Impact of product placement in video games on brand Recall

A PROJECT

Submitted By

Veeresh Sadarangani

Reg. No. 1920630

Under the guidance of

Dr. Tijo Thomas

Assistant Professor, School of Business and Management

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
BANGALORE
2022

1
 Certificate
This is to certify that the project report, titled “Impact of product placement in video games
on brand Recall” submitted to CHRIST (Deemed to be University), in partial fulfilment of
the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration, is a
record of original research work done by Veeresh Sadarangani, during the period of 2022-
2023 in the School of Business and Management at CHRIST (Deemed to be University),
Bangalore, under my supervision and guidance. The project report has not formed the basis for
the award of any Degree / Diploma / Associate ship / Fellowship or other similar title of
recognition to any candidate of any University.

Place: Bangalore Dr. Tijo Thomas

Date:

2
 Declaration
I, Veeresh Sadarangani, hereby declare that the project, titled “Impact of product placement
in video games on brand Recall” submitted to CHRIST (Deemed to be University), in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Business
Administration is a record of original and independent research work done by me during 2022-
2023 under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Tijo Thomas, School of Business and
Management and it has not formed the basis for the award of any Degree / Diploma / Associate
ship / Fellowship or other similar title of recognition to any candidate of any university.

Place: Bangalore Veeresh Sadarangani

Date:

Acknowledgement
I, Veeresh Sadarangani, would like to express my profound gratitude to all those who have
been instrumental in the preparation of this Research Project Report. I wish to place on record
our deep gratitude to my project guide, Dr. Tijo Thomas Assistant Professor, for guiding me
through this project with valuable and timely advice. I would like to thank Dr. (Fr). Abraham
V M, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Jain Mathew, Dean and Dr. Amalanathan S, HOD, School of
Business and Management for their encouragement.

Last but not the least; I would like to thank my parents and friends for their constant help and
support.

Veeresh Sadarangani

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 INDEX

PAGE
S.NO TOPIC NO

1 Introduction 7
2 Article Review 13

3 Methodology 23
4 Problem Statement 23

5 Objectives of Study 23
6 Scope of Study 24
7 Hypothesis 24
8 Method of Data Collection 25

9 Limitation of Study 26
10 Data Analysis 28
11 Annexure 34
12 Findings 36

13 Conclusions & References 39

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 CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION -

In today's society, product placement is a relatively prevalent advertising approach.

Product placements in movies include Holly arriving in an Aston Martin DBS V12 in
Breakfast at Tiffany's and James Bond arriving in an Aston Martin DBS V12 in Casino Royale.
At least one product integration may be found in any popular Hollywood or
Bollywood film today.

The Topic of the research Project is Product Placement in games and how it is
influencing Purchase Intention. Product Placement is a method through which makers of goods
or service providers get awareness for their products by paying to have them featured in films
and television shows. The study is focused on the wide topic of purchase intention although the
main area of study is focused on the game FIFA and the product placement in the game. FIFA
is a game played on the PS3, PS4, PS5, XBOX, XBOX1 and other consoles. It is a Football
game and it consists of Teams and Players from all across the world. These players are animated
and coded into the game of FIFA and we are made to control the players and we can play with
our friends either offline or even with strangers online. The game supports various modes and
has various types of playing styles and the entire product placement is around the Jersey of the
players and the ball used to play the game and also the banners in the background of the game.
The project focuses on understanding the consumers’ purchase intention of the brands and the
products of the brands after seeing them in the game. A consumer's propensity to acquire a
product or service is referred to as purchase intention. The Research is around the
understanding of the brands and their usage in the games specifically in the game FIFA and
how consumers react to their usage in the game.

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 The research solves questions relating to brand recall, product placement in games and
purchase intention of gamers and usual respondents' who have been made to play the game or
have already played it in the past. When prompted with a product or service, or any other
relationship with it, a consumer's likelihood of recalling the name of a brand is measured.
Simply said, brand recall is a qualitative assessment of a consumer's ability to recall a brand's
name. Questions related to brand recall are also solved as respondents recall brands without
being assisted or without any options given to them. This is the method of brand recall used in
the project and it’s a method without any assistance involved. The respondents are not given
any options before being asked to recall the brand. They were also asked questions related to
what they think about the brand they recalled and also what was the reason they recalled the
brand. The entire product placement in the game questions the purchase intention it creates in
the minds of the consumers and whether the brands used are Prominent or Inconspicuous. The
brands which are prominent are usually immediately noticeable and the brands which are
inconspicuous are not immediately noticeable to the naked eye. The research also helps to
differentiate how these brands are viewed in the eyes of the customer.

The industry chosen for the Research Project is Marketing in the gaming Industry. The
Marketing industry has tremendous chances for growth and can make huge changes in the lives
of individuals. The entire marketing industry has great developmental scope and it is the future
of the country’s employment prospects. Without marketing there is no use of even production
of a product because if there is production and no sale there won’t be turnover and the company
would go in loss. Marketing is as important or in fact more important than other industries in
today’s day and age.

The way we play games is evolving, from tabletops to virtual reality. The world of
internet gaming has skyrocketed in popularity in just a few decades. It is expected to generate
$196 billion in revenue by 2022, making it one of the world's fastest-growing sectors. The
following infographic delves into the humble roots of the online gaming industry as well as the
technical possibilities that will shape its future.

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Advertising, selling, and delivering things to consumers or other businesses are all examples
of marketing. Affiliates perform some marketing on behalf of a company. Professionals in a
company’s marketing and promotion departments use advertising to attract the attention of key
potential audiences. The marketing industry’s goal is to get the word out to consumers, clients,
and the general public about what companies have to offer. Marketers serve as the link between
businesses and their clients. Place, pricing, product, and promotion are the four Ps of marketing.
Companies can ensure they have a visible, in-demand product or service that is competitively
priced and advertised to their customers by carefully integrating all of these marketing methods
into a marketing mix.

The current research is done on product placement in games on purchase intention and
the focused area is product placement in the gaming industry. The gaming industry has
tremendous potential for growth and the product placement in these games and their purchase
intention plays a major role in the sales of a company and the growth of any company and the
entire sector. Purchase Intention is a more vast topic than whether to purchase a product or not
to purchase a product. It also induces positive or negative word of mouth based on the purchase
intention and a lot of added perks or issues follow based on the consumer.

Access to new products and services, as well as capital and people, is being expanded.
Increased business productivity. Customer experience has changed, and customer service has
improved. New markets for the company’s products or services are created. These are a few
growth opportunities available in the field of marketing. There is various growth potential in
every field of marketing whether it comes to digital marketing or advertising or personal selling
or any of the areas even when it comes to focusing on one particular area of this vast field.

The Objective of the research project is to find out how brand Recall and product
placement affects the purchase intention of customers and what it does when a sample size is
chosen at random. It is to discuss and find whether product placement in games actually lead
to positive purchase intention or negative purchase intention. It is also do discuss whether

7
product placement in games are preferred by consumers as banners in the background or by
making it more obvious. Another objective is to figure out if product placement in games
actually plays a major role in improving the sales of a company. Understanding how
conspicuous brands are recalled better compared to inconspicuous brands is also necessary and
is an important part of the research.

Product placement, the practise of paying for branded products (e.g., brand name/logo,
package, signage, and other trademarks) to be placed in the content of mass media
programming, skyrocketed to an estimated $7.5 billion in 2006, and is expected to reach $14
billion by 2010. (Graser and Stanley 2006). In today's oversaturated and fragmented
advertising/marketing environment, product placement is no longer regarded a unique
marketing approach; rather, it has achieved "celebrity status" as a media form as advertisers
seek more effective ways of influencing customers' opinions. Not only do marketers spend a
significant portion of their promotional budgets on these types of campaigns, but production
companies also rely on them as a key source of revenue (e.g., Bensinger 2008).

Product placement is becoming more popular across multiple Internet platforms, new
social media, and interactive games. With the rise of the internet, have been increasingly
popular in recent years. A is a series of scripted or non-scripted videos, often in episodic
form, distributed over the Internet and is a part of the web television media, according
to Wikipedia. A "Webisode" is a term used to describe each episode of a show.

Product placement is increasingly gaining momentum in India with an aim to influe nce
recall and thereby consumers’ perception towards the brand. According to Vikas
Katoch, founder and CEO, Adomantra Digital the share of ’ in digital is less than 5% of
the total digital ad spends in India. But it is expected that 10-15% of digital advertis ing
spend will be diverted to ’ in the next two years through integration of brand stories

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with content, product placement, creating characters for brands, integrated logo unit,
pre-roll ads, etc. For example, Tata Tiago is an integral part of the popular TVF Tripling.

With the launch of innovative games and apps by various companies in the video
gaming industry, the video gaming market is predicted to grow at a quick rate. The
video game is one of the most popular types of entertainment, offering customers an
incredible gaming experience.

The video game is one of the most popular types of entertainment,

offering customers an incredible gaming experience. The worldwide media and
entertainment market reached $ 1.9 trillion in 2016 and $ 2 trillion in 2017, according
to the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration.

