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The Prevalence of and Consumer Response to Foreign
and Domestic Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies
Michelle R. Nelson
a
& Sameer Deshpande
b
a
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
b
University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
To cite this article: Michelle R. Nelson & Sameer Deshpande (2013): The Prevalence of and Consumer Response to Foreign and
Domestic Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies, Journal of Advertising, 42:1, 1-15
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DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2012.749195
The Prevalence of and Consumer Response to Foreign
and Domestic Brand Placement in Bollywood Movies
Michelle R. Nelson
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Sameer Deshpande
University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Within the context of globalization, we explore the country-of-
origin of brand or product placements in Bollywood lms. Content
analysis of lms since economic liberalization (1991, 1996, 2001,
2006, 2010) reveals a substantial increase in brands, with foreign
brands outnumbering domestic brands and placed in prominent
ways. Results of surveys reveal that Indians are positive about the
practice yet generally prefer domestic over foreign product place-
ments. Consumer ethnocentrism versus admiration for Western
lifestyles emerged as signicant predictors of attitudes and per-
ceptions. Theoretical ramications for globalization, global brand
strategy, and brand placement are discussed.
A parrot named Prada (Housefull, 2010). Adog named Face-
book (Golmaal 3, 2010). Audi executives tweeting about the
brands leading role in Bodyguard (2011; Sauer 2011). Foreign
(nonlocal; Batra et al. 2000) brands placed in these contem-
porary Bollywood lms reect the globalization forces within
India, a developing country that opened its borders to multi-
national companies in 1991 (Kurien 1995). Although there are
many denitions of the term, globalization generally refers to
the widening, deepening and speeding up of global intercon-
nectedness (Faulconbridge and Beaverstock 2008, p. 331). In-
terconnectedness includes the promotion and promise of for-
eign brands through media, a key driver of globalization. As a
cultural product, media reects, reinforces, and renes the cul-
tural values of producers and commercial inuencers so that the
practices, behaviors, and brands from other cultures ow into
the domestic culture (Appadurai 1996).
Address correspondence to Michelle R. Nelson, Department of
Advertising, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, 810 South
Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801. E-mail: nelsonmr@illinois.edu
Michelle R. Nelson (PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign) is an associate professor, Department of Advertising, Uni-
versity of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
Sameer Deshpande (PhD, University of WisconsinMadison) is an
associate professor, Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge.
These global symbols and practices are thought to play a
major role in the creation, learning, and sharing of consumption
among audiences (Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra 1999). The me-
dia help audiences, especially in emerging markets, learn how
to be global consumers through a process of consumer accultur-
ation, where they acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors
appropriate to consumer culture (Penaloza 1989). Yet the in-
uence of media on consumers is not automatic. Consumers in
emerging markets may readily accept nonlocal brands due to
country-of-origin (COO) effects where foreign brands convey
quality or status. Conversely, they may reject foreign brands or
their depictions based on consumer ethnocentrism (i.e., prefer-
ence for ones own countrys products, e.g., Batra et al. 2000;
Zhou and Belk 2004).
Movies offer the perfect media site for understanding country
of originparticularly where foreign and domestic brands are
viewed and how they are evaluated among audiences. Brands
are increasingly placed within lms as intentional persuasion
devices to attract audience attention and drive sales (Eisend
2009). Yet despite the use of product placement around the
world, there is not much research on international aspects of
the practice (Eisend 2009; Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter
2000). Given the larger theoretical and managerial issues with
respect to international advertising strategy (e.g., Ford, Mueller,
and Taylor 2011), our research addresses the role of global-
ization in foreign and local product placement prevalence and
acceptance. We focus on India, which offers an attractive context
for a number of reasons.
First, as one of the BRIC (Brazil. Russia, India, and China)
countries, India presents an important emerging market with
an enormous and afuent middle class (Bose 2006). Second,
given that the majority of foreign brands have been introduced
to India only since 1991, the country offers a contemporary
context to assess globalization effects. Further, it is a country
that was historically closed to outside inuences (Eckhardt and
Mahi 2004) but in recent decades appears to be more open to
foreign brands (Bijapurkar 2007). Third, India annually
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2 NELSON AND DESHPANDE
produces the largest number of lms in the world (Minocha and
Stonehouse 2006). These lms hold historical and cultural inu-
ence; they are viewed by audiences from all social classes and
castes within India (Gokulsing and Dissanayake 1998), which
provides a huge media reach for brands. Fourth, researchers sug-
gest that India, as a high-context culture where visual images
resonate (Hall 1977) and vertically collectivist values result in
admiration of status and celebrity (Sivadas, Bruvold, and Nel-
son 2008), may be especially suitable for product placement
(Nelson and Devanathan 2006).
Therefore, within the context of globalization we examine
country-of-origin of brand (product) placements by gauging the
extent of foreign (nonlocal) and domestic (local) brands placed
in Indian lms from economic liberalization in 1991 to 2010.
We then examine Indian audiences attitudes toward those place-
ments. Understanding general attitudes toward product place-
ment is necessary because attitudes can be an important deter-
minant of other product placement effects (Balasubramanian,
Karrh, and Patwardhan 2006). Further, research has shown that
general attitudes about the practice of product placement may
inuence specic attitudes toward brands that are placed within
a given lm (see discussions by Schmoll et al. 2006; Sung, de
Gregorio, and Jung 2009). Given that past research has noted in-
dividual differences with respect to foreign and domestic brands
based on consumer ethnocentrism or openness to other cultures
(e.g., Batra et al. 2000), we assess the relationships of these
factors to attitudes toward product placement. As such, we re-
spond to calls for more research to globally assess factors that
inuence audience attitudes about product placement (e.g., La
Ferle and Edwards 2006).
CULTURAL CONTEXT: RISING INDIA AND
GLOBALIZATION OF BOLLYWOOD FILMS
India is a large, complex country in Southeast Asia. It is mul-
ticultural, multilingual, multireligious, and multiethnic (Bhatia
2000). India boasts the largest democracy and the second largest
population in the world. Although foreign companies entered
India before 1991, it was really with economic liberalization
(through privatization, removal of trade tariffs, and encourage-
ment of free trade/markets) that Indians began witnessing and
purchasing foreign brands at a substantial level. Since 1991, the
Indian economy has achieved an average gross domestic prod-
uct growth rate of 6.3% per annum (Bijapurkar 2007). In sum,
India is a substantial market for foreign brands.
From a cultural viewpoint, India is considered to be collec-
tivistic with a ranking of 48 on the Individualism/Collectivism
dimension, as compared with the United States, which ranks at
91 (Hofstede 2001). As part of a collectivist society, individuals
are traditionally motivated by the obligations and duties to their
in-groups (Triandis 1995). However, given their desire to stand
out from others and the hierarchical nature of the caste system,
Indians are considered vertical collectivists (Sivadas, Bruvold,
and Nelson 2008). The ramications for verticality include the
propensity to look up to successful people in the hierarchy, such
as celebrities fromthe world of cinema, cricket, and business, as
role models. Indeed, despite its diversity, India is united by two
cultural institutions featuring prominent celebrities: Bollywood
and cricket (Bhatia 2000).
Bollywood is Indias popular Hindi-language lm industry
based in Mumbai (Bombay). The Bollywood brand is char-
acterized by visual spectacle, song and dance sequences and
ridiculous plots with unlikely coincidences and happy endings
(Bose 2006). Most Indians from across socioeconomic or ge-
ographic boundaries watch Indian-produced lms in their own
regional languages or in Hindi (Chandra, Rau, and Ryans 2002).
According to the Film and Television Producers Guild of India,
an estimated 15 million people attend movies daily (Chopra
2006).
Despite the Indian lmindustrys 90-plus-year history, schol-
ars and critics have noted changes in the content of lms
in the past few decades, particularly related to the increase
in international settings (Minocha and Stonehouse 2006) and
the depiction of wealthy Indian or nonresident Indian fami-
lies (e.g., Wilkinson-Weber 2004). Some critics argue that the
global integration of settings (e.g., between London and Mum-
bai) makes it easier for the reception by audiences of cer-
tain products to be promoted within lms (Kripalani 2006,
p. 198).
Evidence suggests that at least some of these product
placements are commercially inspired and sponsored (Sauer
2011). For example, Coca-Cola purportedly paid Rs. 3.35 crore
(US$670,000), or about 20% of Yaadeins (Memories, 2001)
production costs (India Inc. Warms Up 2001). More recently,
trade sources made note that the Indian lm[Bodyguard, 2011]
also happens to be packed with loads of non-Indian product
placement (Sauer 2011). Product placement is expected to in-
crease at a rate of 10%per year (Sachdev 2009). Placements vary
fromRs. 0.5 million (US$10,000) to Rs. 5 million (US$100,000)
depending on the level and length of integration, type and repu-
tation of the brand and market value of the actor (Sindhu 2009).
Despite protests from critics about the increasingly commer-
cial culture of Bollywood lms, no known empirical research
has investigated the prevalence of domestic or foreign brands
in these lms or gauged the way Indian audiences feel about
such product placements. Although a complete review of prod-
uct placement research is beyond the scope of this article (see
reviews by Balasubramanian, Karrh, and Patwardhan 2006; Van
Reijmersdal, Neijens, and Smit 2009), literature related to con-
tent in lms is presented next, along with associated predictions
related to globalization and brand country of origin for Study
1. Study 2 then investigates how Indian audiences feel about
foreign and domestic product placements.
STUDY 1: CONTENT ANALYSIS
Product placement is the use of a products name, packag-
ing, signage, or other trademarks in media (Steortz 1987). These
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PREVALENCE OF AND RESPONSE TO BRAND PLACEMENT IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES 3
products can act as visual and/or auditory reminders of the brand
and thus serve as important explicit or incidental persuasive de-
vices. Only a few studies have examined the content of branded
material in lms. For example, content analyses of top-grossing
Hollywood lms in 1989 and 1991 revealed an average of 18
and 14 product placements per lm, respectively (Sapolsky and
Kinney 1994; Troup 1991). An exploratory cross-cultural study
showed that the number and types of product placement differed
within local country lms (Brazil, India, South Korea, Thailand,
United States; Devanathan et al. 2003). The lm industries that
produced a greater number of lms per year (e.g., Hollywood,
Bollywood) also made lms featuring the greatest number of
brands. Finally, Kureshi and Sood (2011) compared the inci-
dence and types of product placements within Hollywood and
Bollywood lms between 2007 and 2009. They showed that
Hollywood lms contained a greater number of brands overall.
Within Bollywood lms, 14%of the placements were integrated
into the plot. The study neither listed predominant brands nor
considered the country of origin of those brands.
Two studies examine the types and extent of product place-
ments over time. In the United States, Galician and Bourdeau
(2004) reviewed product placements at three points in time
(1977, 1987, 1997). They reported an increase in product place-
ments, with Coca-Cola as the most dominant brand in each time
period. In addition, there was an increase in the level of promi-
nence of brands placed (coded as full or partial level of
display) over time. Sung, Choi, and de Gregorio (2008) ana-
lyzed the 10 most popular Korean lms of each year between
1995 and 2003. They reported an average of 16 occurrences (10
unique brands) per lm and an increase in the number of brands
appearing across time. Among the 20 most placed brands, nine
were foreign, with Coca-Cola showing the highest incidence
in Korean lms. The most common domestic (Korean) brands
were for automobiles (Hyundai) or alcohol (Hite, Jinro).
As a whole, although limited in number, the content analysis
studies of product placement in lms reveal an increase in the
number of brands over time, including international brands. Al-
though the practice of product placement is not new(see Newell,
Salmon, and Chang 2006), it has gained growing acceptance
among practitioners in the past 15 years (Karrh, McKee, and
Pardun 2003). Given this body of literature and the liberaliza-
tion policies and practices in India since 1991, we expect that the
number of product placements in Bollywood lms will increase
over time (from 1991 to 2010).
H1: The number of brands in Bollywood lms will increase over
time.
We were also interested in the countries-of-origin of the brands
in the lms. Given the effects of liberalization on the prevalence
of foreign brands in Indian society in general, and critiques
of commercialization and globalization in Bollywood (e.g.,
Alessandrini 2001; Garwood 2006), we expect that the extent
of foreign brands viewed in Bollywood lms will also increase
over time. A foreign (nonlocal) brand has the perception that it
is marketed both domestically and in other countries, whereas
a domestic (local) brand is one that is India-made and sold
only in India (Batra et al. 2000). Indeed, a recent content
analysis of other kinds of external (outside of India) and
(Western) references (e.g., locations, attire, language) within
Bollywood lms revealed increases in such references across
time (Schaefer and Karan 2011).
H2: The number of foreign brands in Bollywood lms will increase
over time.
Although the product placement industry is nascent in India
(Menon 2005), there is some suggestion that the practice has
grown substantially in the past decade (Kureshi and Sood 2011).
Therefore, we expect that the number of domestic brands ap-
pearing in Bollywood lms will increase over time. In addition,
we predict that the nature of those product placements will
change. Specically, in more recent years we expect that brands
will appear in more prominent rather than less prominent posi-
tions. This is likely due to the increased intentionality of product
placements on the part of brands rather than use of incidental
background props.
H3: The number of domestic brands in Bollywood lms will increase
over time.
H4: Both foreign and domestic brands will occur in more prominent
positions in Bollywood lms over time.
Method
To assess the frequency and nature of product placements
in lms over time, content analysis was conducted on the top
10 movies for ve time periods at roughly four- or ve-year
increments: 1991 (start of liberalization), 1996, 2001, 2006,
and 2010. Increments were selected because we were interested
in changes since liberalization (specically, from1991 to 2010);
yet to employ two (or three) coders to code 10 three-hour movies
from each of 20 years would result in more than 1,200 hours of
coding. As a compromise, we selected ve-year increments to
reect two points in each decade. The most recent year (2010)
was selected because data were available, even though it reveals
a four-year time differential from 2006.
Lists of top box ofce movies for these years were obtained
fromthree different sources for reliability: (1) the Internet Movie
Database (http://www.imdb.com); (2) the Bollywood Movie
Database (http://www.bollywood.de); and (3) Screen magazine
online (http://www.screenindia.com). Ten of the top 25 movies
were selected fromthe lists for each year for a total of 50 movies,
based on box-ofce earnings. Similar to other content analyses
of product placements in lm (Sung, Choi, and de Gregorio
2008), 10 lms were chosen as they were considered to repre-
sent the lms with the greatest audience reach, which would be
potentially attractive to marketers to reach largest audience size.
In total, 50 lms were analyzed resulting in 150 hours of analy-
sis, which is similar to the amount of content analyzed in other
content analyses of lms (e.g., 168 hours: Schaefer and Karan
2011; about 156 hours: Sung, Choi, and de Gregorio 2008).
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4 NELSON AND DESHPANDE
Top grossing period lms (such as Lagaan and Gadar, both
released in 2001) were not included in the list since product
placements were not expected in these movies.
Recording Instrument
The recording instrument was based on previous research
(e.g., Ferraro and Avery 2000). Similar to Galician and
Bourdeau (2004, p. 19), the unit of analysis was the individual
appearance of a brand (product or service) whether seen, men-
tioned, or used. Therefore, visual and verbal brand occurrences
were coded. Similar to other product placement content analysis
studies, brands were dened broadly to include services, sports
teams, newspapers and the like (La Ferle and Edwards 2006), but
we did not consider the name of a police department or munici-
pal building to be a brand. Because we did not knowwhether any
brand was placed intentionally (or paid for), all unique brands
were coded. If the logo or name appeared, it was coded as a prod-
uct placement (i.e., we did not distinguish logo from name and
therefore did not code for primary and second placements like
La Ferle and Edwards 2006). The open-ended items included
the title of the movie, year of release, brand name and product
category. The closed-ended items included the country of origin
of the brand (foreign or domestic) and the degree of prominence
(low: backgroundnot major part of scene, partially showing;
or high: can see entire product in full viewseems prominently
displayed or used by character), which is similar to the denition
used by La Ferle and Edwards (2006).
Coding Procedures
A total of eight Indians served as coders given their famil-
iarity with the language and genre of the lms. Training ses-
sions were held for coders wherein they separately recorded
data pertaining to different aspects of the product placements
in a Hindi movie containing numerous brand references. For
each decade, two main coders were randomly assigned an ap-
proximately equal percentage of the movies to watch and code
using the recording instrument previously described. A third In-
dian independently coded roughly 33% of the movies. Coding
was compared, and disagreements were discussed and negoti-
ated. Coders agreed on more than 90% of their classications,
which is acceptable (Neuendorf 2002). One way that intercoder
reliability can be attained is when at least two coders make
independent judgments about the content codes and then an in-
dex is calculated to determine the extent of agreement between
coders (Lombard, Snyder-Duch, and Bracken 2002). Country-
of-origin was coded but then assessed by examining secondary
documentation (e.g., company website) to solve any discrepan-
cies. Prominence was the only category for which there was a
judgment element for coding. Out of the 622 instances, there
was agreement on 90%of the cases. Disagreement was resolved
with a third judge.
Results
Overall, according to descriptive statistics, the mean num-
ber of unique brands occurring in the top 10 lms, regardless
of country-of-origin, was 9.9 (1991), 5.6 (1996), 9.6 (2001), 8
(2006), and 28.4 (2010). While there is decline in certain pe-
riods, overall the trend for product placements in Bollywood
cinema is in the upward direction, especially for the most recent
year. One-way ANOVA test was signicant (F =6.31, p < .01)
thus supporting hypothesis 1.
The second hypothesis predicted there would be an increase
in foreign product placement over time. Descriptive results show
a mixed trend, with 33 placements in 1991, followed by 26
(1996) and 74 (2001), then a dip in 2006 (to 48), then a high
of 157 in 2010. One-way ANOVA test was signicant (F =
4.86, p < .01). Considering a decadal trend (59 in 1990s, 122 in
2000s, and 157 in 2010 alone), there is general support offered
for hypothesis 2. Hypothesis 3 proposed an increase in domestic
product placements over time. The number of domestic brands
went down from 66 in 1991 to 30 in 1996 and 22 in 2001, and
then increased to 32 in 2006 and 127 in 2010. Thus, the nd-
ings were similar to foreign brands: although domestic product
placements have increased since 1991, the trend has not been
consistent. One-way ANOVA test was signicant (F = 3.99,
p < .01). Some support for hypothesis 3 is provided. Further, a
comparison between product placement type (domestic versus
foreign brand) revealed that while domestic brands outnumbered
foreign brands in both 1991 (66 and 33, respectively) and 1996
(30 and 26, respectively), they were outnumbered by foreign
brands in 2001 (22 and 74), 2006 (32 and 48), and 2010 (127
and 157), respectively. This suggests not only an increase in
brands overall but an increase in attention from foreign brands.
When we examine which brands were most prevalent, in
1991 the most frequent brands were Air Mauritius, Indian Air-
lines, and Mahindra (car/SUV). In 1996 the top brands were
also Indian (Tata, a multi-brand company, and Ambassador, an
automobile company), with the addition of Coca-Cola. In 2001,
however, the most frequent brands were all non-Indian: Coca-
Cola, Mercedes, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gap, Pepsi and Nike. In
2006 both Indian and foreign brands were in the top list: NDTV
(Indian brand), Coca-Cola, and Bournvita and Cox and Kings
travel company (Indian brands). Finally, in 2010, the most fre-
quent brands were Coca-Cola and Mercedes, as well as Indian
brand airlines. However, there was also a greater variety of
brands placed in 2010.
Next, hypothesis 4 theorized about the extent of low versus
high prominence placements of domestic and foreign brands.
In total, 306 higher prominence brands were observed in com-
parison to 323 lower prominence placements. Over time, low
prominence product placements became more common than
higher prominence brand appearances. Foreign brands were
observed more often in higher prominence placements, and
these placements were more frequently highly prominent than
were domestic highly prominent placements. Domestic brands
were found in lower prominence more often than in higher
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PREVALENCE OF AND RESPONSE TO BRAND PLACEMENT IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES 5
prominence positions, but the number of foreign brands placed
in lower positions was higher than domestic brands. There is a
trend in low and high prominent placements of domestic and
foreign brands. The trend shows lower prominent placements
becoming more prevalent for domestic brands, while the reverse
was true for foreign brands. However, statistical tests were not
signicant. The trend, when tested with paired-sample t-test,
revealed t = 1.28, n.s. for domestic brands and t = .27, n.s. for
foreign brands. Thus, hypothesis 4 was not supported.
Discussion
Our examination of product placement in Bollywood lms
revealed that brands are increasingly found in lms since the
advent of economic liberalization, especially since 2006. Fur-
ther, in line with critiques (Alessandrini 2001; Garwood 2006),
foreign brands in particular are prominently shown often in
Bollywood lms. Most of the products are automobiles or soft
drinks, such as Coca-Cola, which has been the number-one
global brand for the past few years according to Interbrand
(http://www.interbrand.com) rankings. For example, in the lm
Yaadein, Coca-Cola (and not the local brand of Thums Up cola)
becomes a symbol for the lead characters deceased wife. He
often talks with his Coca-Cola key chain while asking her for
advice on their teenaged daughters. In contrast, automobiles are
often viewed in the background. Overall, our results for more
recent years are on par with past research of top-grossing Holly-
wood lms, which showed an average of 18 and 14 placements
per lm, respectively (Sapolsky and Kinney 1994; Troup 1991).
Despite these ndings, the study had some limitations. First,
we examined 10 lms per year in ve- or four-year increments;
however, given the enormous output, that is a small percentage
of the actual lms produced. Still, by using box-ofce receipts
as a criterion for selection, we were at least reviewing those
lms with the most presumed audience and impact. Further,
because we chose to examine lms in multiple-year increments
rather than coding lms fromevery year since liberalization, the
number of brands placed in any given year might not necessarily
