Category: Product Placement

Most of the cinema production cost are covered by product placement. In cinema, product placement has grown significantly over recent years. However, with so much money spent, there is very little known facts about the effectiveness of the practice in the cinema. Various research have been conducted in this topic. In one study, the communication effects of the product placement among the audience viewing the entire movie was studied. Over 25% of the 39 brands in the movie are not noticeable among the treatment group than among the control group. But, there were no significant differences between two groups with regard to 15 brand studied.

As traditional media outlets become more fragmented, marketers are seeking alternative means of communicating with consumers. In-store media, event sponsorship, and place-based media are growing as alternative ways of reaching consumers. Another alternative medium that is growing is product placement in motion pictures. However, as with many alternative mediums, there is very little based research regarding the extent and effectiveness of this practice. Nevertheless, advertisers believe it is enormously successful, citing the example of Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces, which were prominently featured in the film ‘E.T.’. Within a month of release, sales of Reese’s Pieces jumped 65% leading the way for a boom- town effect in product placement (Rosen 1990). More recently, one hundred different companies were part of the mega-hit ‘Jurassic Park’ and its merchandizing blitz, many involving product placement. Cinematic product placement became so common in the 1980’s that it now sustains its own industry with dozens of product placement agencies and advertising agencies exploring new scripts for product placement opportunities.

Product placement has been variously defined as “the inclusion of a brand name product, package, signage, or other trademark merchandise within a motion picture, television show, or music video” (Steortz 1987, p. 22) or “a technique for creating awareness and exposure for branded products by arranging for theu on-screen exposure in motion pictures” (‘Red Stripe Taps Higher Sales’ 1993, p. 27) or “paid message(s) that seek to influence audiences via the planned and unobtrusive entry of a branded product into a movie or television program” (Balasubramanian 1991). While all are slightly different, these definitions possess three common elements. First, though the practice is referred to as product placement, it is really brands that are placed. For example, Budweiser is placed instead of the product category, beer. Second, a conscious effort, either by a movie producer or a marketer or both, is expended to place a brand. While we are interested in paid product placements from a marketer’s point of view, some estimate that a majority of product placements are unpaid (Colford and Magiera 1991). Finally, there is some effect on the audience desired. Marketers placing brands in films hope to generate exposure, while movie producers might use paid or unpaid placements to add realism to scenes. In sum, product placement involves film characters presenting branded products, visually or verbally, as part of the script or to simply have branded products used as set pieces or props.

The technique of placing branded products in Hollywood motion pictures is not new. It was used as early as 1945, when Jack Daniels whiskey was featured in the movie, ‘Mildred Pierce’ (Spillman 1985). At that time, though, studio managers may have featured brands in films through barter arrangements with manufacturers, who in turn supplied complementary products to the studio’s commissary (Miller 1990). Even today, it is not uncommon for manufacturers to send cases of their products to movie studios in hopes of getting some exposure (Steortz 1987).

After the success of ‘Reese’s Pieces’, however, product placement has become a thriving industry. By the mid-eighties, there were more than 30 companies acting as agents for products (Oliver 1986). Manufacturers pay these agents fees, such as $10,000 to $50,000 per placement, or $25,000 to $500,000 annually,or a mini- mum fee plus $1,000 for every one million national box ofice attendance (Steortz 1987). These agents seek out scripts to find acceptable placements for their clients, with ‘clearly visible to the audience’ being considered acceptable (Steortz 1987,p. 4).

Most films have an excellent demographic breakdown, being a prime outlet for advertisers who pursue consumers with higher discretionary income, education, and who are under the age of 35. Although the industry suffered with the introduction of television and will continue to sustain losses at the hands of cable and VCR household consumption, seeing a movie is still considered an ‘event’ to many moviegoers. Johnson(1981) argues that this may make the movie more memorable than other media.

An advertiser has truly captive viewers and little or no ‘noise’ in the communication channel. Acoustical studies used by architects ensure a quality sound presentation, bolted chairs direct viewers’ attention, theater seating is cushy and comfortable, there are no commercial interruptions, and viewers generally remain in place for the entire duration of the film (Johnson 1981).

However, as a theatrical presentation, an advertiser wishing to pass along large amounts of information cannot do so effectively. Generally, the product is only glimpsed or mentioned. Robert Kovoloff, President of Associated Film Promotions (responsible for placing Wheaties in Rocky 110,denies that this is a problem, “Seeing a product, even for a second, in a realistic dramatic setting in which the viewer is already emotionally involved leaves an invaluable impression”. Marketers of the Pemer product concur, “This sort of exposure is very important to us because it’s all part of getting Pemer into the fabric of society. It’s a very subtle way of selling” (Clark 1988,pp. 366-367).

Globalization has many impacts in the world such as the advances of infrastructure, technologies and telecommunications. Those advances create a high competition among business industries. To compete within its market and customer, business industries must build a strong brand and creatively utilize various marketing tools. Marketing tool that is currently popular and effective can be identified as product placement that focuses on analyzing the impact of the appearance and use of a product on TV to customers.

Wider audience is reached by product placement because film can be seen in any time and any place. Furthermore, product placement provides unlimited access to customers and lower cost than TV advertisement. Often, product placement in films is unnoticed because it blends well with the storyline and naturally used by actresses. Consequently, it will create value for costumers.

The term ‘product placement’ was commonly used in early 1980s for placing products in a communication media such as films, theater performance, television program and continuously used in the scientific community (Hanna & Kulykovets, 2016). Product placement known as non-traditional method and attractive path to reach customers awareness, advance consumer recognition, and further affects consumer preference and purchase intention which in practice customers often unaware of the commercial persuasion effort (Srivastava, 2016).

There are three main characteristic of product placement:

1. Visual. Product shows for a few minutes or second usually in transition of a film, just to draw attention of viewer by its physical information like name, shapes or etc. As an example, name of brand shows in a billboard when actress driving.
2. Spoken. Used as short promotion object where product mentions during the film as a dialogue. As an example, when brand or product’s name spoken in a decision making when actress shopping.
3. Plot. Product was in line with the story and has an interaction with actress. Usually it shows demonstration of using the product and aiming to raise customers’ willingness to buy. As an example, actress chooses and wears some product in the preparation for dating.

Each characteristic of product placement have a hybrid message, a hidden but paid message for customers. Generally, a firms or business industries pay for product placement to inclusion product names or image. However, this day, product that placed in a film has a possibility in exchange for being film properties so it was beneficial for both entities because stated by Pulliam (2012) product placement used by film makers as creative decision making process that help tell their story.

Product placement in a 30 second commercial has several advantages. First, it is make sure that the message is integrated within the content of the TV program. Next, product placement offers a less intrusive solution. Product placement also has an unlimited range to reach customers, and unlimited access for display. Last, product placement was cost less compared to other types of advertisements.

Looking at product placement from customers’ perspective is way to understand product placement mechanism and systems. In this globalization era, customers’ perspective is crucial to make decisions and develop business in effective and modern ways.

The Hershey Company publicly attributed a 66 percent increase in Reese’s Pieces (Reed and Dutka 1989) revenues to a famous and unforgettable product placement in Universal Studio’s E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (Kennedy and Spielberg 1982). E.T succeeded in pairing with Reese’s Pieces, 20th Century Fox became the first Hollywood film studio to publicly give producers a structured method for product and advertisement placement in its monetary reward films (Harmetz 1983).

Product placement in cinematic history may be the predilection of an extraterrestrial tourist for candy treatments. Product placement in mass media began in 1895 with the contractual inclusion of two Lever Brothers soap cases in Switzerland’s Washing Day at Alexandre Promio (Newell, Salmon and Chang 2006). By 2006, the product placement market, including film, television, and video games, was valued at $4.24 billion (Cohen 2006). Recently one channel started actively experimenting with product placement, a channel neglected in research: comic books.

Literature Review

They want to provide more insight into both aspects in order to address our research question regarding product placement on social media. This will lead to product placement construction, its history, efficacy, and ethical issues.

Social Media

This section describes the social media history and how they have developed into an important part of the current media landscape.

History

Communication has always been part of human society. The steam-powered rotary press was introduced in this century, leading to a newspaper industry where organizations could communicate through a unique channel to the general public. Goff (2013) begins by mentioning the electronic media, such as radio and television, which in the 20th century extended that model. However, the Internet came up in the latter decades of the 20th century and moved in as a new type of media. Therefore, the Internet allows people to respond to communication messages and interact with each other, thus differentiating themselves from the aforementioned mass-media channels. Thus 21st century is the explosive time of social media transmitted communication (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).

Social Media Usage

Social media covers a range of online data sources, which include blogs, collaborative websites, social networks, and websites for content sharing (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). In the case of product placement, Facebook, youtube and Instagram are three main platforms for social media use. Companies actively use social media to create brand communities, gain insight into consumers and increase product or brand awareness (Singh et al., 2012). Gunawan and Huarng (2015) It was discovered that the influence generated by social media, such as the word-of-mouth of other social media users, affects the view of consumers towards products or brands and their intention to buy.

Product Placement

Marketing is described as a technique of advertising to subtly sell products through appearances in movies, televisions, or other media (Business Dictionary, 2015).