Market participants
involved in the production of video game consoles are focusing their efforts on taking
advantage of the prospects provided by online video games. For example, Microsoft
Corporation's Xbox Live and Sony Corporation's PlayStation Network provide online
gaming.

The first brick and mortar casino was created in the 1600s, and the casino industry has
a long history. Much later, in the 1990s and 2000s, the casino industry began to acquire
traction, and more land-based casinos began to operate in Europe and other parts of the
world. Casinos had become a popular hangout spot for many individuals by 2010.

The advent of online casinos ushered in a level of success that was fantastic. As much
as land-based casinos were getting known and the earnings were stacking up, the
introduction of internet casinos ushered in a degree of success that was phenomenal.

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The reason for this is self-evident. Online casinos offer a wide range of games and
incentives that brick-and-mortar casinos may find difficult to match, resulting in their
rising market dominance.

Branding is a way to differentiate a company from others in the competitive market. A

Brand is built up by a name with different signs, symbols and attributes that together
makes a company's brand unique through marketing communication a company can be
able to promote its products or services for the consumers. Even if a company has good
products or services it is still important that prospective customers recognize their
existence and learn about the value the company is able to give them. Therefore
marketing communication is essential for a company’s success.Companies advertis ing
strategy consists of two elements: the created advertising message and the selection of
advertising media. In a world where an average person is exposed to around 1,600 ad
messages a day, advertising can only succeed if the ad gains attention and is
communicated well (Armstrong et al., 2009).Marketers are always looking for
alternative methods to convey their messages and communicate with their target
population. One approach that has continued to grow and received attention the last
decades is product placements. The practice of product placements where brands are
placed into media content, mainly in movies and TV-shows is not new. Product
placements have a history back to the mid-1890s but it was not until 1982 with the
blockbuster movie “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial” with the placement of Reese’s Pieces
candy that the real product placements industry was born. After the movie release,
Reese’s Pieces increased their sales with 65 % and other marketers saw the benefits
with product placements For what has been an effective tool for reaching audiences for
more than 50 years, the role of product placements has shifted from being a part of the
background settings to being a substantial part of a movie or TV-show (Yang &
Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2007). For instance, James Bond is driving a kitted up Aston Martin
car in the movie Casino Royale and in the movie Castaway where Tom Hanks is

10
stranded on an empty island with numerous FedEx packages that helps him to survive
and he even creates a relationship with a Wilson volleyball, that he was aptly named
Wilson. The different types of product placement can be divided into two types of
placements; prominent and subtle.Prominent placements is easy to notice and can be
very obvious through showing, using or talking about the brand while subtle
placement is harder to notice and does often occur in the background

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CHAPTER - 2

12
Literature Review -

José Marti-Parreño, Jesús Bermejo Berros, Joaquín Aldás-Manzano

(2017) Product placement in video games is becoming increasingly popular as a way
to contact consumers in a more indirect and engaging way. A two-factor factorial design
(high repetition versus low repetition) and a two-factor factorial design (high repetition
vs low repetition) are used to study the impact of repetition and brand familiarity on
consumers' memory for companies included in video games (high brand familiarity vs
low brand familiarity). According to the research, consumers recall known brands
incorporated in the video game better than new brands. In a brand awareness test, well-
known brands outperformed lesser-known companies. Because there is no interaction
impact of repetition, the recurrence effect will benefit both familiar and new brands
equally. Managerial implications, limits, and future research are also highlighted.

Thomas MacKay, Fiona J Newton (2009) The fragmentation and abundance

of media, along with the declining efficacy of television advertising, has prompted
interest in new and more effective ways to reach customers, particularly non-users of a
brand. This study looks at the impact of active product placement in computer games
on brand attitude (A brand) and memory. According to the research, buyers with a
negative pre-existing attitude toward a brand can benefit from exposure to that brand
in a computer game. Product placement in computer games is a great strategy for
improving spontaneous brand recall and even persuading customers who are
unfavourable to a brand, according to our findings (analogous to non-users).

Mira Lee, Ronald J Faber (2013) This study analyses the conditions under
which product placement in an online game will be recognised and remembered using
the limited-capacity model of attention. According to the findings, brand memory is
impacted by the proximity of brand messaging in the game, game participation, and

13
past game-playing experience. Although experienced players recognise focal brands
better than peripheral brands in the moderate-involvement condition, the recognition
superiority of the focal brands over the peripheral brands reduces when experienced
players' involvement is high. The association between closeness and game participation
does not appear to exist for untrained players.

Beth L. Fossen (2021) Product placement is helpful in certain circumstances but

not in others because it allows the audience to have a greater connection with the brand
in a more natural way rather than being directly sold to. When a brand appears in a film,
television programme, or other performance, it is almost always because an advertiser
paid for the right to do so.