be indicative of overall trends. Finally, the extent to which the
brands were consciously placed for commercial purposes is not
known. Given the higher frequency and prominence of foreign
compared to domestic brands, it may be the case that foreign
brands were commercially placed whereas the domestic brands
tended to be present incidentally or for artistic purposes. Future
research might explore the process for product placement within
the industry.
Whereas this study revealed increasing numbers of domestic
and foreign brands placed in lms, it does not provide us with
information about how audiences react to those brands. Indeed,
the method of content analysis allows researchers to monitor
social phenomena unobtrusively as they occur (maximizing
external validity; Han and Shavitt 1994, pp. 34546), but it
does not provide insights into underlying consumer perceptions
(Taylor, Miracle, and Wilson 1997).
For marketers, the decision to place a brand in a domestic
Indian lm or a Hollywood lm depends on the receptivity
of the audience toward the practice and to the domestic or
foreign brands. As suggested by Balasubramanian, Karrh, and
Patwardhan (2006), there are likely to be cultural differences
with respect to acceptance of product placements. These authors,
in a review article on product placement research, proposed that
American consumers are more accepting of placements than
their counterparts in other countries (proposition 11d, p. 123).
Indeed, several studies comparing U.S. consumers attitudes
toward product placement with consumers from other countries
have supported this proposition (e.g., Gould, Gupta, and
Grabner-Kr auter 2000; Karrh, Frith, and Callison 2001). As ex-
planation for these effects, researchers suggest that consumers
in some non-U.S. contexts, such as Singapore (Karrh, Frith, and
Callison 2001) and China (McKechnie and Zhou 2003), may be
less used to and knowledgeable about the practice. We review
literature related to attitudes toward product placement next.
STUDY 2: AUDIENCE ATTITUDES TOWARD PRODUCT
PLACEMENT
Research regarding audience attitudes toward product place-
ment has focused on several factors, including ethical accept-
ability and realism (e.g., Gupta and Gould 1997) as well as at-
titudes toward placement of specic products (e.g., cigarettes).
Research has also shown that general attitudes about the practice
of product placement may inuence specic attitudes toward
brands that are placed within a given lm (see discussions by
Schmoll et al. 2006; Sung, de Gregorio, and Jung 2009).
A handful of studies have examined product placement with
Indians. Panda (2004) showed lm clips of various product
placements to 80 students and reviewed memory as well as at-
titudes toward product placement. Results show that viewers
were mostly positive about product placement, considering the
practice to be acceptable (3.7 on a 5-point scale) and even amus-
ing (mean = 3.4). Among nonresident Indian students living in
the United States, Nelson and Devanathan (2006) noted that in-
dividuals level of brand consciousness was positively related to
their appreciation for the realism aspect of product placement
but not for attitudes toward product placement in general. More
recently, a study of product placement in games was conducted
among game players in India (Kureshi and Sood 2009). Results
showed that, for this group, the addition of real brands into
the game made it more exciting; they did not nd any ethical
concerns. As a whole, it appears that at least some consumers
(brand conscious, game players) appreciate the realismgarnered
with product placements and consider the practice acceptable
and amusing. Yet these referenced studies used homogenous
samplesnamely, well-educated young men. To what extent
such ndings may hold for more diverse Indian populations is
not known. In fact, we suspect that individual-difference factors
from demographics to psychographics may impact how con-
sumers feel about product placements.
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6 NELSON AND DESHPANDE
Further, despite the call for research to probe consumers in-
terpretations of local versus foreign product placements to detect
any potential country-of-origin bias (DeLorme and Reid 1999;
Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter 2000), few studies have ad-
dressed this issue. In one study, an ethnography of Brazilians
interpretations of brands in telenovelas, non-Brazilian products
were most often considered to be propaganda, whereas domes-
tic brands were not (LaPastina 2001). To what extent Indian
audience members beliefs and appreciation vary for domestic
or foreign brands is not known. Last, given the cultural and so-
cietal admiration of celebrities (Venkatesh and Swamy 1994),
we assess the perceived impact of celebrity product placement
on Indian audiences. We review past literature on individual-
difference factors next with three general research questions to
guide Study 2:
RQ1: [How] do demographic, movie-viewing, and psychographic
characteristics inuence attitudes toward product placement?
RQ2: Which factors inuence the perceived impact of celebrity
product placement on self among Indian audiences?
RQ3: How do Indians feel about foreign versus domestic brands
placed in Bollywood lms? Which factors predict attitudes toward
foreign and preference for domestic product placement?
Demographics
Past research in the United States has demonstrated gender
differences with respect to beliefs and attitudes toward product
placement, with studies showing that women were suspicious
about the tactics but appreciated the realism (Stern and Russell
2004: Sung, de Gregorio, and Jung 2009). Men, on the other
hand, were more likely to indicate negative evaluation of product
placements and critique depictions of consumptive lifestyles.
Conversely, in a cross-cultural study with consumers from Aus-
tria, France, and the United States (Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-
Kr auter 2000), menregardless of countrywere more likely
to claim that they would purchase a brand they saw in a movie
than women were. Other studies have examined audience re-
sponses to specic types of product categories for product place-
ment (e.g., alcohol). In general, males report more favorable
attitudes toward product placement of ethically charged prod-
ucts than females do across cultures (Gupta and Gould 1997;
Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter 2000; McKechnie and Zhou
2003; Tiwsakul, Hackley, and Szmigin 2005). However, some
studies have found no gender differences for neutral placements
(Gupta and Gould 1997; Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter
2000).
Most research on product placement has been conducted with
university students (e.g., Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter
2000; Karrh, Frith, and Callison 2001). This body of work has
reported generally favorable attitudes toward product placement
from this young, movie-viewing audience (see review by Sung,
de Gregorio, and Jung 2009). However, when research is
conducted with more diverse age populations, some evidence
of age-related inuences in beliefs and attitudes toward product
placement emerges, at least among U.S. populations (e.g.,
DeLorme and Reid 1999; Schmoll et al. 2006; Sung, de
Gregorio, and Jung 2009). Age may be a relevant characteristic
to consider in India given the vast changes in society since 1991.
Cohort effects with liberalization as a marker are predicted to
drive distinct consumption ideologies (Bijapurkar 2007). The
younger Indians (liberalizations children; born around 1990)
are the rst non-socialist generation. They are thought to be
more globally integrated than their elders and may therefore
embrace foreign brands, even in Bollywood lms. The parents
of this group, called midnights children, represent Indias rst
post-Independence generation, as India achieved Independence
in 1947. They are closer to the age of the older consumers in the
previously referenced U.S. studies; they may feel more reluctant
to embrace foreign brands or product placements in Bollywood
lms.
Movie Viewing
Past research has reported a positive relationship between
media use and attitudes toward product placement (e.g., Gould,
Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter 2000; Gupta and Gould 1997). The
explanation offered by Gupta and Gould (1997) related to the
perceived enjoyment and positivity felt by moviegoing audi-
ences toward the movies and the elements within the movies
(including product placements). Research has found that heavy
movie viewing is positively related to acceptability of or atti-
tudes toward product placement in general (e.g., Schmoll et al.