History

Old sales practices used for more than a century now (Newell, Salmon, & Chang, 2006). It was first introduced by Unilever, who deliberately put their Sunlight Soap back in a Lumière movie in the 1890s (Sung, de Gregorio, & Jung 2009)the successful example is James Bond movies. Until now, the Bond franchise has endorsed world-renowned brands such as Bollinger champagne, Aston Martin cars, Church shoes, Samsonite suitcases, Smirnoff vodka, and Rolex / Omega watches (Kuhn & Westwell, 2015). (Rose, 2014). They begin using these social platforms to promote brands, products, and services by having celebrities, bloggers or social media influencers create posts that incorporate a promotional message to publicize the product on social media (Liu et al., 2015).

Effectiveness of Product Placement

Experts say this is why it’s particularly effective because it seems very credible to users (Meldrum, 2014). The public is sensitive to this and begins to complain about the regular infomercial scenes in TV shows and movies (Rose, 2014). To some extent, it increases a brand’s recall and recognition, but at the same time, viewers realize that eventually, it’s all a marketing industry persuasion attempt (Cowley & Barron, 2008). Increasing the perceived prominence of products and brands being deliberately placed results in negative attitudes and beliefs that need to be resolved (van Reijmersdal, Neijens, & Smit, 2009).

Legal Issues and Critics

EU audiovisual media services policies, product placement is permitted in fictional programs such as films and TV shows which are considered as light entertainment. News, children’s shows, political, and religious programs, however, do not allow any kind of product placement. Also, cigarettes, tobacco as well as medication, only available on prescription, are not allowed to be placed in any kind of program.

Concepts and Models

The main constructs being explained are the balance theory, brand perception, and purchase intention. All three concepts are relevant, as our research question aims to investigate the effects of product placement on brand perception and purchase intention.

Balance Theory

This balance theory was proposed by Heider in 1958 as a motivational theory of attitude change. As seen in Figure 1, the theory consists of a three-point cognitive structure with relationships among each other (Heider, 1958). Each, so-called triad contains a person and their perception (P) of an attitude object (O) and a third person or object (X) (Solomon et al., 2013). According to Chang and Cheng (2014), individuals are always in search of a balance within the triad. However, this balance may be positive or negative depending on the individual’s feelings towards other actors (Woodside & Chebat, 2001).

Figure 1. Heider’s P-O-X-Model.

Figure 1 shows, how this act of balancing creates the basis for celebrity endorsement. Marketers hope to transfer the celebrity’s popularity (X) to their products (O) in order to change the person’s (P) attitude (Basil & Herr, 2006). Though, in order to use the theory of balance successfully, the user should not only like the endorser but also understand the link between the endorser and the endorsed product.

Brand Perception

According to Munn (1960), a consumer’s understanding of a specific brand depends on his physical qualities, such as bottle, packaging, size, advertisement, promotion, and merchandising. Consumer attitude has real impact on the product placement and their packaging. A key factor is word-of-mouth, it always transpires because of the evolving social media and its brand communities, Negative word-of-mouth spreads rapidly and could lead to a tragedy, while positive word-of-mouth can help a brand distinguish itself from the competition, as customers are likely to develop positive attitudes toward the brand.

Purchase Intention

Whitlar, G, and Swenson (1993) defines the purchase intention as a likelihood of purchase, combined with the expectation of the percentage of persons actually buying the commodity. The possibility that a consumer will buy a particular product, resulting from the interaction of his / her need for it, his / her attitude towards it, and his / her perceptions and the company that makes it.

The Buyer Decision Process

The first step in the buyer decision process is the recognition of a need or a problem of a consumer.

The second step in the process is the search for knowledge. Consumers can use different types of sources for their information search: personal sources such as family, neighbors, and friends; commercial sources such as advertising or salespersons; public sources such as mass media and experimental sources in which they examine or use the product.

The third step is to determine alternatives, where customers filter information to make a final choice (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). The evaluation procedure consumers follow is not always the same, as it differs for each individual and it can be based on calculations and logical thinking, as well as on intuition and impulse. (Assaf et al., 2011).

The fourth step is the actual purchase when a customer actually decides to buy the highest ranked alternative (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Nonetheless, there are considerations that may influence the decision of the highest-ranked option to actually buy. (Assaf et al., 2011).

Afterward, the last step in the decision process includes reviewing the purchase. This consists of comparing performance perceived with expected performance of a product or service (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). The level of satisfaction will lead to either positive or negative word-of-mouth, which influences others’ decisions from step two of this process (Assaf et al., 2011).

Given that Internet users spend a lot of their online time on social media platforms today, it is interesting to know if product placement on social media influences the decision-making process.

Problem Statement

This study seeks to explore the relationships between product placement, comic books, and comic book readers. As such, the exploratory research questions that guided the development of the research method and analysis are as follows:

1. R1: What are the general attitudes of readers toward advertisements in comic books?
2. R2: What are the semantics used by readers when they encounter, think about or discuss product placement in comic books?
3. R3: What are the attitudes of readers toward product placement in comic books?

Research Objectives

The comic environment is designed to take you a moment away from reality,’ opined Chuck Rozanski, founder of Denver comics retailer Mile High Comics. ‘ Here we thrust aggressive goods from our world into this world of fantasy” (Steinberg 2006).

Many shared their appreciation of the practice as a constructive business model while others lambasted it as a breach of trust between publisher and reader. “How soon until we’re reading Nabisco’s Action Comics or The Amazing Spider-Man by Coca-Cola?” asked one poster (cncoyle 2006); “As long as it’s unobtrusive, I don’t mind too much,” commented another (MichaelP 2006). Such mainly thin descriptors of consumer behavior pose the following questions: what is the customer attitude and reaction to product placements in comics and what lies below the surface of these brusque answers? Product placement in comic books is a new and exciting research field, ripe for both researchers and practitioners to test.

Research Design

Grounded theory has guided this study’s development, from the adoption of an initial theoretical framework to data collection and analysis (DeLorme and Reid 1999; Lincoln and Guba 1985). Focus groups allowed a moderator to stimulate dialogue between participants in a comfortable and conversational environment to observe the relationships and attitudes of the participants; in-depth interviews yield detailed, unique first-person experiences; and as an Added comparison layer, member testing allowed participants to access data collected and evaluate the researcher’s overall interpretations and findings.

Qualitative Research

The aim was to ‘develop a better understanding of why people act as they do, rather than numerically explaining what people do” (Davis 1997, p. 195). Qualitative approaches, used within grounded theory structure.

The grounded theory approach allows the researcher to synthesize new hypotheses and understandings by collecting data and the collection process, rather than by testing preconceived theoretical frameworks (Corbin and Strauss 1990).

The qualitative approach provides a ‘thick’ understanding of the area in question and produces data mature with unique, profound, and experiential perspectives produced by the participant (Denzin 1989, p. 83). This study provides a contextual understanding of the attitudes and expectations of consumers about product placement in comics; that is, an understanding built by ‘the [ consumer’s ] own reference system.’ (Bogdan and Taylor 1975, p. 2).

Focus Groups and In-Depth Interviews

Focus groups are scheduled group interviews in which a moderator facilitates dialogue among homogeneous participants to observe their interactions and attitudes (Davis 1997). Focus groups enable participants to ‘expand and refine their own views’ (Davis 1997, p. 198)

Another method of expected and open contact between an interviewer and a respondent is one-on-one interviews in depth. This ‘free, but organized dialogue between the respondent and the interviewer” (Davis 1997, p. 197) is less structured than a group discussion but focused nonetheless. Where a focus group conversation may allow participants to engage in lively discussion of a given topic, sharing ideas and observations, a personal interview enables a respondent to provide spontaneous and unmediated responses.

According to Davis (1997), at least two focus groups are recommended, while Morgan (1988) states that three or four groups are enough for a researcher to reach theoretical saturation. Theoretical saturation is the stage at which the group-to-group responses are similar enough that no new data can be ascertained from further observation (Glaser and Strauss 1967).

This research initially estimated the need for at least three group sessions, while theoretical exhaustion seemed to be drawing close after two sessions, as well as the concurrent depth interviews. Examination of the parallel profound interviews have showed strong similarities between participants in themes and attitudes.

Group selection and interview participants are crucial to gathering accurate and reliable data. Because this method works to reveal certain aspects and relationships between a particular group of participants and the topic of discussion, generalizability is not a problem (Morgan 1988; Krueuger 1988). Participants were selected based on their importance to and commitment to the study area.

Participants in the focus group and interview were recruited from local comic book specialty stores to ensure maximum probability that prospective participants were indeed involved in comic books and customers. The researcher ascertained the interest of the customer in comics and general read and buy habits, the customer was invited to participate in the study. Attitudes toward product placement in comics were told to the participants that the purpose of the study was ‘trends in comics and the comics industry’ in order to minimize prepared responses to the specific research subject.

Data Collection

A pre-planned moderator or interview guide was used during both focus groups and in-depth interviews to get answers. Such written guides provide the moderator or interviewer with a standardized visual map to ensure a clear conversation flow and as a means for other key members of the research team to determine the acceptability and consistency of the proposed method (Davis 1997). The focus group discussion guide (Appendix A) for this study and the interview guide (Appendix B) were produced in collaboration with the research committee of the researcher and were pre-tested using staff at a local comic book store.

