Ethics and regulation of contemporary marketing communication practices: an exploration of the perceptions of UK-based consumers towards the ethical issues raised by product placement in British TV shows

Product placement, as a variant of television programme sponsorship, has become a unique and evolving marketing communications tool in which brands are seamlessly embedded within the consumer's experiential world. Although studies have suggested that consumer attitudes towards product placement are generally positive, several issues of ethical concern have emerged. To date, there is a marked shortage of studies that address particular ethical issues in specific contexts of product placement practice. This paper reviews previous work and reports a small-scale UK-based study into the ethics and acceptability of product placement in British television programmes. The research design adapts and extends that used in a larger US-based study. The major findings concur with previous studies and some new insights emerge. Ethical concerns tend to focus on the 'hidden' promotional motive of product placement and the problematic status of ethically-charged product categories. The paper discusses findings and suggests that product placement research needs to develop to keep pace with developments in the field. In particular, research is needed to inform regulatory systems that address ethical concerns