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

Abstract

Even though young adults are a major audience of films and the main target group for product placement, very few studies explore how youngsters across cultures perceive and interpret this marketing communication tool. This study explores this issue through thirty-two in-depth interviews conducted in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. The comparative analysis focused on four aspects: (1) young consumers' movie consumption habits and their exposure to product placement; (2) their general views towards product placement and advertising; (3) their perception of different execution styles of product placement and its impact and (4) the regulatory and ethical concerns of product placement. Results indicate that the young generation actively engages in interpreting brand integration in films and they were generally positive about it. Although interpretations of product placement are reported on an individual basis, this study suggests that culture may also affect how individuals perceive product placement. This exploratory study raises important issues about cultural differences in the perception of brands placed in films and provides insights for further research in the area of product placement.

Product placement practices in prime-time television programmes in Hong Kong

“…The majority of the placed brands had a high fit with the characters in programs. This might result in higher acceptance towards the practice than traditional advertising (Chan, Lowe and Petrovici 2017). Interestingly, the majority of characters interacting with placed brands were male characters, which is more than three times the number of female characters.…”

“…Karniouchina et al (2011) show that food and automobiles were the most frequently appearing brands in films. A recent qualitative study found that most young consumers regarded fashion and accessories, food and drinks and cars and technological products as the most suitable categories to be placed in films (Chan, Lowe and Petrovici 2017). It seems there is no clear consensus about which products are more commonly placed than others.…”

“…Product placement has proliferated in Asian countries, especially Hong Kong and become quite controversial due to its overtness and prominence. Despite Hong Kong audiences having more positive attitudes towards product placements than traditional advertising (Chan, Lowe and Petrovici 2017), the excessive level of placements together with the lack of regulation has led to serious concerns from the government and the general public. There have been cases of broadcasters being fined for featuring products prominently in television programs which is believed to be intrusive to the viewing pleasure of audiences (e.g., Lau 2013;Lam 2016).…”

Análisis del emplazamiento de producto en tres series originales de Netflix

“…Con base en lo expuesto, esta investigación tiene como objetivo explorar el uso del emplazamiento de producto en tres series populares de Netflix, pues la mayoría de los estudios se han centrado en investigar el emplazamiento en películas (Chan et al 2017;Gundle, 2020;Redondo et al, 2018;Song et al, 2015;Srivastava, 2016;Yee, 2016). Sin embargo, el formato de las series de televisión presenta diferencias que juegan a favor de la técnica del emplazamiento de producto.…”

Bollywood Industry in the Wake of Cost Cutting Measures: Role of Quality Cues on Brand Placements

“…In addition, most of the previous research in the field of brand placement has been based on the U.S context as they hold the largest brand (product) placement market worldwide, and combined with those of Brazil and Mexico, account for nearly 80 per cent of the global brand (product) placement market (PQMedia, 2015). There creates a need to explore various facets of the practice in a wider range of Asian markets (non-U.S) (Chan, Lowe & Petrovici, 2015) with a comprehensive analysis on the importance of brand placements in films, especially from a viewpoint of the film production houses.…”