The effectiveness of product placement in films across cultures : the role of prominence, brand awareness, prior disclosure and depth of processing

Product placement is the practice of integrating branded products in media content. Although this practice has been growing rapidly, systematic scholarly work in this area is only two decades old and focuses mainly on the effect of placement strategies and its acceptability across cultures. Yet no research has examined how consumers process product placements, nor is there any research on placement effectiveness across cultures. This research was conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) and Hong Kong (HK). It is argued to be a unique cross-cultural comparison where differences in response are attributed primarily to culture, rather than any other conditions. Specifically, this research addresses three main research questions: 1) Do consumers in the two cultures exhibit different opinions towards the marketing practice of product placement? 2) Do consumers in the two cultures have different exposure to product placement in films? and 3) What are the key determinants of product placement effectiveness? These research questions are addressed with three separate, but complementary studies. Phase 1 addresses research question 1 and involves 32 in-depth interviews in the UK and HK, exploring young consumers' understanding and perception of product placement. Phase 2 addresses research question 2 and consists of a content analysis of brand appearances in the UK and HI<. high grossing films. Significant differences were found between the two markets in relation to exposure of product placement. Phase 3 addresses research question 3 and involves a full-factorial 2x2x2 experiment on 572 participants (283 from the UK and 289 from HK). It was found that high prominence and low brand awareness led to less positive evaluation of placed brands, while prior disclosure did not cause any differences in evaluation. Participants from the more assertive and performance-oriented culture were less positive towards a prominently or a less well-known placed brand. Prominent placements also elicited more extensive processing, which was negatively correlated with brand attitudes. The findings of this research make a contribution to existing literature by showing I) how placement effectiveness varies across cultures; 2) the mediating role of depth of processing on placement effectiveness; and 3) the role of further regulation in product placement.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo