Effectiveness of product placement: Impact on memory and choice

Product placement practices in TV shows are common in the world especially in USA, yet it is relatively new in Turkey, since the law, which allows the use of product placement in TV shows passed in 2011. Methods are still extremely limited for measuring the effectiveness of product placement. This research investigated the effects of product placement on consumer choice, memory by combining two types of measurement methods, which are explicit measures related with the memory (recall, and recognition) of audience directly, and the other is implicit measure concerning the brand choice. It was hypothesized product placement increases recall, and recognition rates, and brand choice depending on the modality (audio, visual, audio-visual), and centrality (prominent, subtle) of the product placement in the scene. Results presented overall enhancement in memory, and choice. As expected prominent product placements recalled, and recognized more than subtle product placements, however, centrality had no reliable effect on brand choice. Effect of modality also differed for memory, and choice results where audiovisual placements were the most recalled, and recognized, however, seen-only products were the most chosen. The results are consistent with the theory, that implicit and explicit effects are uncorrelated. Audience may choose a brand without recognizing the exposure of the product in the medium. Findings suggest that the type of the placement must be decided based on the goal of the brand, to create brand awareness products should be placed audio-visually, yet to increase the brand choice should be applied visually only.