Placing brands and products in movies and series has significantly increased in recent years, leading to more research on the subject being undertaken. Little of this research has so far focused on the relationship between multitasking by audiences and the effectiveness of product placement. This study tests time the correlation between levels of multitasking and brand recall of placements in programs. The second objective of the study is to investigate if there is any link between the version of a program watched (i.e. original, dubbed, or subtitled), and levels of multitasking. The experimental online survey showed no difference in brand recall among viewers engaging in secondary activities while watching a program for up to 5 minutes in a 20-minute episode. The addition of subtitles increased screen attention, and viewers did not multitask as much. An innovative out-of-lab method consisting of in-home video observation produced high-precision time data on viewers' multi-tasking behavior and enabled cross-checking with the survey answers for false-positives. The main outcome of this study is that multitasking while watching shows or movies should not be a concern for advertisers investing in product placement.
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Noschang et al. (2024) studied this question.
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