Now you see me. Evaluating visual and auditory brand placement disclosures in music videos

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how different formats of brand placement disclosures influence brand recall and brand attitude in music videos. Four formats of disclosures presenting different visual characteristics (textual and pictorial vs textual only) and auditory features (brand melody vs silent) are tested. The research adopts a multimethod approach combining eye-tracking, electrodermal activity, and self-reports. Results show that disclosures including higher visual information content positively influence the awareness of embedded advertising in music videos and the attention paid to the disclosure. Brand melodies prove to be effective to increase attention to the disclosure only when paired with textual and pictorial disclosures. Further empirical evidence demonstrates the positive indirect effect of disclosures on brand recall and brand attitude. Brand placement disclosures are shown to function as primes that can enhance brand attitudes and recall. Implications for marketing communication managers and policymakers in terms of advertising fees, contractual requirements, disclosures’ design, and policy recommendations are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Product placement
• sponsor disclosure
• brand attitude
• brand memory
• consumer neuroscience
• physiological measure

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank Riccardo Lolatto, Giulia Di Gerlando, Nicolò Dal Lago, and Sofia Samuelsson for their support during the laboratory experiments. Also, we thank Micol Ghello and Tommaso Bruno for their valuable suggestions during the first steps of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

MM and LL conceived and structured the study. MM and MDD collected and processed data. MM performed the data analysis. MM and MDD wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the final revision and approved the submitted version.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Notes

1. Conforming with (Karrh 1998), we adopt the term ‘brand placement’ rather than ‘product placement’ because marketing practitioners tend to embed ‘branded products’ rather than generic items.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Marco Mandolfo

Marco Mandolfo is Assistant Professor at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. He holds a specialization in Consumer Neuroscience and he is a fellow researcher at PHEEL (Physiology, Emotion, Experience, Lab), an interdepartmental research laboratory of Politecnico di Milano. His research activity mainly involves behavioral analyses through applied psychophysiology and focuses on topics such as consumer perception, product replacement intentions, and affective decision making.

Michele Di Dalmazi

Michele Di Dalmazi graduated in Management Engineering with a specialization in Digital Business and Market Innovation at Politecnico di Milano. Currently, he is PhD Student at Politecnico di Milano at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering. His research activity is mainly focused on consumer behavior analysis through mixed methods.

Lucio Lamberti

Lucio Lamberti is Full Professor of Omnichannel Marketing Management at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. He coordinates the Physiology, Emotions and Experience Lab (PHEEL) Interdepartmental Lab at Politecnico di Milano. He studies consumer behavior, with a special focus on neuroscientific approaches.