Presentation Matters: Comparison of Cognitive Effects of DTC Prescription Drug Advergames, Websites, and Print Ads

Abstract

Applying limited cognitive capacity theory, this study examined the cognitive effects of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advergames in comparison to those of print ads and websites. The results revealed consumers' memories of the advertised drug brand and information about the drug and the disease it treats was the lowest in the advergame condition and highest in print. For the content elements that were centrally integrated into the advergame, however, consumer recall was the highest in the advergame condition. In addition, differential memory decay was found across media types. Memory decay was greater in the print ad condition than the other media conditions.