For my second post I wanted to try and be a bit more scientific. I am sure that everyone likes to hear me pontificate (great word, I feel like I should use it more) and ramble.  Occasionaly I think maybe I should interview someone who actually researches these subjects. For my first interview I went local and interviewed Dr. Cicchirillo, a professor of communication in the department of Advertising who focuses on video game play features and contexts on post-game play outcomes. Since I am flustered easily, I forgot to hit record on my netbook and therefore do not have very many specific quotes. Let’s call this a “conversation” instead.


Dr. Cicchirillo recently finished his first major study which concentrated on race perceptions in video games. Specifically, he let subjects play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and watched how they reacted with characters of different races. The results showed that people were more likely to feel aggression to people of different races in a solo video game. Though when I asked if he had done any research into MMORPG’s I learned that not many people are studying MMORPG’s from an advertising perspective, the emphasis is on regular video games.

After we talked of his initial research, we started talking about online gaming enviroments and MMORPG’s and I learned a few interesting theories. Notably, why people socialize. He told me about the uncertainty reduction theory, which is a defense mechanism. Basically, you will tell someone information about yourself in hopes of reciprocation, this in turn reduces the uncertainty about that person, and reduces stress you feel about that interaction. However, anonymity can blur this by confusion about gender, race, and even what culture they belong to. Anyone can lie in a video game.

However, the advertising department is very interested in how video games can be used to advertise. While this is a new field, there have been several notable forays into advertising in online games. During the last presidential campaign, President Obama’s worked with Massive gaming to release advertisments in a popular Xbox Live racing game. While these ads were only visible during online play and did not last as long as a permanent item. According to Massive’s web site, they see large increases in recognition to advertisers in controlled studies.

However, that type of advertising would probably not do well in an enviroment like World of Warcraft, where escapism is the buzzword. While I personally think the Farmer’s Insurance Sword of Destruction would be fun to tout in dalaran, it would take away from the playstyle for the populous at large. According to Dr. Cicchirillo, the word for advertising conforming to the tenets of the video game it inhabits is called congruency. For ads that do not detract from the realism, but instead add to the realism, it will have a positive effect and promote a greater sense of recall.

While my interview with Dr. Cicchirillo was not strictly concerning public relations in WoW, I still feel like I gleaned some very useful information.