Distinguishing implicit from explicit brand attitudes in brand placement research

Brand placement is a popular topic, both in business and academia. Brands are placed in a wide-ranging array of media, including television programs, movies, radio shows, magazines, games, music videos, and websites. Expenditures on brand placement are still growing (PQ Media, 2013), as well as the number of scientific studies on the effects of brand placements (for reviews see Balusubramanian, Karrh, & Patwardhan, 2006; Van Reijmersdal, Neijens, & Smit, 2009). These studies have contributed to the knowledge about explicit (deliberative, conscious, or intentional) brand placement effects, but little is known about whether and how brand placements affect consumers’ implicit (associative, unconscious, or automatic) responses toward the placed brand.