By: Carly Zagaroli

Research Questions
 Based on product placement in the show Gossip Girl
(2007), what are the underlying themes and messages
being promoted to young female viewers?

 What kinds of products are Gossip Girl (2007)

characters promoting to viewers?

 How are Gossip Girl (2007) characters promoting

products to audience members?
 Thesis
 The product placement in Gossip Girl (2007) promotes
the values of the dominant culture to young females;
the main value promoted is the consumption of high
culture and upper-class goods.
 Literature Review
 Advertising and Product Placement
 Smythe (1954)
 Audiences act upon program content
 Miller (1988)
 TV as an effective corporate tool to push consumption
 Andersen (1995)
 Advertisers lead viewers to a specific product
 Stern and Russell (2004)
 Studied individuals with high marketing knowledge
 Literature Review
 Youth and Consumption
 Maccoby (1951)
 Investigated effects of television on children
 Hartley (1970)
 Television is passively learned by children
 Braun (2000)
 Greater recall of products if placed within a show
 Quart (2004)
 Media exposes teen females to a life a luxury
 Literature Review
 Attitudes About Consumption
 Alper and Leidy (1970)
 Television as a tool to shape viewers’ attitudes
 Weigel and Jessor (1973)
 Children’s behaviors and attitudes in relation to the
conventional norms and values of the time
 Shrum and O’Guinn (1997)
 Viewers’ perceptions of reality in relation to time watching
television
 Heckler, Russel, and Norman (2004)
 Viewer/character relationships on the show Friends (1994)
 Consumption Theory
 Veblen (1899) and Bourdieu (1979)

 Veblen’s “Conspicuous Consumption”

 Lavish spending on goods and services

 Purpose of displaying socio-economic status

 Appear in higher classes-filters down to lower classes

 Consumption Theory
 Bourdieu’s “Taste as a Sense of Distinction”

 Social class is revealed by one’s preferences and tastes

 Economic Capital
 Cultural Capital
 Embodied Capital

 Objectified Capital

 Institutionalized Capital
 Methodology
 Quantitative Content Analysis
 Random sample of episodes
 20 Episodes coded-2 seasons (10 per season)
 Name of episode, season, and episode number
 Product count
 Name of product

 Type of product

 Location of product

 Character(s) in scene with product

 Age of character(s), gender, and attitude toward product

 Any phrases from the characters that are relevant to research

 Strengths/Weaknesses
 Strengths
 Coding can be easily replicated
 Inexpensive research method
 Large number of episodes coded
 Weaknesses
 Limited to one show
 Not able to generalize to men
 Unable to identify the effect of product placement on
the viewer at home
 Findings
 241 total products placed in 20 episodes coded
 97 products in first season, 144 in second season
 Males-55 products
 Females-139 Products
 No character-33 Products
 Positive attitude towards 30 products
 Neutral attitude towards 200 products
 Negative attitude towards 11 products
Season 1 vs. Season 2 Product Types
Adults vs. Teens Product Types
 Findings

Teen Males vs. Teen Females in Percentages

 Discussion
 Teen females promote majority of products
 Largely female audience
 Technology, clothing

 Most products promoted with neutral attitude

 Veblen’s argument on who constructs “High Culture”

 Young Females viewing the consumption of high

culture goods as a sense of normalcy on the show
 Thank you!

Questions?