THE ABILITY OF A BRAND RECALL TO MEDIATE BETWEEN PRODUCT PLACEMENT AND MULTI-ETHNIC MOVIEGOER’S CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTIONS

Product placement has been a crucial influence for multi-ethnic Malaysian moviegoers in terms of purchase intentions. This researchwas conceptualised based on the Tripartite Typology of Product Placement by Russel (1998) and the Planned Behaviour Theory(TPB) by Ajzen (1985). This investigation measured how brand recall mediated the relationship between plot integration, audiostimulus, visual stimulus and consumer purchasing intentions. The research focused primarily on multi-ethnic cinemagoers in Peninsula Malaysia. Past research has also proven that the ethnic background of an individual does have a positive impact on the purchase intentions of the individual. This research studied the purchase intentions of each ethnicity in Peninsular Malaysia to determine if there is a difference among the purchase intentions of respondents when it comes to brand recall mediating the relationship between product placement and the various modalities of product placement. Respondents were sampled from all states within Peninsula Malaysia except for the states of Kelantan and Perlis due to the unavailability of operating cinemas in these states. Respondents were invited to participate after they had watched a movie in the cinema. Preferences only for those who watched Hollywood movies. A total of 513 respondents participated in this research. A questionnaire based on the five-point Likert scale was created as the research instrument to collect data by adapting from past research. A reliability test was done to ascertain the reliabilityand validity of the instrument. Data obtained was analysed using the Smart Partial Least Squares (PLS) Software to determine the relationship between the hypotheses tested. The results generated have proven that brand recall is able to influence the relationship between plot integration, audio stimulation, visual stimulation and consumer purchase intentions of all the ethnicities in Peninsula Malaysia.