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Antecedents of product placement effectiveness across cultures

Fanny Fong Yee Chan (Department of Marketing, Hang Seng Management College, Hong Kong)
Dan Petrovici (Kent Business School, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)
Ben Lowe (Kent Business School, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)

International Marketing Review

ISSN: 0265-1335

Article publication date: 8 February 2016

4964

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the marketing literature by developing and testing a conceptual model to examine the effects of product placement across a country low in assertiveness and performance orientation (the UK) and a country high in assertiveness and performance orientation (Hong Kong (HK)).

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of brand appearances in high grossing films within the UK and HK was conducted followed by a 2×2 between-subjects experiment (n=572).

Findings

The results indicate participants exposed to prominent placements have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention toward the placed brand. Likewise, respondents exposed to a less well-known placed brand tend to have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention toward the placed brand. There is evidence of interaction effects with cultural dimensions such as assertiveness and performance orientation within the UK and HK.

Practical implications

The results suggest that product placements can be optimized through tailored campaigns targeted at markets with known cultural characteristics. With advances in digital technology, such practices are becoming more frequent and more feasible.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to explore the effect of culture on perceptions of product placement and the first study to empirically examine the role of prominence and brand awareness, and their interactions with GLOBE values on the effectiveness of product placement.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the research support from the University of Kent and David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies (LEWI), Hong Kong Baptist University.

Citation

Chan, F.F.Y., Petrovici, D. and Lowe, B. (2016), "Antecedents of product placement effectiveness across cultures", International Marketing Review, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-07-2014-0249

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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