Fu Guo, Guoquan Ye (2019) This article presents a comprehensive and

systematic assessment of the product placement literature in order to chart the thematic
evolution of product placement research, assist researchers in understanding the current
research state, and recommend future study topics. The Web of Science, Scopus,
EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar databases yielded a total of 874 papers on product
placement in the media. To gather information about developing challenges and chart
the growth of product placement research, bibliometric and network analysis were
utilised to identify the major journals, academics, and publications.

Sara Peters and Glenn Leshner (2013) The impacts of game-product

congruence and product placement proximity on advergame players' brand memory,
brand attitude, game enjoyment, and future intention to play were investigated in this
study. The researchers utilised a 2 (congruity) 2 (proximity) repeated-measures
experiment. Players' implicit memory increased exclusively for congruent games,
according to the findings. In the congruent/central game condition, explicit memory
tests also revealed hints of improvement for brands. Surprisingly, the

14
incongruent/peripheral game condition appears to have delivered the greatest overall
outcomes, with the least amount of negative attitude change, the gamest enjoyment, and
the highest desire to play again in the future.

Hayden Patrick Simpson (2020) According to previous research, the way an

advertising is presented has a significant impact on how well the message is received
by consumers. Many factors combine to make video games effective advertising
platforms. Participants in this study played a video game including branded items before
taking an implicit associations test to see if they had more positive views toward the
game's brands than a group of similarly rated brands. The evidence supports all three
ideas. Participants classify in-game brands as "good" far more quickly than they classify
them as "negative." In addition, participants rate in-game brands as good substantially
faster than they rate out-of-game goods.

Thomas MacKay, Fiona J Newton (2009) The fragmentation and abundance

of media, along with the falling effectiveness of television advertising, has sparked
interest in finding new ways to reach customers, particularly non-users of a brand.
The influence of active product placement in computer games on brand attitude
(Abrand) and recall is investigated in this study. According to the findings, exposing a
brand in a computer game can boost Abrand among customers who have a poor pre-
existing attitude toward the brand in issue. We find that product placement in computer
games is a powerful tool for increasing spontaneous brand memory and even
influencing consumers who are less favourable to a brand (analogous to non-users).
These findings have promising management implications for companies aiming to
increase client acquisition and conversion rates.

15
Mira Lee, Donald J Faber (2013) From the standpoint of the limited-capacity
model of attention, this study investigates the circumstances under which product
placement in an online game will be recognised and remembered. The closeness of
brand messaging in the game, game participation, and past game-playing experience
all interact to impact brand recall, according to the findings. Although experienced
players recognise focal brands better than peripheral brands in the moderate-
involvement condition, when experienced players' involvement is strong, the
recognition advantage of focal brands over peripheral brands vanishes. Inexperienced
players, on the other hand, do not see the relationship between closeness and game
engagement.

José Martí-Parreño, Jesús Bermejo-Berros (2013) Product placement in

video games is gaining traction as a technique to reach consumers in a more indirect
and engaging manner. The effects of repetition and brand familiarity on consumers'
memory for brands put in video games are investigated using a two-factor factorial
design (high repetition versus low repetition) and a two-factor factorial design (high
brand familiarity vs low brand familiarity). Consumers recall recognised brands
included in the video game better than new brands, according to the findings. In a brand
identification test, recognised brands fared better than new brands. Because no
interaction effect of repetition was discovered, the effect of recurrence will help both
familiar and unfamiliar brands equally. The consequences for managers, constraints,
and future research are also discussed.

Haiming Hang (2011) This study adds to the body of knowledge on product
placement by examining the effects of interactivity on product placement efficacy. The
findings show that perceptual fluency is the underlying process that leads to good
emotion in youngsters who are unable to interact with the locations in video games. As
a result, the effects are only visible when the same stimulus is used as a cue in a
stimulus-based decision. When youngsters engage with the placements in video games,

16
however, they may be impacted by their conceptual fluency. As a result, even when no
stimulus is presented as a cue, placements are still successful in a memory-based
decision.

Stephen J. Gould, Pola B. Gupta (2013) Advertisers and consumers share a

media landscape that includes game shows and the items that are given away as prizes.
However, due to a lack of study in this area, this paper focuses on two interpretative
investigations of game show viewers to learn how people understand the objects used
as contest-puzzle topics and/or rewards in these shows. Three interacting areas of
manufactured meaning emerged: (1) customers, (2) game shows, and (3) items placed,
each with its own evolving themes. There are implications that apply not only to game
shows and the items shown on them, but also to promotional mediascape meanings in
general.

