Ego Depletion and Subtle Product Placement During Television Programs Lead to Ethical Concerns Due to the Viewer Being Unaware They are Being Advertised to.

Advances in technology such as digital video recording (DVR) and online streaming create a shift in viewing tendencies from watching television programs live to waiting until a more convenient time. This allows the viewers to skip commercial breaks and watch their favorite shows uninterrupted and thus makes commercials an obsolete form of marketing. Television stations generate majority of their money by selling ad spots during their programs and because of these new technologies companies may cut the commercial budget for better forms of marketing. This means that television stations need to find new methods to generate revenue. Because of this media is trying to implement brand marketing directly into television programs in order to generate positive attitudes towards brands. This is known as Product placement and can be either done blatantly or subtlety. Understanding how media sources influence the public beyond the news they choose to cover is an important topic to understand in order to keep media influence to a minimum.

This shift in the way people view shows is apparent from the data I have obtained through an anonymous survey:

The above chart from the survey shows that 82% of the people polled watch their favorite shows using other technologies other than a live television broadcast. Furthermore, it is seen below that only 36% of the same group reported watching a live broadcasted program more than 2-3 times a month.

Blatant vs. subtle product placement and ego depletion's effect on brand attitudes.

As stated above their are two forms of product placement blatant and subtle. Blatant product placement integrates the product within the plot of the television program and the characters of the show reference it. Subtle product placement merely has the product visible in the scene as a prop. A recent article published in May 2015 by Brian Gillespie sought to analyze how ego depletion affected the viewer's reaction to both subtle and blatant product placement. Ego depletion is theory that an individual has a limited pool of resources when engaging in tasks the require self regulation. In other words this means that when an individual regulates distractions from responsibilities, such as changing their routine to accommodate for work demands or avoiding texting/personal emailing during work, they deplete their ability to continue this self regulation throughout the day. Gillespie says that by the end of the day individuals will be in a depleted state and unable to further self regulate their habits. He goes on further to say that individuals will need a rest period to replenish this pool. This state of ego depletion will directly affect how the individual responds to product placement and will create a negative attitude towards the marketed brand.

Television stations will broadcast new episodes of their most popular programs during "prime-time" hours from 8pm to 11pm. If the viewer is in a depleted state during these hours and getting product placement wrong could negatively effect brand attitudes. Recognizing blatant product placement in a program while in a depleted state does not require intellectual capacity which will make the product easily recognizable. However, due to the Persuasion Knowledge Model, theorized by Friestad and Wright in 1994, Individuals will develop a coping mechanism to persuasive attempts and they will not affect them. This leads to a negative attitude toward the product being advertised. A student at The University of Maryland named Zack gave me his insight on how he feels about Product placement during his favorite prime time show:

Zack is not the only one who feels this way either, a recent article published in May 2015 by Elizabeth Cowley found similar results to what Brian and Zach described. Cowley says that viewers who like the program are more sensitive to interruptions when they are watching their favorite programs and this didn't even take into account an ego depleted state. If a viewer is in a depleted state and highly likes the program, any product blatantly advertised will result in negative brand attitudes. Jordan, another student at The University of Maryland, also reports that blatant product placement resulted in a negative attitude and even recalled the product he associated it with:


Conversely, if a product is subtlety advertised and a viewer in a depleted state might not even recognize the product because of the intellectual capacity it takes. Cowley addresses this and says that even though the viewer may not remember subtle placement, brand attitude increases. This is because the viewer subconsciously remembers the product but persuasive knowledge did not activate and therefore there is no interruption of the viewers program. Since there is no need to recognize the product, no intellectual capacity is actually required. This concurs with Gillespie's findings that subtle product placement increases product brand attitudes without recognition of the product.

Ethical issues associated with product placement

This poses interesting ethical issues when it comes to media influence with the viewers of their programs. Potential media influence could become a serious issue since theoretically media could influence the decisions you make when you buy products. The viewer would also not even know they were being advertised to since they are in a depleted state during these "prime-time" hours and do not posses the intellectual capacity to recognize the product that is influencing them. Lindsey, a current graduate student and resident director at The University of Maryland, says that she realized she subconsciously has bought a product because of a show she watches:


Effects on brand awareness and brand attitude if you know beforehand you are being advertised to.

An interesting solution to the ethical issues associated with product placement is currently being implemented in Europe and also promises beneficial results to both media and the viewer. The European Union currently has regulations on product placement and requires that a disclaimer be posted to alert the viewer that they are being advertised to during a show. This article published by Sophie Boerman also says that by using this disclaimer system, there is an increase in both recognition of and the attitude towards the product being advertised. So this not only alleviates the concern about the viewer being advertised to unknowingly but ultimately benefits the product as well. Boerman also says that by combining both a disclaimer and a logo the highest recognition and best attitude are achieved. When asked if his favorite program incorporated a disclaimer and a logo Brady, a student at The University of Maryland, had this to say:


Conclusion

With the increasing shift towards newer technologies that allow viewers to watch their favorite shows when it is convenient media has started to implement product placement. Blatant product placement proves to be harmful if used during "prime-time" hours since the effects of ego depletion on an individuals self reliance. Subtle product placement proved to be the ideal way to advertise during these hours because the best brand attitudes are obtained. This has inherent ethical issues associated with it especially since it was found that the viewer does not even know they are being subjected to advertising during subtle advertising. Implementing some sort of disclaimer and logo combo diminishes these ethical issues and increase the effectiveness of subtle product placement.