Product Placement in Social Games: Qualitative Research Insights

Abstract

Purpose

The chapter examined the consumer meanings of product placements embedded in social games in different cultural contexts.

Methodology/approach

The theoretical perspective guiding the study is phenomenology, and the essay assignment and in-depth interviews were used to collect data.

Findings

The chapter was based on two qualitative research projects. Findings revealed that consumers in both countries appreciated certain characteristics of product placement in the context of social game, such as subtleness (naturalness) and unobtrusiveness (users’ freedom of choice and proactive choice); consumers’ real-world consumption in both countries seems to be more or less influenced by the product placement in social games; and while the young American consumers didn’t construct specific meanings for Facebook, the Chinese white-collar consumers actively created meanings for the Chinese social-network site.

Social implications

The chapter offered some thick descriptions and in-depth analyses of product placements in social games in different cultural contexts from consumers’ experiential perspectives to enrich our theoretical understanding of product placement in the new media environment as well as to add valuable insights to the research literature on new advertising formats in general.

Originality/value

No study to date has been conducted to explore the product placement in social games in different cultural contexts. The study fills the research gap by exploring US college-aged consumers’ and Chinese white-collar consumers’ interpretations of product placements in the context of social games.

Citation

Chen, H., Haley, E. and Deterding, A. (2016), "Product Placement in Social Games: Qualitative Research Insights", De Pelsmacker, P. (Ed.) Advertising in New Formats and Media, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 335-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78560-313-620151029