According to new research published in Marketing Science, product placement in television programming may have a net positive impact on social media conversation and web conversions.
Recent research, co-authored by Beth Fossen and David Schweidel, examined the data for 2,806 product placements associated with 99 brands. The data included placements airing during the 2015 fall television season.
During their analysis of the data, they measured online word-of-mouth mentions and the volume of web traffic to a brand’s page as manifestations of online behavior.
Researchers reached the conclusion that product placement in television programming was associated with increased actionable metrics. In addition, prominent placements were associated with an increase in social media and website traffic.
In addition, the findings suggested that verbal placements may be more effective than visual ones due to the manner in which they are processed.
According to one of the study’s authors: “Using data on nearly 3,000 product placements for 99 brands from the fall 2015 television season, the authors find that prominent product placement activities—especially verbal placements—are associated with increases in both online conversations and web traffic for the brand, with some evidence of decreasing returns at high levels of prominence.”
“The research suggests that verbal product placements may be more prominent than visual ones because they require higher plot integration with the actor saying a brand’s name versus the brand appearing in the background,” the co-author added.
“Overall, our results support the notion that product placements can help marketers reach consumers who have become adept at avoiding traditional advertising exposure.”