2006). Also, DeLorme and Reid (1999) observed that frequent
moviegoers (dened as seeing at least one movie per month)
were more active in the movie-viewing process; they noticed
and learned from the brands in the movies. Despite the fact that
heavy viewers sometimes feel product placement is more ac-
ceptable than do light viewers, some research has shown that
frequency of movie viewing has no effect on purchase inten-
tion in Austria, France, or the United States (Gould, Gupta, and
Grabner-Kr auter 2000).
Country-of-Origin Effects
Given that very little research in the product placement
literature has investigated how audience members feel about
foreign or domestic brands, we looked to the country-of-
origin (COO) literature, particularly for this cultural context,
to guide our thinking. Country-of-origin is a multifaceted con-
cept (Parameswaran and Pisharodi 1994) that examines how
a brands country-of-origin (where it is made or the image
of its origin) serves as an extrinsic cue to consumers. As
Parameswaran and Pisharodi (1994) point out, it may be a
particularly important cue in global marketing because most
consumers may be unfamiliar with foreign brands and, there-
fore, less able to assess intrinsic qualities such as product per-
formance. Originally, COO referred mostly to perceptions of
quality (Bilkey 1993); however, Batra et al. (2000) note from
anthropological literature (e.g., Ger, Belk, and Lascu 1993)
that COO can also convey symbolic meaning such as status.
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PREVALENCE OF AND RESPONSE TO BRAND PLACEMENT IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES 7
Further, Batra et al. (2000) suggest that consumers in emerging
economies (such as India) may be particularly susceptible to
status COO effects because they want to emulate the (mostly
Western) images in media, participate in a global consumer
culture, and show off hierarchical values through conspicuous
consumption. Within the product placement context, the COO
of the brand may inuence how audiences evaluate the brand or
its perceived inuence. Three factors relevant in our study have
emerged with predictive power over COO effects: admiration
for Western lifestyle, Western acculturation, and ethnocentrism;
these are discussed next.
First, research has shown for Indian consumers, their ad-
miration for lifestyles in economically developed, Western
countries can drive nonlocal country-of-origin product prefer-
ences. Those Indians who admired the West also viewed West-
ern brands as prestigious and cosmopolitan, which can enhance
a buyers identity (Batra et al. 2000). In a similar vein, Zhou
and Belk (2004) noted that some consumers in China, another
emerging economy, preferred foreign models, global advertis-
ing appeals, and foreign brands as they aspired to a global
cosmopolitanism. Similarly, we suspect that an admiration for
Western lifestyle may be positively related to attitudes toward
foreign brands placed in Bollywood lms. If lms are a way
to learn about foreign brands, lifestyles, and identities, then In-
dian audiences who are favorably disposed to Western lifestyles
should also favor foreign brands in Bollywood lms.
H5: Admiration for Western lifestyles will be positively related to
attitudes toward foreign brands in Bollywood lms.
Related to admiration for Western lifestyle is the degree of
westernization or inuence of Western values and practices on
consumers own preferences and consumption behaviors (i.e.,
Western acculturation). For instance, Khairullah and Khairullah
(2005) showed how Western acculturation of urban consumers
in India inuenced their perceptions toward American-origin
print advertisements versus print advertisements of India. The
authors conclude that for this particular audience of consumers
acculturated to both Western and Indian lifestyles, both ads
were favorable. Given these ndings, we predict that those with
Western consumer acculturation practices (i.e., showing prefer-
ence for Western shopping, clothing, food, music, and movies)
will be favorable to foreign product placement in Bollywood
lms.
H6: Western consumer acculturation will be positively related to
attitudes toward foreign product placement.
Conversely, studies have shown that consumer ethnocentrism
(dened as tendency for people to embrace objects from ones
own culture and to avoid buying foreign products; Shimp and
Sharma 1987) may impact attitudes and behavior toward for-
eign brands. The underlying reasons for consumer ethnocen-
trism may be for moral reasons or because of a belief in the
quality of the goods of ones own country (Klein, Ettenson, and
Morris 1998), or because consumers want to support the local
economy (Shimp and Sharma 1987). In their study of Chinese
consumers response to advertising global and local advertis-
ing appeals, Zhou and Belk (2004) noted that some informants
preferred local models and goods because they appeared to bet-
ter reect Chinese values and demonstrated a sense of national
pride. As a whole, this body of literature has shown that COO
can inuence attitudes toward foreign goods but not always in
a positive way (e.g., Akram, Merunka, and Akram 2011), even
among consumers in emerging economies (e.g., in China; Zhou
and Belk 2004). We suggest those that score high on consumer
ethnocentrism will be less/more favorable toward foreign/local
brands in Bollywood lms.
H7: Consumer ethnocentrism will be negatively/positively related
to attitudes toward foreign brands/preference for domestic brands in
Bollywood lms.
Method
Sample
To measure attitudes toward product placement in Bollywood
cinema, a questionnaire was distributed with the aid of a market
research rm in India. Although a probability-based national
sample would be ideal, the practical problems associated with
doing so mean that sampling in urban locations is the alternative
common practice (see Batra et al. 2000). The rmused a random
household sample in the Western Indian city of Pune. With a
population of around 3.12 million people, according to the 2011
census, Pune is the ninth largest city in the country (Ofce of
Registrar General and Census Commissioner 2011). This city is
the historical and cultural center for Marathi-speaking individu-
als. Its economy is vibrant due to the growing manufacturing and
service sectors including vehicle production and the IT industry,
among others. It is also known for its excellent educational and
research institutions.
Atraditional randomhousehold, randomcontact method was
used, which used random, probabilistic sampling techniques to
ensure representativeness. The city was divided into blocks; in
each selected area, starting points were identied. From each
starting point, the interviewer contacted every second house.
If there were individuals who fullled the selection criteria,
the interviewer would administer the questionnaire. The crite-
ria were that the interviewee had to be a resident of Pune and
had watched Bollywood movies regularly (at least one a month;
rental or theater viewing was not distinguished). In addition, we
wanted to ensure equal representation of socioeconomic classi-
cation (SEC) and gender because past research has indicated
that these variables may inuence product placement attitudes
(e.g., Sung, de Gregorio, and Jung 2009); therefore, a quota sam-
pling method was used for those factors. For SEC, in addition to
income and consumer classication, Indian households can also
be segmented according to the occupation and education levels
of the chief earner of the household (i.e., the person who con-
tributes most to the household expenses). SEC is determined to
understand the purchase behavior and the consumption pattern
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8 NELSON AND DESHPANDE
of the households. The urban area is segregated into A1, A2, B1,
B2, C, D, E1, and E2 (Indian Readership Survey 2009). Here,
high socioeconomic classes refers to SEC A and B, mid
socioeconomic class refers to SEC C, and low socioeconomic
classes refers to SECDand E. The questionnaire was completed
in person (face-to-face) in the interviewees home. It took around
20 minutes for the respondent to complete the survey.
The survey instrument was pretested with three respondents
in Mumbai to check whether the respondents understood all
questions and were able to answer themappropriately. The ques-
tionnaire, originally written in English, was translated into the
two local languages of Hindi and Marathi. The second author is
well versed in all three languages.
Measures
The questionnaire was developed based on Gupta and
Goulds (1997) and Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auters (2000)