Focus groups were performed at a local specialty comic book store, and in-depth interviews were conducted at a time and venue convenient to the interviewee, such as a quiet coffee shop or library near the interviewee’s home or workplace. Every focus group started with 10 to 15 minutes of unmediated discussion during which participants were given food and encouraged to mingle freely. After that point, the moderator began to follow the moderator’s script by reiterating the essence of the study, reviewing and gathering the signed consent forms (Appendix C), and reviewing the discussion guidelines. Nonetheless, each session consisted of a discussion of what prompted each participant to read comics as a form of entertainment, a discussion of the general likes and dislikes of each participant in publishers, creative teams, storylines, production values, etc. And those preferences affected his buying decisions, and each participant was given a copy of The Irredeemable Ant-Man No. 10 (Kirkman et al. 2007) and time to read a comic book during the session.

Likewise, individual interviewees were organized in detail, with the interviewer reading an interview guide (Appendix B) to review and collect the consent form and review the interview’s general guidelines.

The discussion of narrative and non-narrative elements continued, as well as the analysis and evaluation of brand appearances in different works, similar to the framework of the focus groups.

Study Limitations

Although this analysis gave rise to many observations concerning ads and product placements in comics, it is important to note the limitations of the research method used and the findings themselves.

Discussions created during research sessions are similar to those participating groups and individuals; specific responses are unique to each participant based on their own experiences with comics, advertising, and product placement.

In this analysis, gender composition of the groups and individual interviews could have been a limiting factor. Though research has shown that only when it comes to controversial products, such as alcohol or tobacco products, men and women vary in attitude and perceived acceptability (Gould et al. 2000; Gupta and Gould 1997), those studies focus on product placement in film and on television. There was some discrepancy in what the male participants reported in this study in terms of attitude and behavior and what was reported by male participants in studies on other channels; therefore, female comic readers might also differ in their reported attitudes and behaviors as opposed to those in placement studies on other channels. Female respondents may even vary in their views as regards comics from male respondents.

Ultimately, because this study relied heavily on direct involvement of researchers and contact with participants during the data collection process, and on subjective interpretation of data during the final phases of the analysis, it is necessary to consider the likelihood of researcher bias and intervention. While participation of researchers and interface plays a part in both quantitative and qualitative methods of study, it can be particularly pronounced in qualitative studies where the researcher is expected to communicate with the participant on a one-to-one basis.

Abstract

Recently product placement in movies have increased with double fold worldwide. Product placement is used by the brands to be placed in movies, which ultimately results in revenue to the brand, which is gained by selling more the highlighted product on-screen(Gaille,2017). To understand the factors responsible for grabbing the users desired attention towards a particular product. This study will investigate the impact of luxury cars in product placement advertising on male consumers (age 25-35). In particular, I will investigate the effect of commercial movies on consumer perception regarding luxury brand recognition and purchase decisions and also to understand what factors result in the positive outcomes of the brand placed in movies.

Preface

This research project covers the area of product placement advertising, specifically luxury-powerful cars. The idea of research came after a lot of car based movies were released in last two decades of 21st century. Also the sudden changes in the car industry based on technology and performance has changed including the displaying criteria of it in the category of displayed advertisement. For this research, I decided to choose product placement of cars in movies because I have been in the media industry for past 6 years. Adding to it, my interest is more inclined towards cinematic movies as I have worked for short movies and documentaries. It has generated interest in me to understand the creation of content based on various methods. Persuing advertisement at Rmit University, Melbourne gave me this opportunity to explore the desired field of interest. This projects main focus is on cars used for product placement and is prepared for universal pictures, as it is one of the biggest banners in the movie industry to use the cars in their movies for example the fast and furious series by Universal pictures.

It is also inspired after the learnings I grabbed out of the advertising course i.e. after moving from a developing country to a developed country to study the art of advertising.

The evolution of the topic of research was a challenging process, which helped this research to be narrowed down to specific area. It was a learning process, which has added an experience to the journey of this project as well as has helped me achieve professional skills. Also my journalistic experience in past of Television and Radio has helped me conduct interviews, from approaching the respondents to extracting information out of their minds. A journalistic approach based on ethical considerations was necessary to conduct the interviews for the research to conclude. Overall, I have learnt how to research academically, also to have critical and analytical approach toward the focus of a particular topic.

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter introduces the research background, purpose and aims of the research, the audience for the research and details the research question so the reader will understand the background of the topic as well as why this research is being conducted and what questions this research will answer.

1.1 Background

This research project will explore the phenomenon of product placement used in commercial movies across the world. Specifically I will research the product placement model used by luxury car brands in big-budget action movies that achieve exposure to a mass audience. I will focus specifically on the responses of male consumers (men aged 25-35), using a consumer-based approach and attention theories in advertising. This paper will contribute to the body of knowledge in advertising and advertising product placement and will assist future developers of advertising creative solutions and future students to learn more about product placement advertising and the ways in which advertisers can make it more effective as a result of data collected through this research.

Product placement is not new. It has been used in movies to create awareness of brands and generate interest from the audience in the product to promote the brand. On the other hand, it also helps the movie gain the public’s attention. In other words,it works for both movie and product. Data about product placement in movies ‘indicates that it was first used in 1920’, which shows that this advertising strategy is still in use a century later.

2015, study (Song & Meyer, 2015) investigates the relationship of product placement between the brand placed and the media used. The study defines product placement as a promotion plan for both the movie and the product. Storm and Stoller (2014) go further in defining product placement as a marketing strategy to increase the rate of purchase decisions in favour of products based on the content that the audience has been exposed to.

This research addresses the attention part of product placement to achieve the aims/purpose to be discussed further.

1.2 Purpose/aims

The main aim of this research is to understand the impact of product placement in the movies on luxury car purchase decisions in general, and more specifically, this study will focus on understanding the consumer’s purchase decision based on the content they are exposed to. The research will determine if the respondents can remember the brands displayed, to understand the strength of the resulting brand association. Finally, I will explore which part of the movie impacts consumers most when it comes to making a future or past car-buying decisions.

To achieve these aims, respondents were invited to be a part of focus groups as a methodology undertaken for the following research project, of exposing the respondents to 2 of the movie clips and understanding their responses towards it, including the reactions of body language and facial expressions and also their eye movements. Due to the restrictions of COVID-19, this methodology was not possible and the research project was adjusted to interviews as the primary method to gather data.

This study aims to fill the gaps in the current advertising industry knowledge discussed above and help future students understand how product placement can increase brand awareness. It will offer an attention-based perspective on brand association and understanding the purchase decision of the user.

In the next section, I will discuss how to achieve these aims, keeping in mind the target group and audience for this research or future students in the advertising industry.

This research will benefit Universal Pictures, which is one of the biggest action movie product houses in the world and has used various car brands in different series of movies.

This research is prepared for Universal Pictures, Studios.

The main motive of this research is to better inform the big movie production companies, that use branded cars to display in movies. This will help the movie producers understand if the product used in the movie is worth the spend. Furthermore, should the practice of product placement continue in their future movies, and if yes, what plot or scene should they focus on to best attract the audience.

1.2 Audience

The audience for this paper is Universal Pictures, as they use most of the luxury cars in their movies. The research product seeks to aid movie production companies see the impact of product placement and how it impacts the market more broadly as well as the specific audience of the movie Furthermore, the paper will help future students of advertising as well as current advertising industry professionals, understand the concept of product placement. This will expand the understanding of the usage of product placement and luxury cars in movies. It will help determine whether it is useful to use a product in a particular way to attract a specific target group. Moreover, it will reveal whether the awareness, brand association and attention of the user is grabbed, according to a particular type of audience.

Overall the research will help the advertising industry, if the money spent on product placement of cars based on consumer-based attention, brand association, does that work or not considering the male group in mind. Also, if purchase decisions are increased as a result of the phenomenon.

1.3 Research question

The problems, aims and ideas discussed above have allowed me to express the research questions for this research in the following way:

Research question: How does luxury car product placement advertisement in action movies affect a consumer’s perception of the product, based on features displayed in scenes?

Research question: whether product placement is a good strategy for attracting audiences to the movie?

Chapter 2: Literature review

In this chapter I will present the literature review for the current research project. Various research projects previously published which inform this research will be discussed, and relevant arguments and data will be used to inform this study.

2.1 Product placement in movies and viewer perception

The phenomenon of product placement in movies was introduced in 1920. The first product placement displayed the use of tobacco products by famous actors in movies to influence viewers and ultimately increase sales.

A study based on the theory of associative networks (Grzyb, Dolinski & Kozlowska 2018) sheds light on the purchase decisions of consumers after being exposed to product placement, which is part of advertising design. It discovers that product placement is highly effective, if the product displayed is not a prominent brand and matches the plot of movie, however if the audience is already aware of the brand and the plot does not match the placement, the strategy does not influence the purchase decision.

