Product Placement Honda dalam Film Deadpool & Wolverine terhadap Brand Awareness di Kalangan Mahasiswa Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Sumatera Utara

Abstract

This study aims to determine the influence and the extent of the influence of Honda's product placement in the film Deadpool & Wolverine on brand awareness among students of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of North Sumatra. The increasing trend of marketing strategies through entertainment media, particularly product placement in films, serves as the background of this research. Product placement is considered a form of promotion that is non-disruptive yet effective in building brand awareness in the minds of the audience. The research uses a quantitative approach with a descriptive causal research design. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to 97 respondents and analyzed using simple linear regression. The results show that Honda’s product placement in the film Deadpool & Wolverine has a significant influence on brand awareness, with a contribution of 58.7%. This indicates that product placement strategies in films can shape perceptions and brand recall among students as the target audience. This research reinforces the S-O-R (Stimulus–Organism–Response) theory, where product placement (stimulus) in the film affects individual perception (organism), which then results in a response in the form of brand recognition and recall. These findings are consistent with previous studies which concluded that product placement in films can positively impact brand awareness.