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…