Michelle R. Nelson, Heejo Keum, Ronald A. Yaros (2013) We investigate

how electronic game players evaluate business behaviours using netnography and
surveys. An examination of 805 Slashdot comments from 2002 to 2004 found lively
debates and insights about gamers' perceptions of the success and acceptability of
marketers' strategies, as well as the effects on self. When reality was brought to games,
players were more favourable towards brands. People who were critical of product
placements were equally critical of advertising. While some players said that product
placements had no effect on them, others stated that they had learned about and then
purchased new companies as a result of product placements. A poll of gamers put the
findings of the netnography to the test.

Huan Chen, Eric Haley (2016) The consumer meanings of product placements
incorporated in social games in various cultural contexts were investigated in this

17
chapter. The study's theoretical standpoint is phenomenology, and data was collected
through an essay assignment and in-depth interviews.

Huan Chen, Audrey Deterding (2013) The study's goal is to learn more about
how college students perceive and interpret commercial placement in social games. The
study's theoretical standpoint is phenomenology, and data was collected through an
essay assignment and in-depth interviews.

Yi Jin Lima Abdullah Osman b Shahrul NizamSalahuddin (2016)

Nowadays, internet purchasing is a rapidly developing phenomenon. A look at the
industry’s leading firms’ exponential development shows that e-commerce still has a
lot of room to grow. The convenience of online buying has made it a growing trend
among customers, particularly among Generation Y. The popularity of internet
purchasing has prompted retailers to concentrate their efforts in this sector. As a result,
the goal of this research was to see if there was a link between subjective norm,
perceived utility, and online buying behaviour, all of which were mediated by purchase
intention.

Yan Xu, Zhong Chen, Michael Yao-pi (2020) The use of gamification
aspects in online buying is piqueing the interest of scholars and practitioners. However,
it is currently unknown how gamification influences and enhances customer purchase
intent on online shopping platforms, leaving a knowledge gap. This paper has
developed a theoretical model to close this theoretical gap. The impact of gamification
components on customer purchase intention is explained using cognitive evaluation
theory in this model.

18
Nathalie Peña-García, Irene Gil-Saur (2020) This article aims to investigate
the key factors influencing e-commerce adoption using social psychology elements
such as attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, ease of use, and
perceived usefulness, as well as non-traditional elements such as buying impulse,
compatibility, and self-efficacy in online stores, while contrasting relationships in a
cross-cultural environment. Quantitative study with a sample of 584 internet users in
Colombia and Spain is used to test the suggested paradigm. With EQS 6.3 software, the
following statistical analyses were performed: CFA, structural equations, measuring
instrument invariance, and multi-group analysis. Self-efficacy in online stores is a
major component in the adoption of electronic commerce throughout the cultures
analysed, according to the study.

Shibin Zhang, 1 Chuhan Zhou (2020) The key elements impacting consumers'
intent to purchase and the marketing strategy of remanufactured new-energy
automotive components in China are tested and verified in this study. The updated
Theory of Reasoned Action model is used to investigate the elements that influence
consumers' buying intent. Through correlation analysis of characteristics such as
subjective norms, attitudes, face consciousness, brand extension, and perceived risk,
the primary determinants impacting customer purchase intention of remanufactured
new-energy automotive parts in China are discovered. Consumers in China are split
into three groups based on market segmentation: passive-accepted, brand-driven, and
green-consuming; marketing strategies are devised appropriately. This research
presents a theoretical and decision-making foundation for the market for
remanufactured new-energy automotive parts.

Dandan Dong, Haider Ali Malik (2021) This study focuses on Pakistani
students' online purchase intentions for various products available for sale on a variety
of e-commerce websites. The major goal of this research is to figure out which

19
methodology is best for increasing client online buy intent. It also tries to figure out
ways to boost the perceived benefits of any available internet product while lowering
the perceived dangers of entrepreneurship. With bootstrap methodology, AMOS 24
was utilised to cope with mediation in research design. Using a basic random sample
technique, the study was done on 250 students from various educational institutes in
Pakistan.

20
CHAPTER - 3

21
Methodology Used -

The method used for data collection is a convenient sample method as it is more appropriate
for this study. A sample of 55 respondents were collected using a convenient sample method.

These individuals were made to play the game FIFA and then were asked questions based on
the game. They were interviewed using a schedule prepared for the study. They were asked
questions on why they recalled the particular brand and what they felt about the quality of the
brand compared to the other brands. They were also asked what they felt about the price of the
chosen brand and if it was worth the price paid for. Also asked about the price in terms of the
quality of products of that particular brand.

Problem Statement -

The research solves problems and queries relating to brand recall, product placement in games
and purchase intention of gamers.

