Thesis

Results 95
became less descriptive. It is noteworthy that as Apple is claimed not to pay for product
placement, except for providing its products props for free, despite receiving
among the highest exposure in movies (Heisler, 2015), it is difficult to predict any
desired product placement effects.
Apple (control group) Widow (experiment group) Apple (experiment group)
Honest
9.00
Charming
Strong
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
Daring
Reliable
Responsible
Glamorous
Imaginative
Tough
Fig. 35 Transfer of personality traits (Apple)
Source: experiment 2, 2015, n = 55
Genuine
The experiment group seems to align its perception of the personality of Heineken
with that of the character on 2 out of 10 personality traits, see figure 36. On 4 out of
10 personality traits, the experiment group gave scores which are less aligned with
the character than the scores of the control group. By order of importance, the personality
traits strong, tough and daring were rated as the most descriptive for the
character. Both the personality traits strong and tough became less descriptive for
the brand among the experiment group. Overall, the product placement seems to
perform rather weakly in terms of transfer of personality traits. It could be questioned
if the character James Bond is the correct vehicle to shape brand personality,
given its strong association with the consumption of high-end products (Barber,
2015) and regarding beverages specifically, its preference for the spirits product
category instead of beers (Spary, 2015), both which might be a mismatch for the
Heineken brand.