The study by Verhellen, Dens & Pelsmacker (2016) from Malaysia supports the above finding. It suggests that the prominence of the brand and having hands-on experience of it after being exposed to the brand is necessary to create an impact on the consumer. The study concludes that the two-way communication developed while displaying the product pushes the purchase decision.

P’ng (2014) finds that millennials were more influenced by the data collected regarding product placement effect compared to elderly people exposed to placement criteria. Therefore, this research project will particularly focus on a target demographic of 25 to 35 years old. As well as, presenting brands with solid evidence-based connection to the content or the plot in the movie, with the genre of action/comedy famous. This will provide evidence about how consumer attention in product placement of luxury car may be better harnessed by advertisers.

2.2 AIDA (attention, interest, desire and action)

The AIDA model of advertising was introduced in the 19th century and is a way of understanding the two-way communication between buyer and seller. A in AIDA stands for attention, I for interest, D is for desire and A for action (RYTE 2019).

Abbey and Meloy’s (2017) study to improve the quality of data based on attention discusses various trends of attention. The researchers experimented on sample audience by manipulating their attention. They concluded that there were differences. Dahremöller and Fels’ (2015) study correlating design elements and attention also indicates that the manipulation factor is important. It also reflects that the attention behaviour of the viewer is based on different types of circumstances related to the brand exposure and the way it is exposed, and to the mindset of the audience to which it is exposed. They support their findings with an example of a car as a product which consumer only pays attention to a few features. The authors focus on showing some of the features of the products to grab users attention.

A Danish study by Micheli and Gemser (2016) find that the innovativeness, i.e. newness, of the product is appreciated by the audience, and helps users focus on the product’s uniqueness. This study broadly suggests that viewer perception about the attractiveness of the product is related to attention. This further enhances favorable purchase decisions.

The next section focuses on the use of the AIDA theory. AIDA forces a purchase decision on the consumer, and this will help understand the attention-grabbing phenomenon more deeply.

2.2.1 Effects on emotion

Emotions play a pivotal role in sensing things and understanding them. I will now discuss the categories of emotions on which the research question is based.

• Sex appeal in visuals

Since the 1960s the advertising industry has used sex appeal. indeed, sex sells in advertising has been known for centuries. Nedeljković et al. (2013) argues that communication through visuals is the main strategy of advertising, to sharpen the consumer’s purchase decision. They argue that the perception of sexualized representation varies between different people. In other words, sex appeal can be high for one individual and low for another. Their findings are based on experiments performed on individuals of different age and gender.

Similarities with this study can be seen Lee and Lee’s (2016) study from South Korea. They researched Sex appeal in advertising and found that male audience is attracted to the images of opposite sex more often. On the other hand, the female audience is generally attracted to the sex appeal of the visuals irrespective of gender. This study talks about male perceptions of the opposite gender. Because it is a gender-based study, it is related to the following research. Therefore, the following research will focus only on males as a target audience to answer research question discussed above. It will help understand if the opposite sex helps as a factor for generating the user’s (male) attention towards the product.

• Engaging music

Music is known as a universal human language and is a crucial factor enabling brands to stand out and let users make a connection with the brand or product. The right type of music for the brand based on its feel and properties helps the viewer understand the connection to a brand (Olenski 2014).

A 2017 study by Siu and Cheung used the technique of violation of expectation and emotional understanding to suggest that even infants can correlate music and facial expressions they are exposed to and react in a particular way. An infant regardless of any selfish intention reacts to the things he/she experiences. However, it also revealed that adult human beings react judgmentally, selfishly or exhibit other feelings or particular intentions when experiencing something because of awareness and knowledge of music they are exposed to. My study of engagement based on music will refine the approach of the 2017 study to understand the creators’ reasons for the creation of a particular type of scene in movies during product placement.

Innes-Ker (2015), an author of the book named moving images and music discussed the impact on the audience after exiting a movie theatre. A limitation for my study is that different people have different emotions and perceptions, and their answers are dependent on their mood. Innes-Ker discusses the manipulation check experiment conducted for the research which concluded that the music has no effect. It also concluded that the movie’s effect on the human mind is the result of the engagement of viewers.

Theory in Review

The purpose of this literature review is to research how product placement can affect the consumer habits of young adults. The inductive research process will help identify if young adults are more inclined to change their purchasing habits due to product placements that they see in movies. This literature review will be organized with 9 articles, opening with the background of product placement, following up with influences from celebrities, and concluding with the culture of today’s young adults.

Product Placement

Product placement is an advertising technique that companies use to subtly promote their products through appearances in film, television or other media. Sometimes this form of advertising can lead to a more positive attitude towards the brand since it can be represented by a group of characters. In order to create a hypothesis to see if young adults get influenced by product placement, it is important to understand the reasons for the product placement and its history.

Reasons for Product Placement. According to Jean-Marc Lehu and Etienne Bressoud, (2008), there are multiple reasons for product placement. One of the reasons for this because now electronic devices allow the audience to skip commercials, so now advertisers are seeking producers that will allow them to re-establish a link between the products and the consumers, as well as improving the brand image. Other reasons that marketers turn to product placement rather than commercials is due to the cost and it has been more effective. For my research study, it is important to realize the reasons why marketers chose to use product placement. By knowing this information, I will have the chance to evaluate whether or not the intentions of product placement have a huge impact on young adults.

The History of Product Placement. According to James Newell, Charles T. Salmon, and Susan Chang, (2006), product placement technically could have started in the 1st century during the gladiatorial matches with line art of warriors. Later in the 18th century, Japanese authors would also promote products within their literature. And lastly, during the pre-Civil War era in the United States, Dan Rice, an entertainer, would include names of hotels and restaurants in his opening acts. However, the day the modern product placement strategy was born during the spring of 1896, when the Lumière brothers made an arrangement with a Swiss businessman, who was a European distributer and promoter for soap manufacturer, Lever Brothers. This arrangement was to display the logo for Sunlight Soap. This is where product placement truly began. It is imperative to always know the background of the topics you are researching since it can give a good overview of the subject.

The Effectiveness of Product Placement. According to D.L.R Van der Waldt, V. Nunes, and J. Stroebel, (2008), the effects of product seem to be more significant when a main actor/actress uses the product more often. An example of this would be when E.T. ate Reeses Pieces in a Steven Spielberg movie, which caused sales for Reeses Pieces to skyrocket 65% within three months. (Galician & Brourdeau, 2008). Thus afterwards, the movie industy began to be obsequious towards marketers who wanted to make movie placement deals. For my research study, it is imporatant to recognize how product placement affects the sales of said product. As mentioned before, Van der Waldt, Nunez, and Stroebel, (2008), said that products used by the main actor/actress on the program being watched has a greater impact than a product just simply placed in the background. This will help make connections to my theory by showing who can effectively sell a product, and how likely there would be a boom in sales. Essentially, it shows how well products can be marketed.

Influences from Celebrities

Influences on Society. According to Choi and Berger, (2009), 21st-century actors/actresses have much more influence beyond their entertainment sector. With the rise of the internet and globalization in the 21st centrury, it’s faster for celebrities to spread beliefs and ideas to the world. Since said celebrities have more of a following on blogspots in the internet, it can help accelerate influence on today’s global knowledge-based society, especially on the younger generation since they experience consumer crazes and bandwagon effects that do often arise from the internet. This is important for my theory since it will show how celebrities can have an influence on society.

Influences on Consumer Behavior. According to Wei and Lu, (2013), studies have shown that using famous celebrities is more effective than using a non-celebrity to endorse a product. Through a study Wei and Lu conducted, advertisments over shoes that featured a celebrity figure was seen as more reliable than the reviews of an ordinary online consumer. Not only that, but it also gained the attention and desire to obtain the shoe that was advertised. Through open-ended questions, they found out that this celebrity is seen as a fashionista, so it made want the shoes for a trend they thought was going to happen. This will help me work on my theory since it will show how celebrities can influence the consumer habits of society.

Generation Z

According to Dr.Rothman, (2016), Generation Z is the generation that was roughly born between 1995-2010. She claims that Generation Z has expeirenced a global recession, global-warming issues, the rise of mobile devices, and lastly, cloud computing. This generation tends to come from smaller families with older-working parents, who often protect their children. This is the generation that has been raised alongside with the internet, and various other technologies. Due to this, Gen Z seems to be good at “task-switch” which leads to a trend called “Aquired Attention Deficit Disorder (AADD).” This is the result of the not having the ability to analyze complex information/ issue because of constant distractions from social media and the internet. This generation is also considered tech-savy, which does affect their consumer behavior.

Consumer Habits of Generation Z. According to Priporas, Stylos, and Fotiadis, (2017), the spending habits of Generation Z. Through their research, they found that smart technologies, such as self-checkout, had a huge influence on Gen Z’s consumer experience. They claim that Generation Z’s consumer interest as a consumer is being involved in new, easy-to-use technology, want to feel safe while shopping, and have a temporary escape over their reality. By having an understanding of the consumer habits of Generation Z, which as of 2019 are young adults, I will have knowledge on what they look for when shopping, and predict how well their experiences are based on what environment they tend to gravitate towards more.

