Product Placement Awareness and the Impact on German Recipients of a YouTube Beauty Tutorial

Due to an increasing advertising pressure, the emergence of new media and digital commerce strategies, companies try to find new ways to reach their customers online and thereby creating new sources of Human Computer Interactions (HCI). This study examines how the awareness of a commercial purpose of a product placement in a YouTube tutorial influences the individual attitudes and purchase intention. Using the Source Credibility Theory and the Halo Effect Theory, this study proposes a model which assesses the impact of hidden online advertising pursuits. The hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. It is demonstrated that a placement in a tutorial positively influences the buying intention. Additionally, no negative impact of advertising awareness onto the brand image is revealed. The streaming of YouTube tutorials, which in most cases involves the consumption of product placements alongside, is identified as another human-computer interaction that can be used by companies to effectively advertise their products and brand and increase sales.