1、 中文 3490 字 标题： Product Placement In Movies: A Preliminary Test Of An Argument For Involvement 原文： A model is proposed to begin to explain the role that viewer involvement with a movie scene feature a product placement has on the impact of product placements. This study is a preliminary test of the d
2、ifferences in brand recognition and recall for products in either high or low involvement movie scenes. The experiment tests four existing motion pictures with product placements and shows a pattern (albeit statistically insignificant) of enhanced cognitive effects (recall and recognition) in more i
3、nvolving movie scenes. Implications are provided for future research to further test the proposed model. Introduction Marketers today are spending millions of dollars for product placements in motion pictures after the tremendous success linked to the dropping of Reeses Pieces candies to lead an ali
4、en out of the woods in the movie ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. More and more companies try to find more creative and uncluttered ways to expose consumers to products. Product placements range from subtle background appearances to the dominant role (10.5 minutes of total exposure time) of a Wilson volle
5、yball washed ashore in a Federal Express package after a plane crash leaves actor Tom Hanks as the only survivor on a deserted island in the movie Cast Away (Maynard and Scala, 2002). Previous research has looked at moviegoers opinions about product placement (Gupta and Gould 1997； DeLorme and Reid
6、1999), the ethical nature of using movies for product pitches (Gupta, et al 2000), the frequency and type of brand exposure in movies (Karrh, 1994) and the effects on viewers of different types of exposures (dAstous and Chartier 2000； Gupta and Lord 1998； Brennan and Babin 2004； Sabherwal, Pokrywczy
7、nski and Griffin 1994). This latter research on placement effectiveness is the focus of the current research. The primary objective of this research is to begin to examine the differential impact of product placements in movies depending on the context in which the placement is seen. Multiple movie
8、product placements are tested, a distinction from earlier research. Since previous research has shown that product placements including both visual and verbal displays of the product have the most impact on recall and brand attitudes, followed by verbal only and finally visual only appearances, ther
9、es reason to believe other variables related to information processing may also affect impact. The variable of focus here is viewer involvement with the scene featuring the placement. A broader implication of the findings of this study may be to better understand the role context plays in all types
10、of communication forms: letters, speeches, phone calls or face-to-face. Literature Review Although definitions of product placement differ slightly across the literature, a generally accepted one from Karrh (1994) says: a paid inclusion of branded products or brand identifiers, through audio and/or
11、visual means within mass media programming, is most comprehensive and is used for this study. Research has generally found product placements to be acceptable to viewers. Placements are seen as adding realism to scene, are preferred to fictitious brands and are understood to be more and more a neces
12、sary component to cost containment in the making of programs and movies. (DeLorme and Reid 1999； Gupta and Gould 1997) Product placement effects on viewers have been examined mostly with a focus on brand recall and recognition. Karrh (1994) found that viewers could correctly recognize and recall pla
13、ced brands in movies, using aided recall measures. Gupta and Lord (1998) showed brands placed prominently in a movie scene enjoyed higher brand recall than those that were not. Placements that combined verbal and visual brand references were better recalled than placements that enjoyed one or the ot
14、her in movie scenes. (Sabherwal, et al, 1994) Although most of these studies establish a cognitive effect of movie product placements, brand recall is often no higher than 30 percent and most studies make no comparisons among movies, choosing to test just one movie and manipulating other variables r
15、elated to the placement. Few studies examine product placement influences on attitudes toward a product or brand. When they do, (e.g., Karrh 1994), no differences are found in viewers attitudes toward the brand. Does this mean product placements are incapable of influencing brand attitudes? Or is th
16、e measurement of attitudinal effects to blame? Maybe its the testing conditions used in these studies? Some question if product placements are too subtle to have any effect on consumers (Andriasova and Wagner 2004). This study focused on product related strengths of association with the characters i
17、nvolved in using the product on screen. Rather than enhancing brand attitudes or brand awareness directly, a product placed in ways that viewers perceive fit with the character using them will gain an enhanced association every time consumers think of that character. In addition, Andriasova and Wagn
18、er (2004) found a link between viewer involvement in the program and product related associations. Unfortunately, only one product-character association was tested in this study, providing no comparison data as opposed to that provided by the present study. Six variables of product placement have be
19、en identified as playing a role in the potential impact for sponsors (Fisher and Wagner 2004), and three of those are represented by the concept of involvement. Content characteristics, which include movie genre and mood of the scene are important in product placement decisions and contribute to vie
20、wers involvement with the movie. Suspense thrillers and action adventures, which tend to engage viewers both cognitively and emotionally, have consistently been classified as high involvement content (e.g., Kennedy 1971； Park and McClung 1986) while comedies and musicals are identified as less involving (e.g., Bryant and Comisky 1978). Characters are a second component important to product placement as well as viewer involvement. Association with popular actors, such as Tom Cruise wearing