instrument with additional items of interest to our study. A total
of 158 responses were used for the nal analysis. Although this
may be considered a small sample, care was taken to ensure the
sample represented fairly equal socioeconomic (SEC) classi-
cations and gender. The descriptive statistics are presented in
Table 1. The sample had near equal gender representation (51%
male), similar representation from each SEC, was older than
39 years, less educated (78% had education up to high school
or less), and watched 4.78 movies in a month. Because we sam-
pled equally fromeach SECclassication, our sample is slightly
TABLE 1
Study 2 Sample Characteristics and Descriptive Statistics (N = 158)
1.1 Independent variables (categorical) Frequency Valid %
Gender 50.63% male
Socioeconomic classication
A1 18 11.39
A2 11 6.96
B1 21 13.29
B2 11 6.96
C 29 18.35
D 33 20.89
E1 21 13.29
E2 14 8.86
Education
Illiterate 8 5.06
Literate but no formal schooling 7 4.43
School up to four years 30 18.99
School ve to nine years 32 20.25
Up to grade 10 through 12 46 29.11
Some college/diploma but not graduate 4 2.53
Graduate (general) 23 14.56
Postgraduate (general) 5 3.16
Graduate/postgraduate (professional) 3 1.90
1.2 Independent and control variables (continuous) Mean (SD)
Age 39.73 (7.73)
Number of Bollywood movies viewed in a month 4.78 (3.55)
Ethical acceptability of product placement 3.76 (1.10)
Brands offer realism 5.70 (.97)
Consumer ethnocentrism 3.69 (1.05)
Admiration for Western lifestyle 2.82 (1.18)
Western consumer acculturation 1.95 (.79)
1.3 Dependent variables (continuous) Mean (SD)
Attitude toward product placement in general 4.96 (.83)
Perceived inuence of celebrity product placement 3.04 (1.36)
Preference for domestic brands in movies 4.89 (1.15)
Attitude toward foreign brands in movies 4.79 (.92)
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PREVALENCE OF AND RESPONSE TO BRAND PLACEMENT IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES 9
more literate and provides relatively fewer responses from the
lower SEC distributions in comparison to the Pune population
overall. Other than demographics, most of the items were mea-
sured using a 1 to 7 scale with 1 as Disagree very strongly and 7
as Agree very strongly, unless otherwise indicated. Movie view-
ing was asked with the question, About how many Bollywood
movies do you rent/watch a month?
In addition to demographic and lifestyle variables (gender,
age, education, and movie-viewing habits), we measured vari-
ables related to product placement. Ethical acceptability of prod-
uct placement was made up of the following two items (Gupta
and Gould 1997): It is highly unethical to inuence the cap-
tive audience by using brand name products in movies and I
would consider product placements as commercials (ads) in
disguise (r = .47, p < .01, M = 3.76, SD = 1.10). Brands
offer realism was comprised of the following two items (Gupta
and Gould 1997): Movies should use ctitious brands rather
than using existing brands, which was reverse-coded, and I
prefer to see real brands in movies rather than fake/ctitious
brands (r = .65, p < .01, M = 5.70, SD = .97). Consumer
ethnocentrism was measured with the same four items from the
CETSCALE (Shimp and Sharma 1987) used by Batra et al.
(2000). The items were Purchasing foreign-made products is
un-Indian; Indians should not buy foreign products because
this hurts Indian business and causes unemployment; A real
Indian should always buy Indian-made products; and It is not
right to purchase foreign-made products (Cronbachs alpha =
.82; M = 3.69, SD = 1.05).
Admiration for Western lifestyle was comprised of two items:
I admire the lifestyle of people who live in more economically
developed countries, such as the U.S. and Europe and I feel
that I sometimes try to imitate the lifestyle of economically de-
veloped countries such as the U.S. and Europe, similar to the
one item used in the Batra et al. (2000) study. Interitem correla-
tion was .41, p <.01, M = 2.82, SD = 1.18. Western consumer
acculturation was measured using items from the Khairullah
and Khairullah (2005) study with urban Indian consumers. Re-
spondents were asked to respond to the query and the following
items on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 =Indian all the time and 7 =
Western (non-Indian) all the time: Please state the frequency
of your shopping behaviors. What kind of products do you buy?
My preference for listening to music; my preference for eat-
ing food; my clothing preferences; my preference for watching
movies (Cronbachs alpha = .60; M = 1.95, SD = .79).
Four dependent variables were measured. Attitude toward
product placement in general was comprised of the following
three items: I wont go to a movie if I know beforehand that
brands are placed prominently in it for commercial purposes,
which was reverse-coded; I hate seeing brand-name products in
movies if they are placed for commercial purposes, which was
reverse-coded; and I generally prefer movies that do not have
product placements in them to those that do, which was also
reverse-coded (Cronbachs alpha = .74, M = 4.96, SD = .83).
These items are similar to those used by Gupta and Gould (1997)
and Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter (2000) to measure atti-
tude toward product placement in general. Perceived inuence
of celebrity product placement (behavior) was measured with a
single item: I buy brands that I see movie stars using or hold-
ing in movies (M = 3.04, SD = 1.36). This item is the same
one used to represent purchase behavior (Gould, Gupta, and
Grabner-Kr auter 2000) and is also similar to the one used by de
Gregorio and Sung (2010) that assesses perceived behavior after
viewing product placements. Preference for domestic brands in
movies was measured with a single item: Movies should use In-
dian brands rather than foreign brands (M =4.89, SD =1.15).
Attitudes toward foreign brands in movies was measured with
two items: It feels good to see foreign brands in Bollywood
movies and It feels odd to see foreign brands in Bollywood
movies, the second of which was reverse-coded, r = .45, p <
.01, M = 4.79, SD = .92).
Results
Attitudes Toward Product Placement
To address research question 2, to determine which factors
inuenced attitudes toward product placement in general, hier-
archical regression analysis was conducted (refer to Table 2).
Ethical acceptability of product placement (std. B = .44, p <
.01) negatively inuenced attitudes. Consumers reported prod-
uct placement to be slightly unethical (M = 3.76), and this
resulted in a negative attitude toward product placement. Sim-
ilarly, consumer ethnocentrism had a negative inuence on at-
titude toward product placement (std. B = .22, p < .01). The
stronger the feelings that consumers had for Indian products,
the more negative were their attitudes toward product place-
ment. For our respondents, product placement may be per-
ceived as a marketing activity of foreign brands. On the other
hand, the realism offered by brands positively inuenced atti-
tudes toward product placement (std. B = .27, p < .01). SEC,
education, gender, age, movie-viewing habits, admiration for
Western lifestyle, and Western consumer acculturation did not
signicantly inuence attitudes toward product placement. Re-
gression results revealed that the model contributed 32.86%
(p < .01) variance in attitudes toward product placement.
Next, out of interest, we compared our study with recent nd-
ings reporting U.S. nonstudent audience attitudes toward prod-
uct placement (Sung, de Gregorio, and Jung 2009). Although
our full survey used similar items, because they collected data
on a 5-point scale and we did so on a 7-point scale, we calculated
the mean difference using means and standard deviations with
t-statistics using statistical software MedCalc version 11.2.1.0.
Refer to Table 3 for means reported by each study. In general, the
Indian sample showed more positive attitudes across questions
than did the U.S. sample. Given the newness of the marketing
activity, Indians may be less skeptical about product placement.
Perceived Inuence of Celebrity Product Placement
Research question 3 explored the factors that inuenced
the degree to which respondents felt that celebrity product
placement inuenced their own consumption behaviors. To
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TABLE 2
Factors That Inuence Product Placement Attitudes and Perceptions
Attitude toward Perceived inuence Preference for Attitude toward
product placement of celebrity product domestic brands foreign brands
Variable in general placement in movies in movies
Socioeconomic classication $ .00 .18 .03 .02
Education % .05 .05 0.29

