Consumer Response to Product Placement Strategies A Study with Reference to Punjab

Abstract

Consumers have started avoiding overt advertising messages, making it essential to find alternative ways to reach consumers and advertise effectively. The practice of product placement has been gaining momentum in recent years due to some of its advantages over overt advertising strategies, yet marketers do not have adequate knowledge about its effectiveness. There is a need to better understand the effectiveness of product placements, given the huge amounts of money spent on this advertising strategy. Responding to this need, the present study captured consumersand#8223; perceptions and responses toward product placements. The study proposed and tested a research model to examine the factors influencing consumersand#8223; perceptions and responses toward product placements in movies. Existing theories/frameworks, such as the consumer socialization framework, persuasion knowledge model (PKM) and self- congruity theory, were used to guide this examination. Purchase intention, a predictor of consumer behavior, was used as the key dependent variable to evaluate product placement effectiveness. The study attempted to fill a research gap by treating CPI and placement prominence as distinct execution factors and by examining the effect of the interaction between these execution factors. The study also investigated the previously unexplored relationship between product acceptability and purchase intentions. Since there is a dearth of research on placement effectiveness in the context of Asian emerging markets, the present study was conducted in India where there is a rising trend of placing branded products in movies. Participants (N= 600) were shown research stimuli and asked to fill out a structured questionnaire. T-test, multiple regression, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), analysis of variance (ANOVA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the responses. The results of this survey-based study suggested that consumers have positive attitudes toward the practice of placement in movies.