20 Years of Research on Product Placement in Movie, Television and Video Game Media

Abstract

The popularity of product placement as a viable alternative to traditional commercials has been increasing rapidly. Latest PQ Media report (2012) noted that global spending on product placement has already reached $8.25 billion. However, despite its popularity, extant academic research on product placement lags behind its practice. The aim of this paper is to review, categorize and analyze exhaustively the existing product placement literature with the purpose of identifying possible research gaps for academics and guidelines of effective product placements for practitioners interested in the field. 73 academic studies that in particular focus on product placements within movies, television (TV) programmes and video games were examined. The exhaustive review revealed that studies in the US investigating product placement effectiveness through memory related measures and consumer attitudes dominate the product placement literature. However, studies investigating effects of product placement on measures other than memory related and attitudinal ones are extremely scarce. Based on the identified research gaps, an agenda for future studies is suggested. Also, factors that were evidenced to trigger product placement effects throughout the literature are revealed and outlined for practitioners use.