Product Placements in Movies: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Austrian, French and American Consumers' Attitudes toward This Emerging, International Promotional Medium

This paper reports on a cross-cultural study which tests the robustness of the approach developed by Gupta and Gould (1997) concerning use of product placements in movies. Using their American data as a comparison point, additional data using the same questionnaire were collected in Austria and France. As an international medium in which movies freely cross borders, product placement is also a less adaptable one, relative to commercials since it remains in the movie regardless of the nation where it is shown. Applying a three-pronged framework which considered country, product and individual differences and their interactive effects, the results of this study indicate the ways in which all three have an impact on the acceptability of product placements and on potential purchase behavior. Finally, implications for managing and further researching product placements based on this framework are drawn.