A Cross-Cultural Generalizability Study of Consumers' Acceptance of Product Placements in Movies

By applying a generalizability theory approach, the study shows that product placement acceptability of ethically charged/controversial products is generalizable over different cultures, but not product placement acceptability of neutral products. The universe score shows that attitudes towards product placement for ethically charged/controversial products can be described as “indifferent” (in between “acceptable” and “unacceptable”) consistently over all countries, while neutral products are highly accepted, though the acceptance varies from country to country. The results hold for males and females and are independent of changing product placement acceptance over the years. The findings support cross-cultural convergence of consumer perceptions for problematic marketing and divergence for other issues. Such findings bear some practical implications for international promotional strategies. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the usability of generalizability theory for cross-cultural studies dealing with marketing communication stimuli.