The effects of brand placement disclosures in fiction

The present study is the first to explore the effects of brand placement disclosures in fiction. Prior to reading a short story featuring an unfamiliar brand, participants were exposed to either a brand-unspecific, brand-specific, or no placement disclosure. A longitudinal design was employed, such that conceptual persuasion knowledge (advertising recognition) and author-related perceptions (trustworthiness, intrinsic and ulterior motives for inserting the brand) were measured immediately (Time 1), while brand purchase intention was measured both immediately (Time 1) and after a two-week delay (Time 2). Mediation analyses showed that (especially specific) disclosures enhance advertising recognition and increase perceptions of the author's ulterior (commercial) motives (both directly and via advertising recognition). Although disclosures did not influence purchase intention directly at either measurement point, they exerted an indirect negative effect on purchase intention at Time 2 via decreasing author trustworthiness.

Publication year:2022

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