The Psychology of Product Placement in US Entertainment Media

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN U.S. ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA

LIAM NEILSON

WHAT IS PRODUCT PLACEMENT?

Product placement is an advertising strategy that embeds branded products into entertainment media as a persuasion method toward consumers (Janssen et al, 2016) Product placement is often used as an attempt to increase brand identity or awareness (Barnhardt et al, 2016) Some examples of product placements in U S entertainment media include the film E T where the character eats Reese's Pieces, or the restaurant Chili's being portrayed in the television show The Office (Corkindale et al, 2023)

PERSUASION

Research suggests that consumers' attitude toward particular brands can impact their purchase intention (Jung & Childs, 2020) One study found that characters within the program interacting with the brand or product tend to have higher persuasive effects on the viewer (Kamleitner & Jyote, 2013) Another study found that disclosing that the content is branded to the consumer may unintentionally increase the persuasive effects (Janssen et al, 2016)

According to Lee et al (2011), realism and materialism can be predictors of consumer's response to branded content

BRAND AWARENESS

According to Lin (2014), more widely recognized brands placed into media tend to be recalled more easily by the consumer These particular results were found through a study involving consumers recollection of branded content within mobile video games Research shows that subtle placements can oftentimes result in more favorable attitudes toward the brand when compared with blatant placements (Gillespie et al 2012)

REFERENCES