Marketing Towards Generation Z. According to Williams and Page, (2011), marketing communication towards this generation is mainly done through television, however, these products need to be represesnted by said generation as well. This generation enjoys doing what they see their peers enjoy doing. With this generation, peers doesn’t even have to mean close friends that you have an almost-daily interaction with. With the popularity of social media in this generation, it makes it simple to make an online community feel like a close group of friends. Because of this, it’s suggested that marketers sponser or team up with individuals or groups of people that are popular within the generation. Again, it’s important to understand how businesses are marketing toward Generation Z in order to understand if it is making an impact on their consumer habits.

Entertainment for Generation Z. According to Apogee.us, one in five members of Generation Z doesn’t watch TV, meanwhile most of the rest aren’t watching TV through ordinary broadcast or cable channels. In fact, they reported that 70% of this generation prefers streaming services, such as Netflix or Hulu. Adding on to that, the TV is the only screen that this generation would seem to keep. Generation Z does spend most of their time on their smartphones and laptops, making them the top ranking mobile viewers from every generation. They don’t think of their living room as a go-to place for entertainment like older generations now that they can watch anything from portable devices, such as laptops and their cellphones. Because of this, Gen Z is always online, no matter where they are. For my research topic, it’s important to know what the lifestyle of Generation Z is, due to the fact that this generation only knows a life through the internet.

References

1. Choi, C. J., & Berger, R. (2010). Ethics of celebrities and their increasing influence in 21st century society. Journal of business ethics, 91(3), 313-318.
2. Critical, V. (2016). The everything guide to Generation Z.
3. Galician, M.-L., & Bourdeau, P. G. (2004). The Evolution of Product Placements in Hollywood Cinema. Journal of Promotion Management, 10(1-2), 15–36. doi: 10.1300/j057v10n01_03
4. Lehu, J.-M., & Bressoud, E. (2008). Effectiveness of brand placement: New insights about viewers. Journal of Business Research, 61(10), 1083–1090. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.09.015
5. Newell, J., Salmon, C. T., & Chang, S. (2006). The Hidden History of Product Placement. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(4), 575–594. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem5004_1
6. Priporas, C. V., Stylos, N., & Fotiadis, A. K. (2017). Generation Z Consumers’ Expectations of Interactions in Smart Retailing: A Future Agenda. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 374-381.
7. Rothman, D. (2016). A Tsunami of learners called Generation Z. URL: http://www. mdle. net/JoumaFA_Tsunami_of_Learners_Called_Generation_Z. pdf.
8. Van der Waldt, D. L. R., Nunes, V., & Stroebel, J. (2008). Product placement: Exploring Effects of Product Usage by Principal Actors. African journal of business management, 2(6), 111-118.
9. Wei, P. S., & Lu, H. P. (2013). An examination of the celebrity endorsements and online customer reviews influence female consumers’ shopping behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(1), 193-201.
10. Williams, K. C., & Page, R. A. (2011). Marketing to the generations. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 3(1), 37-53.

Game Appreciation and Industry Analysis

Introduction

The rapid growth in popularity of games has created considerable opportunities for marketers, estimating a global spending of $109 billion on games in 2017. In-Game advertising has become a new successful way of improving and growing revenue, as games become the most common past-time (Kerr, 2017, p. 5). In-game advertising is a popular method of marketing on a vast range of products, from music albums to presidential campaigns (Barnes, 2019). Product placement and advertisement expands from just general pop-ups to more advanced methods of promoting, for instance the promotional use of music involved in video games, and gameplay. An example of in-game advertisement is Worms 3D, advertisement of Red Bull in 2003 (Barnes, 2019). This was advertised within the game, showing it to give the worm more strength and speed. This was used to reinforce the Red Bulls slogan ‘’Red Bull gives you wings’’. Another example of within-game advertisement comes from Burnout Paradise, promoting the 2008 presidential election in the USA, endorsing the Obama campaign (Elsworth, 2008). This essay will look at the effectiveness of in-game product placement, to investigate what makes in-game advertisement effective. The essay will also explore, the evolution of advertisement in videos games and how they have evolved over the years, looking at different marketing techniques and trends. Lastly, this essay will investigate the impact of using CGI within games and advertisements to improve revenue and gameplay.

Evolution of Advertising in Games

Game advertisements continuously evolve and grow, previous adverts utilised a range of different techniques to get viewers’ attention, one of the more common forms of marketing games was the use of humour. Previous adverts using humour have been shown to be successful marketing strategy, however, wasn’t always in tone with the game. An example of this, comes from the ‘Jam Sessions’ Nintendo advert (2007), this featured a child using obscene language and smacking a cake out of his mother’s hands, and then displayed an image of the jam sessions video case with rock music in the background. This advert being quite controversial may attract views, however, doesn’t advertise the game effectively. More recent marketing strategies put the game at the forefront of adverts rather than comedy. Current adverts focus on grabbing the audience’s attention by showing snippets of the game’s storyline, focusing on emotional or dramatic snippets to get the attention of viewers. An example of this comes from the game ‘The Last of Us’ which is set in a zombie apocalyptic world. The marketing technique used to advertise this game shows a compelling storyline, featuring many emotional and violent scenes. The storyline stimulates the audience and manipulate the player’s emotions, creating a ‘hype’ for the release date. The effectiveness of this strategy could be related to research which suggests that human tragedies and emotion may help individuals appreciate entertainment, in the idea that life is short, imperfect and at times chaotic (Oliver and Hartman, 2010). The use of emotional attachment to characters is linked to player enjoyment, and emotions have been suggested to create positive gaming experience and are one of the main aims of game design (Yannakakis and Paiva, 2014), this marketing strategy has been shown to be successful (Taylor, 2000).

As console games develop, so does the audience and users of games. Statistics have shown an increase in female and family gamers, showing more female, and family involvement in purchasing and gameplay. Similarly, research has shown 89% increase in parental involvement in purchasing games intended for children (Galarneau, 2014). These statistics are important to marketing, in monitoring consumer behaviour and ensuring the use of relevant marketing strategies. Target audiences are broader than ever, targeting all ages, gender, cognitive ability, and ethnicities. Games have not only been developed for entertainment, but also for education and inclusion (Cole, 2017). An example of this comes from a Brazilian gaming app aimed at teaching Brazilian numbers in sign language while remaining fun and educational (Pontes et al, 2018). Similarly, research has shown gaming to be successful approach in health promotion. An example of this is comes from Dias et al (2016), who developed a game to help tackle childhood obesity, the game showed positive responses in both gameplay, mechanics, and content, showing it can be an effective way to promote health campaigns. Research has shown that games can be reformed to become an effective educational tool and teaching resource which presents material in an entertaining and fun way. This research shows how games can be transformed into advertisements and campaigns in themselves, for things such as health promotion (Dias et al, 2016).

Consoles, alongside mobile phones, have become a massive revenue for game advertisement, showing approximately 48 million people play games on their mobiles in the USA alone (Galarneau, 2014). This is in part due to the rise in mobile phone use showing 91% of adults own a mobile phone, 50% use a mobile phone as their primary source of internet, and 80% of time spent on mobile phones is used on apps or games (Galarneau, 2014). A significant growth in free-to-play games has generated large success, an example of this is Angry Birds. Using in-game marketing to redefine the marketplace for in-game advertisement, showing a 43% increase in revenue from smartphone games (Gaudiosi, 2015), showing for the first-time mobile phone revenue topped console, from the income produced by advertisement (Gaudiosi, 2015).

The Effectiveness of Product Placement

Advances in technology have made it increasingly easier for consumers to avoid traditional advertising messages. As a result, brands have had to find alternative ways to attract consumer attention (Lee and Faber, 2013). Brand awareness is one of the most common goals organizations want to accomplish using product placement (Karrh et al, 2003). A way in which product placement has been advertised is to utilise celebrity endorsement, to attract more views and target audiences. An example is the NBA 2K basketball video game which was endorsed by a number of professional NBA players, including LeBron James. Product placement has become an increasingly popular way of utilising new technology for marketing. It has been thought that the processing of product placement occurs in a different way, to traditional advertisement (Russell and stern, 2006). This is due to traditional advertisements being more obvious and putting the brand as the primary focus, creating more consumer skepticism and persuasion knowledge, which impacts the efficiency of the advert (Obermiller et al, 2005). In contrast to this, product placement is a more inconspicuous, as the main focus is gameplay. Research exploring the effectiveness of product placement in movies show viewers have a high brand recall (Vollmers and Mizerski, 1994). However, indiscretions have accrued in respect to if the product placement was verbal or visual, where the product placement was used, and if the placement was an important part of the story (Russell, 2002). Furthermore, it was found verbal placements alone are more effective than visual, however visual placements connected to the storyline improved recall and recognition (Russell, 2002). Although, using both verbal and visual product placement significantly shows the most recall and success in brand recognition (Sabherwal et al, 1994). Nevertheless, it has been argued that research of product placement in movies can not directly be associated with product placement in games, due to the interactive quality in games which movies lack (Nicovich, 2005). Research conducted by Lee and Faber (2013), found the more attention a gamer is using in gameplay, the less attention they have left to process product placement, also the study found a difference in processing levels between experienced players in comparison too inexperienced. Showing in-experienced players found it more difficult to process product placement in the peripheral placements due to needing to use more of their attentional resources on gameplay. Additionally, the study found that random product placement had better recall, than more appropriate product placement e.g. bizarre product placements like an advert for fish food in a desert would generate higher recall due to the randomness of the placement (Lee and Faber, 2013). This study shows the importance of where and when product placement is used within a game, to ensure the effectiveness of the placement. A further study exploring the effectiveness of product placement in games found that gamers process the in-game advertised brands much faster than out-of-game brands as ‘good’. Equally, gamers also processed the in-game brands as ‘good’ significantly faster than processing them as ‘bad’ (Glass, 2007). This shows the effectiveness of product placement within game advertisements on the processing and recognition of brands within games.

Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) Revolutionised

Video games started with games using two-dimensional perspective (2D). 2D games were very popular when they first game out, a great example of this is Pac-Man (1980) created by Namco. Since then games have been continuously evolving, with the first three-dimensional game, Monster Maze coming out in 1981. Technological advances have since expanded to visual effects and the development of CGI. This has been detrimental for the marketing of games, as it has changed the ways commercials advertise, and consumer behaviour. CGI has revolutionized the quality of gameplay, an example of this is the lighting, creating more realism within gameplay. The lighting in video games is all manipulated through the use of CGI (Garland, 2019). Video games using natural lighting from areas within the game, create a more realistic feel for the player. This also helps correctly represent the shadows within the game. These slight adaptions have changed the gaming experience, creating realism in gameplay and developing the technology and quality of games. CGI has also improved the graphics to stop white pixilation over black screens, this has enhanced gameplay, player enjoyment and thus creates more realistic games. This has forever changed the gaming experience, making the video games more marketable than ever. The advances in technology could be correlated to the positive inclination in more people purchasing games than ever before (Galarneau, 2014). The developments in technology are not only seen in the game, but also in the game adverts. In future adverts we can expect a more realistic and cinematic experience, showing more storyline and attracting consumers with the use of technological advancements to make gaming feel more realistic than before. This can be demonstrated by showing a commercial to a video game or showing a teaser of gameplay, advertising the new technological advancements of gaming technology.

Conclusion

In-game advertisement had progressed in many ways, this essay has explored different topics including; the evolution of advertising in games, product placement and how CGI has been revolutionised. The topics discussed, major ways in which advertisements have developed over the years and continue to advance. Using more inconspicuous techniques such as product placement, celebrity endorsements, emotion and utilising technological advancements to further grow revenue through the use of things like free to play games and CGI. These advancements show many ways video games will continue to progress in the future. This can be seen through the continuous development in graphics and visual effects experienced in new commercials and gameplay. Marketing companies continue to research the phenomena of gaming and find new effective advertising strategies and continue to expand the gaming demographic for a more diverse target audience. With the ever-growing popularity of games and changing demographics of gamers, creates more opportunity for development. The gaming industry will continue to grow with technological advancements, as will the marketing techniques used to advertise games and in-game adverts.

Bibliography

1. Barnes, M., (2019). The past, present and future of advertising in video games. Trend Jackers. Accessed at: https://trendjackers.com/the-past-present-future-of-advertising-within-video-games/ Accessed on: 29/11/19
2. Cole, M., (2017). Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender,’race’, sexuality, disability and social class. Routledge.
3. Dias, J.D., Mekaro, M.S., Lu, C., Otsuka, J.L., Fonseca, L.M.M. and Zem-Mascarenhas, S.H., (2016). Serious game development as a strategy for health promotion and tackling childhood obesity. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 24.
4. Elsworth, C., (2008). Barack Obama courts youth vote with Burnout Paradise Xbox video game advertisement, Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/local-elections/3198730/Barack-Obama-courts-youth-vote-with-Burnout-Paradise-Xbox-video-game-advertisement.html, Accessed 29/11/19
5. Glass, Z., (2007). The effectiveness of product placement in video games. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8(1), pp.23-32.
6. [bookmark: _Hlk26376989]Galarneau, L., (2014). Global gaming statistics: who’s playing what and why? Trends and statistics. available at: https://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/2014-global-gaming-stats-whos-playing-what-and-why/ Accessed on 1/12/19
7. Garland, B. (2019). How CGI has revolutionised graphics in gaming. My Memory. Available at:https://www.mymemory.co.uk/blog/how-cgi-has-revolutionised-graphics-in-gaming/ – Accessed on 10/12/19
8. Gaudiosi, J., (2015). Mobile game revenues set to overtake console games in 2015. Fortune.
9. Karrh, J.A., McKee, K.B. and Pardun, C.J., (2003). Practitioners’ evolving views on product placement effectiveness. Journal of advertising research, 43(2), pp.138-149
10. Kerr, A., (2017). Global games: Production, circulation and policy in the networked era. Routledge.
11. Lee and Faber, (2013). Lee, M. and Faber, R.J., (2007). Effects of product placement in on-line games on brand memory: A perspective of the limited-capacity model of attention. Journal of advertising, 36(4), pp.75-90.
12. Nicovich, S.G., (2010). The effect of involvement on ad judgement in a computer mediated environment: The mediating role of presence. International Journal of Advertising, 29(4), pp.597-620.
13. [bookmark: _Hlk26376494]Obermiller, C., Spangenberg, E. and MacLachlan, D.L., (2005). Ad skepticism: The consequences of disbelief. Journal of advertising, 34(3), pp.7-17.
14. Oliver, M.B. and Hartmann, T., (2010). Exploring the role of meaningful experiences in user’s appreciation of “good movies”. Projections 4(2), 128-150.
15. Pontes, H.P., Duarte, J.B.F. and Pinheiro, P.R., (2018). An educational game to teach numbers in Brazilian Sign Language while having fun. Computers in Human Behavior.
16. Ragunathan, T., Battula, S.K., Jorika, V., Mounika, C., Sruthi, A.U. and Vani, M.D., (2015). Advertisement posting based on consumer behaviour. Procedia Computer Science, 50, pp.329-334.
17. Russell, C.A., (2002). Investigating the effectiveness of product placements in television shows: The role of modality and plot connection congruence on brand memory and attitude. Journal of consumer research, 29(3), pp.306-318.
18. Russell, C.A., Stern, B.B. and Stern, B.B., (2006). Consumers, characters, and products: A balance model of sitcom product placement effects. Journal of Advertising, 35(1), pp.7-21.
19. Sabherwal, S., Pokrywczynski, J.V. and Griffin, R.J., (1994). Brand recall for product placements in motion pictures: A memory-based perspective.
20. Taylor, R.K., (2000). Marketing strategies: Gaining a competitive advantage through the use of emotion. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 10(2), pp.146-152.
21. Vollmers, S. and Mizerski, R., (1994). A review and investigation into the effectiveness of product placements in films. In Proceedings of the 1994 Conference of the American. Academy of Advertising (Vol. 97, p. 102). Athens, GA: American Academy of Advertising.
22. Yannakakis, G.N. and Paiva, A., (2014). Emotion in games. Handbook on affective computing, pp.459-471.

Games Mentioned

1. 2K Sports, (2019). NBA 2K, Multiplatform, USA.
2. J.K. Greye Software, (1981). Monster Maze, Sinclair ZX81, UK.
3. Namco Networks, (1980) Pac-Man, Arcade, Japan.
4. Rovio Entertainment, (2009). Angry Birds, Mobile Device Game, Finland.
5. Ubisoft, (2007). Jam Sessions, Nintendo DS, Japan.
6. Sony Computer Entertainment, (2013). The Last of Us, PlayStation, USA.

Executive Summary

Product Placement is a method of publicizing utilized by organizations to advance their items unpretentiously fundamentally through appearances in different motion pictures, TV, and YouTube web arrangement, and so forth item positions are normally started by an understanding between the media organization and the item maker.

Purchaser estimations fill in as a device to know ‘how advertising is getting along’ according to the clients. This kind of instrument would allow persistent checking of the fundamental open view of and the fulfillment with the promoting foundation.

The exploration planned to examine the effect of item position of purchaser slants dependent on different precursors. Research show is set up so as to the investigation these predecessors. It was distinguished that buyer slants are influenced by two fundamental components for example Frame of mind of buyers towards item arrangement and success of item position. Different qualities which influence the frame of mind of purchaser towards item situation are the creation data given and social picture in the psyches of the shopper. It is likewise influenced because of the libertine shopping knowledge and how great the item is for the economy.

Adding to this, the adequacy of item position is subject to the current nature of the item to the purchaser and how well the item is coordinated in the storyline of the TV or YouTube arrangement. It is additionally impacted by the Skepticism of watchers towards the item and furthermore the unmistakable quality of the item in a specific show. Every one of the elements influences the notions of the customers prompting their buy choices.

This purchaser estimation was additionally broke down to comprehend the brand review, brand frame of mind, brand decision, brand notability. These are the outcomes of customer assessments because of item situation and there further lead to mark dedication or brand exchanging disposition of buyers.

