LAUSR

This paper examines how styles of thinking across culture affect consumers’ brand perceptions. Two experiments using printed and film stimuli for two brand placements (i.e., foreground vs. background) were conducted with participants from two countries (USA and Korea) whose culture is characterized by different styles of thinking (analytic vs. holistic thinking). The results indicate that when product or brand placements (PPLs) were located in the background of the scene, holistic thinkers (i.e., East Asians) showed higher brand perceptions than did analytic thinkers (i.e., Westerners). When PPLs were located in the center of the scene, there was no difference in brand recognition and brand recall between analytic and holistic thinkers. The findings of this research shed light on the importance of consumers’ styles of thinking in understanding the effect of brand placement.