Objectives of study –

● Measure influence of product placement in unaided brand Recall.

● To learn how respondents recall the brands without being prompted or assisted and this
is done through good product placement in games specifically in the game FIFA and
how this product placement affected the purchase intention of individuals.
● Understanding effective product placement in games particularly FIFA.
● The goal of this study is to see how brand recall and product placement affect customer
purchase intent, as well as what happens when a sample size is chosen at random. Its
purpose is to debate and determine if product placement in games leads to positive or
negative buying intent. It’s also worth debating whether consumers prefer commercial
placement in games as background banners or by making it more evident. Another goal
is to determine whether product placement in games has a significant impact on a
company’s sales.

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 ● The objectives include understanding Conspicuous brand preference and brand Recall
over inconspicuous brand preference and brand Recall. The main aim is to find out how
many people choose conspicuous brands over inconspicuous brands or vice versa.

Scope of the study –

The scope of the study is to understand whether the people are able to recall the advertisements
or product placement used in the video games and in which they can be recalled.

The population type chosen are a group of individuals ranging from the age group of 19-22.
The group of individuals include gamers and non-gamers although they’re all made to play the
game before being asked the questions.

This particular research has a lot of scope even for the future researchers when it comes to
brand Recall and product placement. These on their own are very vast topics to research on and
have a lot of scope.

Statistical Design -

The statistical design used is a completely randomised design. In this design the treatments are
randomly assigned to experimental units. Although the respondents are asked to play the
particular game FIFA before being interviewed so they have an idea of what could be asked to
them on the basis of the game. Tables are used to explain the picks of each respondent and even
a pie chart is used to explain the brands picked by the respondents.

Hypothesis -

H1 - Product Placement in games influences brand Recall

H0 - product placement in games do not influence brand Recall

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H1 - There is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed conspicuously
in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.

H0 - There is no significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed conspicuously
in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.

H1 - Product placement in video games increases the intention to purchase the product.

H0 - Product Placement in video games does not have any impact on purchase intention.

Method of data collection –

Interview schedule method.

Methods of collection used are phone call Interviews and face to face interviews.

Primary Data Collection –

Interview Schedule Method.

An observation interviewer, researcher, or investigator is guided by a schedule, which is a set

of questions with organised replies. It is an inquiry plan or guideline. The schedule, according
to Thomas Carson, is nothing more than a series of questions that must be answered in order
to test the hypothesis. In simple terms, a schedule is a sequence of questions formulated and
given with the intent of evaluating a hypothesis or assumption.

24
Limitations of the study –

Random sampling methods couldn't be used as people only of specific interest could be
interviewed for this research. The respondents weren't able to recall more than one brand
spontaneously.

The improved sales of the company are not spoken about in the research study. It stops at how
the product placement affects the purchase intention and that positive purchase intention leads
to resale of the brand in the future.

The percentage of improved sales of the companies can be studied more in advance and can be
understood on the basis of product placement and how it affects consumer decision making.
The future researchers can use larger sample data to get more specific results and they can use
a different method of data collection which is more efficient and effective.

CHAPTER - 4

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Data Analysis -

This is the expert analysis received from the teachers on what brand is prominent and which
brands are prominent and which brands are inconspicuous. Prominent brands are the brands
which are visible right in front when someone plays the game and which is obvious.
Inconspicuous brands are the brands which are in the background and not that obviously visible
although they are present. The product placement of the prominent brands are done better than
the placement of the inconspicuous brands. The chosen prominent brands are Nike, Adidas,
Puma and the brands which are inconspicuous are Reebok and Redbull. These analyses do not
affect the responses and are a separate element in which brands are prominent or not.
The respondents are chosen at random and are asked research questions based on the
game they are made to play. The respondents are made to play the game in advance.

Table 1. Expert Analysis –

Brands Prominent Inconspicuous

Nike 5

Adidas 5

Puma 5

Reebok 5

Redbull 5

Even inconspicuous brands have a chance of getting chosen if the brand is already known to
the respondents and if the respondents have bought products from the particular company in
the past. The more the brands have been bought the more chances of them being recalled,

26
Brands Recalled by Respondents –

Table 2. Percentage –

Brands Frequency Percentages (%)

Nike 17 30.9

Adidas 15 27.3

Puma 13 23.6

Redbull 5 9.1

Reebok 5 9.1
From this data we can conclude that the prominent brands are chosen over the inconspicuous
brands. The prominent brands i.e. Nike, Adidas and Puma have been chosen among a total of
81.8% of the respondents. The inconspicuous brands i.e Redbull and Reebok are chosen among
the remaining 18.2% of the respondents. This shows that the prominent brands have a higher
chance of being recalled compared to inconspicuous brands.