An overview was finished with the target to comprehend consider feelings on item situations through YouTube and TV arrangement and which sort of item position is making more effect, YouTube or TV arrangement. It likewise engaged to know whether such item arrangement results into purchasing of the item and to sort the customers into Brand Loyalty and Brand Switching because of effect of item positions

Target audience was recognized was the young and therefore, the example comprised of people between the age gathering of 16 to 50. A sum of 201 reactions were gathered for further information investigation. Utilizing different factual and specialized investigation instruments, the outcomes found were that – Product position is observed to be to some degree diverting which thusly influences their buy conduct. Additionally, YouTube arrangement is found to greater affect the customers’ psyche when contrasted with TV arrangement. It was likewise discovered that Brand review is high and the item is additionally crashed into the mindfulness set of the client and the buy conduct isn’t so very affected. In this manner, Product situation doesn’t viably drive the item or administration into the choice arrangement of clients.

Chapter 1. Introduction

Technological advancement today has empowered customers to skip commercials on TV and advertisers are very much aware of the way that their image or items won’t viably achieve the shoppers utilizing conventional promoting devices. Hence, so as to catch the consumer’s’ eye promoters currently adjust their items or brands through a compelling route known as Product Placement.

Product Placement:

Product position is a system of publicizing utilized by organizations to advance their products unobtrusively for the most part through appearances in different motion pictures, TV, and YouTube web arrangement, and so on product situations are typically started by an understanding between the media organization and the product maker. This is a non-customary method of publicizing in which the monetary advantages are generally delighted in by the media organization. The organization needs to pay an expense so as to have their products shown, utilized or highlighted in a film or show.

For instance:

• Coca-Cola could pay an offered expense to have the title character drinking a Coke, rather than a Pepsi refreshment, or
• Toyota may pay to have one of the characters drive their most up to date car.

There are different meanings of product situation or brand position in scholarly and exchange distributions. Brand situation is characterized as ‘the incorporation of brands in films or TV content’ (Ferraro and Avery, 2000). Different definitions are bound to be constrained as far as the reason for product situation, for example, ‘the deliberate consolidation of a brand into an amusement vehicle’ (Russell and Belch, 2005, p.74). In this definition, it is shown that numerous shows show the brand and products intentionally to the watchers.

In basic terms, product position incorporates a promoter or an organization which delivers some substance with the perspective on selling its products. In that capacity, product or brand situation keeps on being a vital practice inside publicizing and coordinated showcasing correspondences in which promoters push their way into substance unmistakably more forcefully than any other time in recent memory (The Economist, 2005). Product situation holds more hazard than customary promoting. It has now turned into a typical practice to put the brands into different media like TV, PC diversions, web journals, films, and so forth.

Product position has turned into an in all respects generally utilized practice for promoting in the United States. Media outlets creates extensive measure of cash by putting different products or their brands into prevailing press stages. As indicated by Williams, Petrosky, Hernandez and Page (2011), $1.5 Billion dollars were spent towards product situation in 2005, $2.9 Billion out of 2007, and $3.7 Billion of every 2008. Today, ‘75% of U.S. prime-time organize demonstrates use product positions’ (p. 4). This number is required to increment because of the way that ‘41% of U.S. homes are required to have and utilize computerized video recorders that can skirt through plugs’ (p. 4).

Along these lines, it has turned out to be extremely hard to impart the promoting message to the buyers.

So as to be seen, marks currently need to get broadcast appointment inside substance—making product situation a progressively powerful approach to achieve an objective market in the present TV seeing society.

Purchaser Sentiments

The estimation of general purchaser disposition and opinions has been important to scholastics and business analysts for a long time. Purchaser assumptions fill in as an instrument to know ‘how promoting is getting along’ according to the clients. This sort of instrument would allow nonstop checking of the essential open view of and the fulfillment with the showcasing foundation. In perspective on obvious long-standing open antagonistic vibe towards showcasing practice and promoting organizations (Barksdale and Perreault 1980; Miller 1974; Packard 1957), it would appear to be attractive to give such a data administration to those in the field of a few related reasons.

Chapter 2. Literature Review

It is obvious to most analysts that product situation is blasting to a great extent over recent years and in this manner, it has now turned into its very own industry. There are an ever-increasing number of inquires about showing up in the subject of product situations since the investigation is moderately new.

This survey will cover past writing that will comprehend the buyer slants related with product arrangements explicitly through YouTube and TV arrangement. It will likewise characterize the effect of product situation on purchaser conduct which will prompt either mark unwaveringness or brand exchanging and in conclusion, decode a connection between product position and extreme buy choice.

The Impact of product Placement of Consumer Sentiments will be recognized dependent on different forerunners. The usage will influence the buyer frame of mind towards brand prompting brand unwaveringness or brand exchanging.

Goal of Study

1. To comprehend customer estimations on product situations through YouTube and TV arrangement
2. To comprehend which sort of product position is making more efYouTubeu Tube or TV arrangement
3. Does such product arrangement results into purchasing of the product?
4. To order the customers into Brand Loyalty and Brand Switching because of effect of product arrangements

Chapter 3. Methodology

Target audience was identified was the youth and thus, the sample consisted of individuals between the age group of 16 to 50. Researchers personally met half of the sample population and the rest of the responses were collected online. Researchers requested them to participate in the study with their consent. In addition, they were assured of complete confidentiality of their responses.

The research design used were descriptive and exploratory. The data was collected using Survey method and convenience sampling technique. Total 275 survey forms were circulated amongst the target audience. Later, all incomplete forms were discarded and a total of 201 usable responses were taken for further data analysis.

Research Model

The Impact of product Placement of Consumer Sentiments has been identified based on various antecedents, which in turn will help us identify the consumer behaviour on their brand loyalty and brand switching. The further implementation would be done in the subsequent research papers. The following model shows the research ideology.

We have to study consumer sentiments based on the below attributes. The antecedents of Consumer Sentiments are:

1. 1. Attitude towards product placements

• a. Product Information

Much of the discussion by economists and the advocacy justification of advertising rest on its role as a provider of information (Norris 1984). Market efficiencies is basically filling the gap between consumers’ needs, wants, and the offerings by the producers. Advertising through modern digital medium like YouTube etc. subconsciously makes the customer aware of the brand which eventually affects the buying decision.

• b. Social Image

Advertising through product placement provides imaginary lifestyle and its communication goals specify brand image or personality, prestige, social reaction to purchase and their uses. Consumers are ready to pay high prices for branded items. Recent research addresses the role that advertising plays in creating product meaning (Friedmann and Zimmer 1988; Tharp and Scott 1990) and self-image (Richins 1991).

• c. Hedonic:

Many advertisements offer an experience of pleasure, fun, and satisfaction to the customers which lead to recollection. Hedonic shopping is driven by our desire for fun, entertainment, and contentedness. Advertisements through product placement allow more space for hedonic experience since the customers are already connected with the story-line of the YouTube or TV series.

• d. Good for Economy:

Experts claim that advertising increases the rate at which new goods and technologies are accepted in the market. It also stimulates full employment and a healthy competition amongst producers. This leads to customers’ benefits and an effective use of national resources which raises the average standard of living in the economy.

1. 2. Effectiveness of product placements

• a. Familiarity of the product:

A robust phenomenon called the Von Restorff effect (Wallace 1965), or the isolation effect (Huang, Scale, and McIntyre 1976), may influence the recall of product placement (Balasubramanian 1994). Unfamiliar stimuli are inconsonant with prior expectations of the customers. Thus they attract larger attention and produce higher cognitive outcomes (Eg. recall) than familiar stimuli. The study by Nelsen (2002) found evidence that brands that have less familiar to participants demonstrated recall superiority.

• b. Product Integration:

Product integration is nothing but judgement of fit, i.e. how well the product is incorporated into main storyline of the script. The importance of fit in placement context is acknowledged by both movie viewer (DeLorme and Reid 1999) and placement practitioners (Karrh 1995; Karrh, McKee, and Pardun 2003). This term needs careful definition, however, to avoid to overlap with perceived relatedness of cues to product category (Sengupta, Goodstein, and Boninger 1997).

• c. Skeptism towards products:

Skeptism towards products is the customer’s doubt as to the truth of something, whether the product or services shown are true. Skeptism towards advertising increases when audiences acquire a more refined knowledge of advertisers’ tactics and persuasive intent (Boush, Friested, and Rose 1994).

• d. Product Prominence:

Product prominence is the amount of exposure a product receives in a given scene of throughout the span of a program. It has an interactive impact. In the effort to enhance the effectiveness of product placement, there is an old paradox known to marketers: ‘If you notice it, it’s bad. But if you don’t notice, it’s worthless’ (Ephron, 2003).

Once we study and understand Consumer sentiments, then we will study the below factors:

• Brand Recall:

Product placements can have a significant effect on recall (Panda, 2004). For example, memory improves when visual/auditory modality and plot connection are congruent (Russell, 2002). Pokrywczynski (2005) has found that viewers can correctly recognize and recall placed brands in movies, using aided recall measures and free recall measures. Brands can effectively enhance robust relationships with customers (Tsimonis & Dimitriadis, 2014). Brand awareness described as the recognition or memory of a brand (Huang & Sarig ollü, 2012).

