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Research on gamification of advertising concerning subtle design elements of computer games and their effects on consumers' psychological responses are limited. The present research addresses this gap by examining how consumers' attention and memory of brands advertised in a game, popularly called in-game advertising (IGA), are positively affected by the type of the gaming platform (mobile vs. PC) and rule orientation (or game rules) in the presence of potential moderators such as interactivity with the ad and congruence between the ad and game's goals. Two experimental studies are conducted that investigate these afore-mentioned effects. The results indicate an interaction effect such that rule enactment under high ad interactivity and high ad–game goal congruence increases attention and memory of ads in mobile-based IGAs. Further, these affects are mediated through media and ad transportation, that is, players' immersion experience in the flow of a story while playing the game. The research advances past knowledge on advertising effectiveness in computer games by exploring a less studied area, that is, the independent and interactive effects of game design elements. It also contributes to the flow experience literature in the domain of gamification by revealing a sequential pathway involving media and ad transportation. Also, it adds novelty to the gamification literature by exploring the role of gaming platforms and their interaction with design elements. For the game developers and advertisers, the research provides strategic guidance to manipulate these elements and to choose suitable platforms for the purpose of maximizing consumers' favorable psychological responses.

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to enhance the knowledge of advertising effects of nature of advergame (game speed) on gamers' brand recall and attitude. More specifically, this study investigates varying effects of game speed in advergames on young Indian gamers' brand recall and attitudes under varied game-product congruence and persuasion knowledge conditions from attention, elaboration and persuasion perspectives.


Design/methodology/approach
– A 2 (nature of advergame: fast or slow) × 2 (game-product congruence: high or low) × 2 (persuasion knowledge: high or low) between-subject measures design is used. Experimental data were collected from 235 Indian graduate students. ANOVAs and MANOVA with pre-planned contrasts are used to test the hypotheses.


Findings
– The results indicate that for a slow-paced advergame, low game-product congruence result in high brand recall than high game-product congruence. For a fast-paced advergame, there is no difference in brand recall between low game-product congruence and high game-product congruence. Furthermore, findings reveal that for a slow-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, subjects with high persuasion knowledge report high brand recall and less favorable brand attitude than subjects with low persuasion knowledge. On the other hand, for a fast-paced advergame with low game-product congruence, there is no difference in brand recall and brand attitude between the subjects with high persuasion knowledge and the subjects with low persuasion knowledge.


Practical implications
– The findings of the study are very important for advertising practitioners, as selection of media that fit the advertised product with reference to the nature and content of the media is a planning strategy that has been widely used by media planners. Thus, if advertisers want to create high brand awareness by creating high brand memory, then slow-paced advergames with low congruent brand placements can be chosen as an effective in-game media strategy for online advertising. Additionally, game developers and marketers can plan and develop more effective advergames by taking into account the persuasion knowledge factor so that the implementation would have the strongest positive effect on consumers' brand recall and brand attitude.


Originality/value
– This study contributes to the literature of non-traditional media advertising, specifically advergaming context by exploring the impact of nature of game and game-product congruence on gamers' ad-persuasion. Also, this study is the first attempt to understand how the game speed and its boundary conditions influence gamers' brand recall and attitude and in attention, elaboration and persuasion perspectives.

Ethics is an all-pervasive subject of business, but its presence is rarely observed and measured in matters of corporate governance. From ethical point of view, the aim of corporate governance should be to ensure that certain moral standards are maintained and the legal system should be complied to while dealing with both external and internal business decisions that impact the stakeholders. However, the reality is that the companies concentrate on efficient governance mechanism at the cost of non-investor stakeholders with the objective to increase shareholder profitability and firm's short term financial value. This phenomenon gets pronounced in emerging markets. In this context, this study provides a detailed framework and a model for analysing how the governance and legal framework have an effect on the ethical behaviour of firms in 21 emerging markets. The findings of the study suggest that corporate governance and its legal framework do have an impact on ethical behaviour of firms in emerging markets. The results also suggest that firms operating in these countries tend to have a direct relationship with legal system and ethical behaviour and negative relationship with corporate governance and ethical behaviour.

This study examines the role of negative affect state and relationship conflict in explaining the association between two types of work-related conflicts namely, task and process conflicts; and employee well-being. Drawing from affective events theory and social attribution theory, the study hypothesizes a mediation model in which task and process conflicts are negatively associated with employee well-being through negative affect state and relationship conflict. While examining this model, the study establishes the inter-linkage between task, process conflicts and employee well-being and identifies two pathways to explain these relationships. Based on a sample of 554 IT employees from India, the study found support for the mediation model in which negative affect state and relationship conflict mediates the relationship between two types of conflict and employee well-being. Findings of the present study contribute to the theory by extending our understanding of the effect of task and process conflicts on employee well-being and also explains how it impairs well-being. The current insights will help managers and practitioners to design interventions to mitigate the detrimental effect of task and process conflicts on employee well-being.

