At the Roots of Product Placement: The Mere Exposure Effect

Stefano Ruggieri,Stefano Boca

doi:10.5964/ejop.v9i2.522

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the effect of product placement on attitude change and takes into consideration psychological models of the mere exposure effect. A sample of high school students watched an excerpt from two widely-distributed movies in which several products were shown by using the technique known as product placement. The results indicate that students who saw the commercial brand liked the products more than those who didn’t see it. This effect, in line with the literature on the product placement effect, seems to be independent from the recognition of the brand in the movie excerpt. This study also shows that, in the high involvement condition, one exposure is enough to produce a positive attitude toward the brand.

Highlights

The Product Placement Effect Research in the field of advertising has evolved over the last fifty years and has developed increasingly innovative techniques aimed at producing specific purchasing behaviors
One of the techniques based on this concept is known as product placement, where brands of cars, accessories, clothes, drinks, and other products appear clearly in video segments without giving the impression of watching a commercial
It can be seen that subjects who were exposed to commercial brands clearly preferred those brands to others, regardless of the type of product

Summary

Introduction

The Product Placement Effect Research in the field of advertising has evolved over the last fifty years and has developed increasingly innovative techniques aimed at producing specific purchasing behaviors. The products are placed in advantageous, natural, and credible contexts that offer advertisers an opportunity to add favorable associations to their brands (Karrh, 1998). Companies using this advertising approach exploit the cinema as a promotional showcase, sharing a portion of the production costs in exchange for adequate visibility of their products in the film.

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Results

Conclusion