Disclosure of paid product placement in television sitcoms decreases how much these products influence consumer behaviour, three separate studies have concluded.
But researchers at the University of Colorado, where the studies were based, found a surprisingly strong connection between “covert marketing” through product placement and consumer memories and attitudes.
Participants in one study were asked to watch a sitcom with momentary exposure to a branded breakfast cereal. When asked to name the first cereal that came to mind, people who had watched the sitcom were three times as likely to include that cereal in their top three.
Another group who saw a disclosure before watching the program were not more likely to list the brand.
Read more at University of Colorado Boulder