The Behavioral Effects of Negative Product Placements in Movies

Abstract

No previous studies have examined how negative brand placements influence consumer behavior. According to this study's theoretical framework and empirical results, the effectiveness of these placements varies with the type of negativity—that is, either intrinsically or extrinsically connected to the brand. Based on the elaboration likelihood model, an intrinsically (extrinsically) negative placement will be very (barely) relevant to the viewers who, having (lacking) enough motivation, will process the information through the central (peripheral) route of persuasion. Under the central route, a careful consideration of the intrinsically negative information will discourage the viewers from consuming the brand, especially when they perceive the movie content as being realistic. Under the peripheral route, the extrinsically negative information will not be strong enough to discourage the brand users from consuming the product but will stimulate the brand nonusers to consume it, especially when these people like the movie and have a positive attitude to advertising. The hypothesized effects were confirmed in an experiment with 1103 moviegoers that viewed the film Good Bye, Lenin! under natural conditions in Santiago, Chile. To isolate the influence of two brand placements (Burger King with intrinsic negativity and Coca‐Cola with extrinsic negativity), the participants were randomly assigned to two groups, each one of which viewed the movie with only one of the two placements (the other had been removed).

So Many Things to Do! How Multitasking Affects Memory and Attitude for Product and Brand Placements

“…Considerable research has been undertaken to understand the recall and recognition effects of placements within movies assuming a captive audience in lab studies, using real cinema settings or simulating cinema settings (e.g. ; Dens et al, 2012; Kamleitner and Jyote, 2013; Redondo, 2012).…”

Young adults' perceptions of product placement in films: An exploratory comparison between the United Kingdom and Hong Kong

“…As proposed by Hackley and Tiwsakul (2006), there could be different cognitive and emotional engagements with entertainment (thus product placement) than with advertising. A recent study in the field examined consumers' purchase intention towards brands placed negatively (Redondo 2012). The study envisaged that attitudes towards product placement in general may affect the effectiveness of negative placement.…”

Processing of product placements and brand persuasiveness

“…Despite a number of studies which employ persuasion and information processing models to explain the results (Cowley and Barron, 2008;Wei et al, 2008), very few studies have empirically examined how placement information has been processed (Chan, 2015;Hang and Auty, 2011;Yoon et al, 2011). Redondo's (2012) study is an exception but its focus is limited to negative product placements (i.e., brands being placed negatively/in negative context) instead of product placements in general. Nevertheless, most practitioners are interested in understanding more about how product placement works and its possible effects (Craig-Lees et al, 2008;Karrh et al, 2003).…”