So Many Things to Do! How Multitasking Affects Memory and Attitude for Product and Brand Placements

Abstract

The majority of current product placement research is predicated on a cinema setting and assumes a rather captive audience. Little is known, about the effect of audience multitasking on product placements. As multitasking activity is most prevalent in the home, an understanding of this activity is critical to developing product placement techniques. This initial study investigates the effects of multitasking on both subtle and prominent product placements. The results indicate that less familiar, prominently placed brands suffer from significantly less recall and valuation within multitasking situations. Product placement within a multitasking situation serves to devalue the placed brand, as the placement is perceived as a distraction from other tasks being performed.

Advergaming – How Does Cognitive Overload Effect Brand Recall?

“…The results for BRc also support the findings of previous studies about IGA in which relative differences were found according to placement prominence (Nelson, 2002;Cauberghe & DePelsmacker, 2010;Gunawardena & Waiguny, 2014). The difference between BRc for prominent and subtle placements is summarized in Figure 3.…”

“…In high cognitive load condition, since there is limited capacity for the working memory, highly visible brands have a higher chance to be recognized by the player, thus the memory. As verified by Gunawardena and Waiguny (2014)subtle placements within the peripheral area of the movie will give rise to a greater decrease in recall and recognition than the prominent placements. On the other hand, subtle placement is not easy to discover in natural setting.…”

“…There is an expected difference between prominent and subtle placements in terms of audiences' cognitive and affective responses. Most of the research on product placement considers the way the brands are placed in a medium to be associated with cognitive responses like brand recall and recognition (Gunawardena & Waiguny, 2014;Van Reijmersdal et al, 2012). Prominently placed brands are expected to be easily recalled and recognized (Gupta & Lord 1998;Lee & Faber 2007;Van Reijmersdal et al, 2012).…”

“…However, the question remains how the loaded working memory is influenced with an addition of new a condition, which is placement prominence. Reviewing the literature, it was found that on traditional settings, especially prominent placement has considerable impact on brand recognition and recall (Clark & Pavio, 1991;Brennan & Babin, 2004;Gunawardena & Waiguny 2014).…”

Product Placement as an Effective Tool for the Brand Positioning

“…The main carriers for product placement are mass media and entertainment such as movies, serials, TV shows, video games, books, or theater [83]. The modern consumer of the entertainment mass media in everyday life rarely focuses all its attention on the content transmitted in the mass media [84].…”