Introduction to Business Research -- Business Research Process -- Business Research Design: An Overview -- Exploratory Research Design -- Descriptive Research Design -- Causal Research Design: Experimentation -- Measurement and Scaling -- Questionaire Design -- Data Preparation and Preliminary Analysis -- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) -- Regression Analysis -- Factor Analysis -- Cluster Analysis -- Logistic Regression -- Business Research Reports

PurposeThis research investigates how advergame design elements (fantasy vs realistic advergame experiences) may impact players' brand patronage (BP), under the influence of mediators (hot and cold brand relationship quality [BRQ]) and moderators (advergame reward system and brand personality).Design/methodology/approachThis research comprises of a survey (study 1) and a lab experiment (study 2).FindingsStudy 1 shows that fantasy (reality) based advergame experience leads to brand patronage through strong mediation of hot (cold) BRQ and weak mediation of cold (hot) BRQ. Introducing a utilitarian (hedonic) advergame reward system positively moderates the effect of fantasy (reality) based advergame experience on cold (hot) BRQ. Study 2 shows that an advergame that elicits fantasy (realistic) experience and offers hedonic (utilitarian) rewards for a brand having affective (vs cognitive) brand personality strongly impacts hot (cold) BRQ.Originality/valueThis research is an effort to understand how gamification as leisure information systems may be used to create gamers' advergame experiences that elicit BP by strategically designing advergame reward systems specific to brand personality types.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the underlying antecedents and psychological mechanisms through which brand's communication of sustainable business practices in social media influences consumers' responsible consumption behaviour and brand relationship outcomes.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using two surveys, from a sample of WhatsApp users (N = 632), and a sample of Facebook users (N = 471), and were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling.FindingsThe results suggest that systematic and heuristic processing of message cues about sustainable business practices communicated by the brand through online social networks influence consumers' perceptions of brand warmth and competence. These perceptions, in turn, direct consumers' responsible consumption behaviours and strengthen brand relationships. The impact of these cues is moderated by consumers' perception of the brand's motives for engaging in sustainable business practices.Originality/valueThe study insights can help brand managers to enhance consumers' brand-related perceptions, responsible consumption and consumer-brand relationships.

AbstractAdvergames are computer games through which marketers promote their brands. While many studies have explored the influence of gamification of advertising, little is known about the nature of the consumer‐brand interaction and its effect on consumers' cognitive reactions. We address this gap by conducting three experiments in which we manipulate (a) consumers' level of message construal depending upon their interactions with the brands to complete game tasks, and (b) regulatory focus (RF) (individual‐level and game‐induced). We measure the effects on consumers' brand memory and also examine the mediating role of flow experience. Different samples comprising of post‐graduate students and adults are used in the experiments. Results reveal that a low (vs. high) construal level yields stronger brand memory. Also, a fit between RF (promotion and prevention) and construal level (high and low) results in better brand memory. Flow experience mediates the effects of the independent variables on brand memory.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the differential association of three different workplace conflicts on employee-related outcomes, such as loneliness and well-being. Further, the study pursues to explore the perceived social support at the workplace as a conditional factor in the relation between different conflict types and employee loneliness.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected using a self-administered survey from 554 IT employees. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the study postulations.FindingsThe findings indicated that all three types of conflicts differently associate on both loneliness and well-being. Besides, it found that loneliness works as a mediator between conflict types and employee well-being. Further, perceived social support at the workplace moderates the relationship between different types of conflict, such as relationship, process, task conflicts and employee loneliness at work.Practical implicationsThe study provides helpful directions to HR managers by providing a clear empirical understanding of the types of conflicts and its association on employee-related outcomes. Further, the study highlights the need for developing social support in an organisation during conflict episodes, to manage the adverse association of these conflicts on employee well-being and to restore employee well-being.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, for the first time, a study has been conducted highlighting the differential association of workplace conflict and employee outcome and indicating its intervening mechanisms and conflict management conditions.

PurposeThe primary objective of this paper is to extend the Activity Reduces Conflict Associated Strain (ARCAS) model. To test the ARCAS model, the study aims to examine the effect of process conflict on employee well-being and the role of negative affect as an intrapersonal mechanism linking process conflict and employee well-being. Further, to extend the emerging ARCAS model, the study examines whether the assumed indirect effect of process conflict on employee well-being through negative affect is conditional upon levels of conflict management styles.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 554 software engineers working in information technology firms responded to the administered questionnaire and hypothesised relationships were tested using Process Macros.FindingsThe findings indicate that process conflict is negatively related to employee well-being and the negative affect state mediates the relationship between process conflict and employee well-being. As hypothesised, it was found that the indirect effect of process conflict on employee well-being through the negative affect state is conditional upon levels of conflict management styles of the employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to the conflict literature by establishing the detrimental effect of process conflict on employee well-being. The study also established the explanatory mechanism linking process conflict and employee well-being. Further, the study extended the emerging ARCAS model by establishing the moderating role of conflict management styles as well as the conditional indirect effect.Practical implicationsThe study highlighted the within-individual effect of process conflict in deteriorating employee well-being. The study provides valuable insights to the managers and practitioners about how individuals' conflict management styles influence well-being.Originality/valueThe study specifically examined the effect of process conflict, which was omitted from conflict literature considering it the same as task conflict, on employee well-being. The study established the within-individual mechanism through which process conflict diminishes employee well-being. Also, the study extended the ARCAS model by examining the effect of conflict management styles with the aid of Affective Events Theory.