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Is product placement ethically questionable?
The fear of being manipulated
Many people fear that product placement can subliminally manipulate them against their will, because it is often hard to clearly identify it as advertising (Balasubramanian 1994; D’Astous and Chartier 2000; D’Astous and Séguin 1999; Gupta and Balasubramanian 2000; Gupta and Gould 1997; Morton and Friedman 2002). These concerns are amplified again if we are not talking about consumers in general, but particularly vulnerable groups such as children (Auty and Lewis 2004; Tiwsakul and Hackley 2007), since knowledge of marketing tactics and advertising is developed over the years (Gunter, Oates, and Blades 2005; Macklin 1985, Mallinckrodt and Mizerski 2007; Moschis 1987). In fact, it seems that the natural presentation and seamless implementation of product placement might lead to less defensive reactions (D’Astous and Chartier 2000). Due to this and because product placement is often not consciously processed, it can be seen as subliminal advertising (Auty and Lewis 2004; Balasubramanian 1994).
However, in this discussion it is usually not taken into account that stimuli are also evaluated on a subconscious state of mind. This way, even subliminal advertising can be blocked automatically and without any conscious knowledge about it (Chartrand, Dalton, and Fitzsimons 2007; Laran, Dalton, and Andrade 2011). Therefore, also rather hidden advertisements can not manipulate people against their will. Nevertheless, you can still discuss about product placement and the ethics behind it. I will do so by briefly evaluating this marketing tactic, using the three dimensions of utilitarianism, deontological ethics and virtue ethics.
Our subconsciousness automatically protects ourselves from bad influences.
Further analysis
An evaluation of product placement with regard to utilitarianism checks whether the marketing tactic provides a general benefit to society. Basically, the benefit differs not significantly from other forms of advertising (Hackley, Tiwsakul, and Preuss 2008). However, also minor aspects, such as fears that the art of film is strongly negatively affected by product placement, need to be considered (Babin and Carder 1996; Hudson and Hudson 2006; Miller 1990), as this is quite relevant for…
