Abstract

In recent years, the product placement industry has seen a significant boom. The growth of product placement continues as media seeks funding and branded products vie for increased audience attention. Because of the increased product placement, there are many studies that examine the attitudes towards product placement, the experiences and interpretations of brands post-product placement, the effects of product placement, and memory of product placement. However, while product placement is a popular trend, there are occasions when branded products are altered in movies and television (this thesis refers to the altered products as “brand-modified products”). Little, if any, research has been done on the effects, perceptions, or reactions toward brand-modified products. The brand modifications are made for various reasons, including branded product's lack of desired affiliation with the message of the media and/or casting a product in defamatory light. This study, through a test of unaided recall and aided recognition of four brand-modified products, demonstrates the immediate associations that were made between brand-modified products and authentic products when the four brand-modified products made appearances in various movie clips. The results of a survey of 211 undergraduate students' unaided recall and aided recognition of brand-modified products are reported in this study. It is demonstrated that the participants recalled and recognized authentic brands rather than the actual brand-modified products that appeared in the shown movie clips. Schema theory suggests that the brand-modified products were assimilated into preexisting knowledge structures, and that the recall and recognition of the products was due to prior exposure of the authentic brands. In terms of brand-modifications, this study demonstrates that associations are made to authentic products more often than to the brand-modified products that appeared in the movies.

Degree

College and Department

Fine Arts and Communications; Communications

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