.12
Gender .03 .03 .01 .02
Age .09 .11 .02 .07
Movie viewing .00 .05 .11 .06
Ethical acceptability of product placement 0.44

Brands offer realism 0.27

Consumer ethnocentrism 0.22

0.27

0.43

0.22

Admiration for Western lifestyle .01 0.34

.15
+
0.21

Western consumer acculturation .00 .05 .04 .14

Total R
2
32.86

20.74

25.88

14.90

Denotes standardized beta values from hierarchical regression.

$ = Although the variable is categorical, it was treated as an interval scale in the regression equation, with SEC A1 assigned a code of 1,
SEC A2 assigned a code of 2, and so on.
% = Although the variable is categorical, it was treated as an interval scale in the regression equation, with Illiterate assigned a code of 1,
Literate but no formal schooling assigned a code of 2, and so on.
Blank cells indicate variables that were not entered into the regression equation.
+
p < .10;

p < .05;

p < .01.
address this question, hierarchical regression analysis was again
conducted. Two variables signicantly inuenced the perceived
inuence of celebrity product placement. Ethnocentrism had a
negative inuence (std. B = .27, p < .01); the more respon-
dents believed in Indian products, the less likely they perceived
that these Indian actors product placement inuenced their
own consumption choices. Conversely, admiration for Western
lifestyle had a positive inuence on the perceptions of celebrity
inuence (std. B = .34, p < .01). SEC, education, gender,
age, movie-viewing habits, and degree of Western acculturation
failed to affect celebrity product placement inuence percep-
tions. Regression results revealed that the model contributed
20.74% (p < .01) variance in perceived inuence of celebrity
product placement.
Preference for Domestic Brands or Attitudes Toward Foreign
Brands in Movies
Research question 4 addressed Indian audiences feelings
about domestic or foreign product placement and examined
which factors were related to such attitudes. For domestic brand
attitudes, two variables inuenced respondents preference for
domestic brands in movies, while one variable had a marginal
inuence. Education positively inuenced the preference (std.
B = .29, p < .05). One-way ANOVA results revealed marginal
results. More highly educated respondents reported marginally
higher preferences for domestic brands in movies (F = 1.78,
p < .10). As might be expected, ethnocentrism had a positive
inuence (std. B = .43, p < .01); those who preferred buying
Indian products in real life also preferred seeing them (versus
foreign brands) in ctionalized life. Hypothesis 7 was thus sup-
ported. Admiration for Western lifestyle had a marginal negative
inuence (std. B = .15, p < .10). SEC, gender, age, movie-
viewing habits, and degree of Western acculturation failed to
inuence preference for domestic brands in Bollywood movies.
Regression results revealed that the model contributed 25.88%
(p < .01) variance in preference for domestic brands in movies.
The hierarchical regression for attitudes toward foreign
brands in movies revealed two signicant variables. Again,
as expected, ethnocentrism had a negative inuence on atti-
tudes toward foreign brands (std. B = .22, p < .01), thus
offering support for hypothesis 7. Conversely, admiration for
Western lifestyle had a positive inuence on attitudes toward
foreign brands in movies (std. B = .21, p < .01), thus offering
support for hypothesis 5. SEC, education, gender, age, movie-
viewing habits, and degree of Western acculturation failed to
inuence perceptions; thus, hypothesis 6 (Western acculturation
will be positively related to attitudes toward foreign brands) was
not supported. Regression results revealed that the model con-
tributed 14.90% (p < .01) variance in preference for foreign
brands in movies.
Discussion
Results of the survey revealed fairly positive attitudes to-
ward product placement; the mean score of 4.96 was above the
midpoint of 4 on the 7-point scale. This positivity appeared
to be true irrespective of demographics. In fact, when com-
pared with U.S. audiences, Indians demonstrated more favorable
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TABLE 3
Comparison of Attitudes Toward Product Placement in India and the United States
Sung, de Comparison
Gregorio, and of the
Product placement attitude item Our study Jung (2009) two studies
Nature of sample Indian nonstudent U.S. nonstudent
Nature of scale 7 points 5 points
N 158 3,340
Df 3,496
Mean (SD) Mean (SD) t-value, sig.
I dont mind if movie producers receive money or other
compensation from advertisers for placing their brands
in the movies.
5.61 (.97) 3.45 (1.10) 24.24

Movies should use ctitious brands rather than existing

brands.
5.80 (.94) 2.24 (1.06) 41.45

I dont mind if brand-name products appear in movies. 5.36 (1.05) 3.76 (1.02) 19.24

It is highly unethical to inuence the captive audience by

using brand-name products in movies.
3.72 (1.11) 2.59 (1.15) 12.09

Manufacturers are misleading the audience by disguising

props in movies.
3.53 (1.03) 2.62 (1.13) 9.93

Movie viewers are subconsciously inuenced by the

brands they see I movies.
5.26 (.95) 3.20 (1.11) 22.93

I consider product placements as commercials in

disguise.
3.80 (1.45) 3.18 (1.18) 6.38

The government should regulate the use of brand-name

products in movies.
4.65 (1.22) 2.16 (1.17) 26.09

The presence of brand-name products in a movie makes

it more realistic.
4.63 (1.29) 3.41 (1.14) 13.06

I buy brands I see movie stars using or holding in movies. 3.04 (1.36) n/a
I hate seeing brand name products in movies if they are
placed for advertising purposes.
5.00 (1.06) 2.95 (1.27) 19.96

p < .01;

