The brand that wasn’t there: The impact of brand displacement on viewer engagement and brand attitude

Brand placement is a well-established marketing tactic that benefits both brands and media. However, due to financial, legal, or image reasons, brands may choose not to be associated with certain content. In such cases, the brand logo is removed, or “displaced” from the production either digitally or physically to adhere to copyright law, a practice we define as brand displacement. This research explores the psychological and brand consequences of brand displacement. Using multiple brands and content, we find brand displacement can positively or negatively impact the displaced brand, depending on consumers’ need for cognition. We show these divergent consequences are driven by displacement’s effects on consumer engagement in the viewing experience and follow an affect-transfer process. We find these consequences are moderated by brand familiarity and offer interventions for marketers to use displacement strategically. A preliminary EEG study, pilot with marketing managers, four primary, and multiple supplemental support our theorizing.