Navigating toxic playgrounds: Managing reputational and financial brand safety in multiplayer video games

Brands are increasingly leveraging video games to connect with consumers through advertising activities such as virtual in-game ads, product placement, and branded skins. However, the prevalence of toxic player behavior in multiplayer video games poses significant challenges for brands, as many are hesitant to establish a presence in this space due to growing concerns over brand safety. Despite efforts by game providers to combat toxicity, empirical evidence of the impact of toxicity on brands remains scarce. This study investigates whether and why toxic player behavior poses a brand safety risk for brands that advertise in video games and how game providers can mitigate these risks. We introduce a two-dimensional brand safety framework that disentangles brand safety into a reputational and financial performance component and conduct six experiments that show that toxic player behavior produces negative spillover effects on advertising brands. Contrary to popular belief, we show that toxicity does not harm a brand’s reputation or directly impact financial brand outcomes. Instead, toxic player behavior indirectly affects financial brand outcomes. Specifically, toxicity leads players to blame toxic players more, reducing game enjoyment and thereby diminishing financial brand outcomes within the game. We also find negative effects on financial brand outcomes outside the game. Our findings further reveal that active game moderation and kicking toxic players out of the game effectively mitigate these spillover effects. These results provide valuable insights for brands seeking to navigate the rapidly evolving video game landscape safely.