Master's Thesis

Currently, brand placement disclosures in literature are not regulated by law, unlike disclosures in audiovisual media. This might change, given the growing popularity of brand placements in print media. Viktoriia Petrova (Business Economics, 2019) researched this in her Master's Thesis. 

Viktoriia: "In my Master's Thesis, I analysed the effects of brand placement disclosures in fiction narratives on brand attitude, purchase intention and attitude towards the author of the fiction story. Moreover, I studied the mediating role of critical processing of the brand and the author and moderating effects of Need for Cognition (NFC)."

The results show that brand placement disclosures do not necessarily lead to critical processing of the brand or the author. Moreover, exposing readers to the disclosure before they read the text that contained brand placements had a positive impact on readers’ attitude towards the brand. On the other hand, purchase intentions and attitude towards the author were not affected by disclosures.

Viktoriia: "Finally, I found no empirical evidence for Need for Cognition to moderate the indirect effect of disclosures on brand attitude, purchase intention and attitude towards the author.”