Scholarly research on the topic of product placement is largely limited in focus to films and television programming produced during the 1980s and after (Newell, Salmon, & Chang, 2006). Beyond histories of product placement written in recent years—such as Newell, Salmon, & Chang (2006), Lehu (2007), and Segrave (2004)—product placements prior to Reese’s Pieces in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) have not been examined.
Following the use of Reese’s Pieces in E.T., scholarly research has focused on numerous topics surrounding product placement, such as defining product placement (Balasubramanian, 1994; Gupta & Gould, 1997a). The most popular topic is product placement effectiveness which encompasses product placement practitioners’ views (Karrh, McKee, & Pardun, 2003), audience views on product placement (DeLorme & Reid, 1999), specific characteristics of placements that make placements more effective (Gupta & Lord, 1998), and studies about how audiences remember product placements (D’Astous & Chartier, 2000; Law & Braun, 2000; Cowley & Barron, 2008; Roehm, Roehm, & Boone, 2004; Russell, 2002). There have also been content analyses of television programming and film to determine the number of product placements present in these popular entertainment forms (Ferraro & Avery, 2000; LaFerle & Edwards, 2006; DiSisto & Miller, 2008).
