Brand-placement effectiveness and competitive interference in entertainment media: brand recall and choice in kid’s video-game advertisements

Is brand-placement effectiveness immune to competitive interference? This study explored that question in the context of entertainment media, specifically children's video games. Results showed that brands placed in a video game were recalled by only a minority of children and that brand choice was significantly influenced even when the placement was not recalled - suggesting that brand placement may influence children's choice without any explicit cognitive processes. The data further demonstrated that the presence of a competing brand placement may have a negative impact on focal-brand choice. When exposed to a competing brand placement, children were less likely to choose the target brand at test than those who had not been exposed. Thus, advertisers need to negotiate for exclusiveness when placing brands in entertainment media. Furthermore, the dissociation between brand recall and brand choice suggests advertisers should use multiple methods to measure brand placement effectiveness.