the 1970s, and tobacco imagery is present in a substantial subset of games, including those oriented to youth. Much like exposure to tobacco content in films, exposure to tobacco content in video games may influence smoking uptake and use; however, the tobacco industry’s role in facilitating or promoting the use of tobacco imagery in video games is unclear. We explored the industry’s interest in and use of video games to market their products to youth and young adults. METHODS: We retrieved and analyzed archival tobacco industry documents. We supplemented information from the documents with current and archived versions of several brand and corporate websites and one website containing user-supplied information on video games. RESULTS: Tobacco companies recognized the youth appeal and marketing potential of video games as early as 1980. Initial marketing ideas included incorporating video game themes into product packaging and design. More fully realized plans focused on incorporating video games into product promotions in bars, as a high visibility way to attract younger patrons and increase long-term marketing opportunities by generating names for tobacco company direct-marketing databases. Tobacco companies also incorporated video games into in-home product promotions, primarily as components of brand websites, in order to enhance brand image and generate repeat website traffic. A similar desire to attract and keep visitors led to discussions about the inclusion of video games on corporate youth smoking prevention websites, although only one company, Lorillard, followed through. CONCLUSIONS: Video game players are an attractive target market for tobacco companies. Video games, as used by these companies, facilitate consumer engagement with particular tobacco brands or particular corporate messages. Eliminating the use of video games as a promotional vehicle may require limiting tobacco marketing in both physical and online environments.
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spelling pubmed-66579012019-08-07 Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool McDaniel, Patricia A. Forsyth, Susan R. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Video games have grown in popularity since the 1970s, and tobacco imagery is present in a substantial subset of games, including those oriented to youth. Much like exposure to tobacco content in films, exposure to tobacco content in video games may influence smoking uptake and use; however, the tobacco industry’s role in facilitating or promoting the use of tobacco imagery in video games is unclear. We explored the industry’s interest in and use of video games to market their products to youth and young adults. METHODS: We retrieved and analyzed archival tobacco industry documents. We supplemented information from the documents with current and archived versions of several brand and corporate websites and one website containing user-supplied information on video games. RESULTS: Tobacco companies recognized the youth appeal and marketing potential of video games as early as 1980. Initial marketing ideas included incorporating video game themes into product packaging and design. More fully realized plans focused on incorporating video games into product promotions in bars, as a high visibility way to attract younger patrons and increase long-term marketing opportunities by generating names for tobacco company direct-marketing databases. Tobacco companies also incorporated video games into in-home product promotions, primarily as components of brand websites, in order to enhance brand image and generate repeat website traffic. A similar desire to attract and keep visitors led to discussions about the inclusion of video games on corporate youth smoking prevention websites, although only one company, Lorillard, followed through. CONCLUSIONS: Video game players are an attractive target market for tobacco companies. Video games, as used by these companies, facilitate consumer engagement with particular tobacco brands or particular corporate messages. Eliminating the use of video games as a promotional vehicle may require limiting tobacco marketing in both physical and online environments. Public Library of Science 2019-07-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6657901/ /pubmed/31344096 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220407 Text en © 2019 McDaniel, Forsyth http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
McDaniel, Patricia A.
Forsyth, Susan R.
Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title_full Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title_fullStr Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title_full_unstemmed Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title_short Exploiting the “video game craze”: A case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
title_sort exploiting the “video game craze”: a case study of the tobacco industry’s use of video games as a marketing tool
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6657901/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31344096
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220407
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