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The initial analysis brings out the fact that there are more male respondents than female
respondents. This is because the topic of the research is focused on a particular game namely
FIFA which is a game exposed and played by more boys between the age 16-23 compared to
girls of the same age. This game is a football game and is played on consoles like PS3, PS4,
XBOX, XBOX-1 etc.

The initial question began with asking the individuals’ name and age which was asked before
starting the recording. These questions were followed by asking if the individual has played
FIFA before. All the individuals choose the “YES” option as they had been instructed to play
the game by me before.

YES NO

55 0
Brand recall is a necessary step in the research as it is important to understand what consumers
can recall and the reasons they recalled the brand. The percentages for brand recall are
mentioned above.

Table 3. Recalled Brands -

Brands Respondents

Nike 17

Adidas 15

Puma 13

Reebok 5

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Redbull 5

The next question is the brand they recollected when they thought about the game FIFA. The
brands’ chosen included Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, Redbull. These brands were picked
without any options given to the respondents. These are the immediate brands recollected by
the respondents as they think of the game FIFA either because they’ve seen the players in the
game wear the Jersey with the brands in them or they’ve seen these brands in the banners in
the background. This recollected data was un- assisted and raw and the questions that followed
were also based on this question. The respondents got to choose the brand they could recollect.
A few respondents even chose two brands as their initial response. Majority of the responses
who have chosen prominent brands and inconspicuous brands are due to various other reasons
like word of mouth, past use of products, other advertisements etc.

Table 4. Gender of the Respondents -

Brands Male Respondents Female respondents

Nike 15 2

Adidas 13 2

Puma 11 2

Reebok 5 0

Redbull 5 0
The next question was “why did you recall the brand” The usual response to this question was
either they recalled the brand due to the banners in the background or due to the players wearing

29
the jersey of the brand. All the players of the game wear the Jersey of their team and wear
football boots. The Jersey’s have the brand sponsors of each particular team on them and the
respondents were reminded of the brand either from seeing the brand on the Jersey or seeing
the brand in the banner in the background. The banners in the background are the brands that
sponsor the game FIFA on a whole.

The next question is what the respondent thinks about the quality of the brand he/she has chosen
and what the respondent thinks about the price of the brand. Usually the respondents support
the brand they have recalled by positive statements on the quality. The response talks about the
quality of the brand recalled, usually to be premium. The competitor brands are also compared
and the respondents provide feedback in terms of how the competitor brands are also of
premium quality and how the brands are usually bought interchangeably and are very strong
competitors.

The next question is what the respondent thinks about the price of the brand
they recalled in comparison to the other brands. Usually the respondents feel that the price of
the brand they recalled is moderately priced and the products of the brand are usually worth
the price charged for it. The common consensus is that the price of the brand is usually premium
as the quality is also premium but it is worth every penny paid for. The price of the products of
the brand chosen are usually similar to the prices of the products of the other brands as all the
brands are close competitors and are mostly premium brands.

The last question asked is “will you be interested in purchasing products of the recalled brand
in the future” The response to this is always a “yes” followed by again talking about the quality
of the brand they recalled being premium quality and always worth the price they paid for it.
The response is always a positive response talking about how the respondents would definitely
purchase products of the brand recalled in the future especially when new products come out
and when there are usual discounts and newer versions of the current products.

30
The brands always have a positive feedback when it comes to whoever recalled the brand due
to reasons like positive word of mouth etc.

Individuals decide towards positive purchase intentions

as they feel the products of the brands they recalled are well priced and reasonable and are also
worth their quality. This particular question goes hand in hand with the previous two questions
about what the respondents feel about the price and quality of the brands they have chosen
when compared to the competitor brands.

Hypothesis Testing -

H1 - Product Placement in games influences brand Recall

H0 - product placement in games do not influence brand Recall

The H1 hypothesis is accepted as all the respondents have recalled the brand they recall from
the game FIFA. Either they have recalled Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok or Redbull. Product
Placement in games influences brand Recall vastly because there is high recall for the brands
mentioned above. H0 hypothesis is declined as Product Placement in games influences brand
Recall.

H1 - There is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed conspicuously
in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.

H0 - There is no significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed conspicuously
in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.

31
The HI hypothesis is accepted in this case as the brands Nike, Adidas and Puma which are all
conspicuous brands are chosen more than the inconspicuous brands like Redbull and Reebok.
Which means there is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed
conspicuously in the video game and inconspicuously in video games. H0 hypothesis is
declined as There is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed
conspicuously in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.

H1 - Product placement in video games increases the intention to purchase the product.