p < .05; n/a = data not available (not reported or collected).
attitudes on many items. This nding rather contradicts research
from other cultural contexts, which has shown that audiences in
other markets are more negatively predisposed to product place-
ment as compared with U.S. audiences (e.g., France, Austria:
Gould, Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter 2000; Singapore: Karrh,
Frith, and Callison 2001; China: McKechnie and Zhou 2003).
It could be the case that due to newness of product placement
in Bollywood movies, Indians did not have much knowledge
about product placement or that the Indians found the practice
to be interesting and even benecial to the media experience. In
support of the latter point, the scores for the realism aspect
of product placement were high (mean of 5.70) and correlated
strongly with general attitudes toward product placement. It
seems that the Indians surveyed here, like the Indian gamers in
another study (Kureshi and Sood 2009), believed that the in-
clusion of real brands in ctionalized spaces helps enhance the
media experience.
Perhaps the most interesting nding was the emergence of
consumer ethnocentrism as a strong explanatory variable across
all of the regression analyses. It appears that those people who
prefer Indian products generally also feel more negative about
product placement and believe that celebrity product placement
has little inuence on them personally. It is likely that product
placement is perceived as a Western marketing practice; how-
ever, because our study did not measure this construct, future
research might explore this idea further. It could also be the
case that third-person perception (3PP: the belief that others
are affected more by a persuasive message than oneself; Davi-
son 1983) is operating in this context. Such 3PP effects were
found in a previous study when U.S. adolescents believed that
others were affected more by product placement than they or
their friends were (Nelson and McLeod 2005). In India, Varman
and Belk (2008) noted that participants believed that imagined
others were more affected by television than they were.
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12 NELSON AND DESHPANDE
As expected, those who scored high on consumer ethnocen-
trism also preferred domestic product placement and were less
likely to show favorable attitudes toward foreign product place-
ment. Consumer ethnocentrism develops out of a long history
in India, back to the struggle for Independence from Britain
in the Swadeshi movement. Swadeshi, one of the 11 Gandhian
virtues, means belonging to or being made in ones own coun-
try (Trivedi 2007). The virtue, movement, and policy relates
to self-reliance and economic autonomy as a way to free the
country. Although the movement started in the early 1900s, it
is still widely practiced in Indian society (Brister 2007); ap-
parently, the idea of buying Indian resonates and inuences
how Indians feel about foreign or domestic brands in domestic
media. Our ndings here seem to contradict the strong prefer-
ence for foreign brands noted among respondents in the study
by Batra et al. (2000). Conversely, those people who indicated
that they admired Western lifestyles also were more favorable
to foreign product placements and perceived that the celebrity
product placement may have some inuence on self (indicative
of rst-person perception or the belief that persuasive messages
have a greater effect on self than on othersalso called reverse
3PP; Golan and Day 2008). Thus, although consumer ethno-
centrism emerged as a strong factor, its contrast (an openness
and admiration for Western lifestyles) also inuences the ex-
tent to which Indians accept foreign placements and celebrity
inuence.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Our research contributes to the theory and understanding
of product placements in a global context. Although critics
of globalization suggest that Western inuences may be
homogenizing indigenous media (e.g., Kripalani 2006), rarely
is there empirical, longitudinal research to assess such claims.
Our content analysis examining the prevalence of domestic
and foreign brands in Bollywood lms over time provides a
historical examination and a benchmark. The results noted here
seem to conrm critics claims. Namely, we show that there are
signicantly more brands in lms in the current decade than in
the years just after economic liberalization. In fact, it appears
that the incidence of foreign brands is increasing, with foreign
brands placed in more prominent positions. These latter ndings
could be a result of the parallel increase of foreign brands into
real life in India, the growth of this persuasion tactic in the
country, or the change in content and growth of international
locations within Bollywood lms. Irrespective of cause, the
foreign brands are providing new consumption symbols for the
audiences. As the brands become more familiar in media and
on store shelves, it is likely that they will also become more
desired among the audiences (Varman and Belk 2008). Future
research might gauge whether the high brand content noted in
2010 movies holds in subsequent years and how location or
story inuences the nature of branded content. Research could
also assess Indian audiences interpretations of the foreign and
local brands within movie contexts to better understand the role
that country of origin might play in product placement.
Indeed, the introduction of COO of the brand to the prod-
uct placement literature is a contribution. COO has long
played a role in understanding consumer product choice
(Shimp and Sharma 1987) and global advertising strategy (e.g.,
Parameswaran and Pisharodi 1994), but now the concept has
been extended to understanding of foreign and local brands in
lms. This understanding could help managers understand the
promise or pitfalls of placing foreign brands in indigenous me-
dia. The inclusion of COO to this literature provides a broader
view of global strategy. For instance, in their seminal work
on cross-cultural attitudes toward product placement, Gould,
Gupta, and Grabner-Kr auter (2000) seem to consider only Hol-
lywood lms as the medium. They suggested it would not be
likely that movies would have different localized versions
based on different product placements, so therefore the prod-
uct placement campaign is one of standardization by default
(p. 42). Yet they did not regard local lm industries as an exam-
ple of a local medium where some glocalization (i.e., placing
foreign brands in local contexts) is possible. Some researchers
suggest that there should be a match between the country-of-
origin of the lm and the type of audience and the products
(Redondo and Holbrook 2008). Future research might assess
the optimal conditions for local or global product placement
strategies, similar to the body of literature examining global
advertising (e.g., Ford, Mueller, and Taylor 2011).
Optimal conditions include those where the audiences are
receptive to foreign brands in their local media. Our study of
attitudes toward product placement shows, for this population
and at this point in time, attitudes toward product placement
itself are generally favorable. However, as product placement
is a relatively new practice to the country, it is important to
gauge consumers evolving beliefs about the practice over time.
It may be also that as audiences learn about product placement
or nd their media saturated with brands, they will become
less favorable. The results here do not show uniformity with
respect to type of brand preferred. For those Indians who admire
Western lifestyles, foreign brands are viewed favorably. These
latter results are in line with those reported by Batra et al.
(2000) in their survey of Indian housewives in Mumbai and
Delhi, in that brands having nonlocal (and Western origins) were
preferred among Indians who held an admiration of the West.
However, given our respondents high ratings on preference for
domestic brands, marketers should consider whether or not the
practice is benecial for foreign brands and for which audiences.
For those scoring high on consumer ethnocentrism, there is
strong resistance to foreign product placement. Finally, given
that we used quota sampling based on social class and gender in
one city in India, the results here should be assessed with other
populations.
Further, we were surprised to see that although attitudes to-
ward product placement were favorable, respondents did not
necessarily feel that they personally were inuenced when
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PREVALENCE OF AND RESPONSE TO BRAND PLACEMENT IN BOLLYWOOD MOVIES 13
celebrities featured brands. Although celebrities are admired
in this vertically collectivist culture, the perception of inuence
may not occur due to the high cost of the actual brands appearing
in the lm. Rather than asking direct questions about percep-
tions of inuence, future research might ascertain the extent
to which a relationship exists between viewers and characters
and discern how that relationship inuences brand effects (e.g.,
Russell and Stern 2006).
The broader ramications of product placement on society
should also be considered. For example, the types of products
placed most often are those that are ethically charged (e.g.,
alcohol, unhealthy foods and drinks; Cassady et al. 2006). In
several studies, including our own, Coca-Cola was by far the
brand seen the most frequently (United States: Cassady et al.
2006; Galician and Bourdeau 2004; South Korea: Sung, Choi,
and de Gregorio 2008). Given the world health issue with re-
spect to obesity, the use of unhealthy foods in product placement
should be examined more closely. Certainly, alcohol is another
popular product category for product placement (e.g., Russell
and Russell 2008); future research should investigate the ways
that these products are consumed and by whom to gauge the
appropriateness of the placements. Overall, we hope our multi-
method study initiates future research on effectiveness and ef-
fects of product placement within and beyond this cultural con-
text.
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