• Brand Attitude:

A customer’s Brand Attitude is made up of two components: The strength of positive or negative association that a customer experiences with regard to a particular brand and the conviction that the positive or negative association is accurate. In other words, how much does the customer like/dislike a brand, and how convinced is the customer that this perception about the brand is correct.

• Brand Choice:

Brand preference is strongly linked to Brand Choice that can influence the consumer decision making and activate brand purchase. ‘Brand Preferences can be defined as the subjective, conscious and behavioral tendencies which influence consumer’s predisposition toward a brand’.

• Brand Salience:

Hong, Wang, and de los Santos, (2008) found that product placement upholds brand salience or the order in which brands come to mind. They note that to build brand salience, product placement strategies should focus on how a product can explicitly convey the product’s superiority, durability, performance, and specification. It is the degree to which your brand is thought about or noticed when a customer is in a buying situation. Strong brands have high Brand Salience and weak brands have little or none. More negative context programming can be used for achieving higher brand salience, also not excessively interfering the plot.

Then from the above attributes we will study and get to know whether such product placements through you tube and TV series impact on being Brand Loyal and/or Switchers. We will understand the consumer behavior and also the impact on buying due to this.

Chapter 4. Data Analysis

ANOVA:

Since we are measuring difference in response variable w.r.t single factor we call this technique as one way ANOVA or Single Factor ANOVA.

To determine whether there is a significant difference between different attributes with respect to different genders. (Male/Female)

• Ho: The Importance of attributes is same for all gender
• H1: There exists a significance difference on attributes for all gender

1. Ho: µ1= µ2
2. H1: µ1≠ µ2

Factors

1. Critical Value
2. p-value

Conclusion

1. The want to buy the product

• 619
• 432

Accept Ho – There is no significant difference in these factors w.r.t. gender of the audience

1. Relevance to the program

• 464
• 496

1. Subconscious influence

• 1.501
• 222

1. More realistic

• 2.153
• 144

1. Feeling of compulsion

• .111
• .739

1. Adverts in disguise

• .579
• .448

1. Synchronization with storyline

• 1.378
• .242

1. Easy brand recognition

• .352
• .554

1. Effective advertising tool

• .000
• .994

1. Sufficient information is shown

• .048
• .827

1. Quality as expected

• .798
• .373

1. Customer satisfaction with purchase

• .020
• .887

1. Annoying

• .039
• .844

1. Intended to deceive rather than to inform

• .163
• .687

1. More familiarity

• .266
• .607

1. Brand recall at time of purchase

• 1.249
• .265

1. Purchase behavior reflects personality

• 1.000
• .318

1. Purchase to impress others

• .245
• .621

1. Influence of others on buying pattern

• .440
• .508

1. Beneficial competition

• .074
• .786

1. Helps nation’s economy

• .331
• .566

1. Experience of pleasure for brand recall

• .145
• .704

1. Entertainment/amusement

• 1.888
• .171

4.1 To determine whether there is a significance difference on importance of attributes with respect to different age groups. (Young Adults/Middle Aged/Old Adults)

• Ho: The Importance of attributes is same for all age group
• H1: There exists a significance difference on attributes for all age group

1. Ho: µ1= µ2= µ3
2. H1: µ1≠ µ2 ≠ µ

Factors

• Critical Value
• p-value

Conclusion

1. The want to buy the product

• .413
• .662

Accept Ho – There is no significant difference in these factors w.r.t. age of the audience

1. Relevance to the program

• 3.449
• .034

Reject Ho – There is significant difference in the relevance of the program w.r.t. age of the audience

1. Subconscious influence

• .651
• .523

Accept Ho – There is no significant difference in these factors w.r.t. age of the audience

1. More realistic

• 1.426
• .243

1. Feeling of compulsion

• 1.058
• .349

1. Adverts in disguise

• 1.106
• .333

1. Synchronisation with storyline

• .752
• .473

1. Easy brand recognition

• .399
• .672

1. Effective advertising tool

• 1.202
• .303

1. Sufficient information is shown

• 3.016
• .051

1. Quality as expected

• 1.364
• .258

1. Customer satisfaction with purchase

• 1.663
• .192

1. Annoying

• .569
• .567

1. Intended to deceive rather than to inform consumers

• 2.835
• .061

1. More familiarity

• 4.037
• .019

Reject Ho – There is significant difference in the familiarity w.r.t. age of the audience

1. Brand recall at time of purchase

• .221
• .802

Accept Ho – There is no significant difference in these factors w.r.t. age of the audience

1. Purchase behavior reflects personality

• 1.295
• .276

1. Purchase to impress others

• .664
• .516

1. Influence of others on buying pattern

• .043
• .958

1. Beneficial competition

• .145
• .865

1. Helps nation’s economy

• 1.133
• .324

1. Experience of pleasure for brand recall

• .943
• .391

1. Entertainment/amusement

• .169
• .845

4.2 Factor Analysis:

Rotated Component Matrix

Component

1. The want to buy the product

• .731

1. Relevance to the program

• .569

1. Subconscious influence

• .705

1. More realistic

• .583

1. Feeling of compulsion

• .619

1. Adverts in disguise

• .497

1. Synchronisation with storyline

• .485

1. Easy brand recognition

• .686

1. Effective advertising tool

• .634

1. Sufficient information is shown

• .667

1. Quality as expected

• .676

1. Customer satisfaction with purchase

• .734

1. Annoying

• .844

1. Intended to deceive rather than to inform consumers

• .819

1. More familiarity

• .767

1. Brand recall at time of purchase

• .740

1. Purchase behavior reflects personality

• .516

1. Purchase to impress others

• .807

1. Influence of others on buying pattern

• .705

1. Beneficial competition

• .542

1. Helps nation’s economy

• .429

1. Experience of pleasure for brand recall

• .478

1. Entertainment/amusement

• .460

4.3 Grouping:

Factors

Groups

Relevance to the program

Product Association

Adverts in disguise

Easy brand recognition

Effective advertising tool

More familiarity

Brand recall at time of purchase

Purchase behavior reflects personality

Beneficial competition

Helps nation’s economy

The want to buy the product

Synchronized and Realistic Experience

Subconscious influence

More realistic

Feeling of compulsion

Synchronisation with storyline

Experience of pleasure for brand recall

Entertainment/amusement

Purchase to impress others

Purchase Influence

Influence of others on buying pattern

Sufficient information is shown

Product Information

Quality as expected

Customer satisfaction with purchase

Annoying

Negative Experience

Intended to deceive rather than to inform consumers

Chapter 5. Discussion and Summary of Results

Using statistical analysis, it was found that approximately 65% of sample find product placement to be somewhat distracting which in turn affects their purchase behavior. Thus, we can also see that 60% of the respondents were of the opinion that product placement does not directly influence their purchase decisions. Moreover, 55% of the respondents may or may not have the product or service in their consideration set depending upon other external factors. Around 50% of sample have never tried any product or service due to direct influence of product placement. Out of the rest who have tried the product, 86% of sample were of the opinion that the features of the product or service are similar to that as shown in movies or YouTube series via product placement.

Also, only 16.4% of the sample were influenced to buy a product or service based on the product placement in YouTube or TV series. Approximately 61% of the sample recognize the brand name after seeing through product placement. Thus, brand recall is high and the product is also driven into the awareness set of the customer. But since the purchase behavior is not so highly influenced, Product placement doesn’t effectively drive the product or service into the decision set of customers.

Using technical analysis, it was found that most of the parameter are positively co-related with each other. Also, the data collected is adequate for the research (KMO=0.88 which is greater than 0.5). It was also seen that the variables are correlated to each other (p=0.00 which is less than 0.5).

Using ANOVA, we found that there is no significant difference in the perception of factors with respect to gender and there is significant difference in familiarity of products and relevance of program with respect to different age groups. All other factors have no significant difference in perception.

Using factor analysis, we use 0.4 as our limiting factor to suppress the small coefficients. So, after suppressing we get that there are five groups:

• Group 1: Product Association
• Group 2: Synchronized and Realistic Experience
• Group 3: Purchase Influence
• Group 4: Product Information
• Group 5: Negative Experience

The above are the major factors that influence the buying behavior of viewers.

Around 50% of the respondents feel that both YouTube and tv series create impact and more prominent, with majority of them rating YouTube the most effect form of product placement.

Chapter 6. Conclusions

Product Placement was found to be somewhat distracting to the consumers. This in turn would affect their purchase decisions and influence their buying behavior. Now a days, YouTube is more prominent with the youth due to its effectiveness and prominence. Thus, product placement through YouTube series is found to have a greater impact on the consumers mind as compared to the TV series.

It was also found that the consumers could remember the product viewed through product placement in YouTube and TV series. Thus, it can be inferred that brand recall is high and the product is also driven into the awareness set of the consumer. Consumers are found to be well aware and known about the products and their features. But somehow this did not effectively trigger into purchase of the product or service.

Since the purchase decision is not highly influenced, it is inferred that Product Placement does not drive the product or service into the decision set of the consumers.

As seen, brand recall is high amongst consumers. Also, there is a strong brand attitude both positive and negative where the prominence of former is large. Moreover, consumers’ sentiment also influences the brand choice by them which in turn leads to higher brand salience for the customers.