H0 - Product Placement in video games does not have any impact on purchase intention.

The HI hypothesis is accepted in this case as all 55 respondents have said that they would
purchase products of the brand in the future due to their quality and price. The null hypothesis
is not accepted as Product placement in video games increases the intention to purchase the
product. The want to purchase the product increases vastly due to product placement in these
video games.

32
CHAPTER - 5

33
Findings -

The findings of the research project are Product Placement in games and basically what their
entire effect is on purchase intention. From the above data, it is clear that almost all the
customers who recall a brand because they have seen it in the game are supportive towards the
brand and would purchase products of the brand again in the future. This means that making
the product more visible is very necessary in the eyes of the companies planning on growth and
expansion. Working towards the needs of the customers and making their products more
evident is the key to improved marketing and improved sales and turnover of a company. The
findings also show that the price of the products doesn’t really matter as long as the quality is
premium and people are willing to buy expensive brands and products of a brand as long as it
has the right quality.

The findings also include the understanding of conspicuous and inconspicuous brands and how
much more conspicuous brands are chosen and recalled over inconspicuous brands. The
findings from the research show that the recalls from the conspicuous brands i.e. Nike, Adidas
and Puma have been chosen among a total of 81.8% of the respondents. The inconspicuous
brands i.e Redbull and Reebok are chosen among the remaining 18.2% of the respondents.
Individuals make favourable purchase intentions because they believe the products of the
brands they recall are reasonably priced and of good quality.

This question ties in with the preceding two, which inquired about the respondents' perceptions
of the pricing and quality of the brands they chose in comparison to competitor brands.

We can deduce from this data that prominent brands are preferred over lesser-known brands.
A total of 81.8 percent of the respondents chose Nike, Adidas, and Puma as their preferred
brands. The remaining 18.2 percent of respondents preferred nondescript brands such as
Redbull and Reebok. This demonstrates that well-known brands have a higher chance of being
remembered than less well-known businesses.

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 CHAPTER - 6
Recommendations & Conclusions -

Almost all the results from the Hypothesis Testing are positive.

● Product Placement in games influences brand Recall

● There is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed conspicuously
in the video game and inconspicuously in video games.
● Product placement in video games increases the intention to purchase the product.

Recommendations -

The product placements should all be prominent as when it is prominent brand recall is much
higher and when brand recall is higher Purchase intention is also higher. The hypothesis clearly
states that There is a significant difference in the brand Recall of the product placed
conspicuously in the video game and inconspicuously in video games. It is also clearly proven
that Product placement in video games increases the purchase intention.

The entire result and findings of the research project can be used in practical situations when it
comes to increasing the sales of a business when it comes to their product placement in games.
Future scope of the study is that researchers can go beyond the same city and use multiple
methods of collecting data for the analysis. The other methods of collecting data can be more
advanced and can lead to better findings leading to more positives in the entire study. There
are various other situations to put to use the information when it comes to Product Placements
and how to make the products more obvious when placed in video games to improve the
visibility which inturn increases the purchase among customers or potential customers which
lead to profits of the company and expansion and growth of the entire industry as a whole.

35
Statistical tools like Mean, Median, Standard Deviation are used to find and differentiate the
findings although there is scope for further tools to be used and the entire study to become all
the more advanced.

References -

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and Product Placement Proximity on Game Players’ Processing of Brands Embedded in
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Michelle R. Nelson, Heejo Keum, C. Advertainment or Adcreep Game Players’ Attitudes

toward Advertising and Product Placements in Computer Games. Taylor & Francis. (2022).
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K.Ramya, C. Study on Customer Perception towards Service Recovery Strategies of

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Annexure -

Have you played FIFA before?

What brands do you recall seeing in the game FIFA?

Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, Redbull

Why did you recall the __ brand?

(Reason for brand recall)

What is your opinion on the _ brand

On Quality

On pricing

Will you be interested in purchasing the product?

Yes or No

The image 1.1 has the initial request sent to the respondents before making the call and
interviewing them. The message is a general message asking if they are free to be interviewed
based on a research project. It also includes the game they were asked to play in advance for
the interview (FIFA). Images 1.2 onwards are Whatsapp Images of where I have kept a record
of the audios that have been recorded for the Research Project. The audios have been saved in
various places like on a Whatsapp chat and in recording on the phone and also a computer file.
The images of which are below as follows.

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Image 1.1

The individuals are asked only a few questions as the scheduled interview method could be
long and monotonous and for individuals to give honest and detailed responses only a few
questions could be asked at once.Questions based on Brand Recall, Quality of brand recalled,
Price of brand recalled etc are asked to the respondents.

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