How beauty influencers practice product placement in YouTube videos - A Qualitative Research

Despite vast research on product placement in traditional media, little academic research focused on product placement in YouTube videos. This research investigated how beauty influencers practice product placement in their YouTube videos. A theoretical framework was developed to present which theories regarding product placement and product placement in audio-visual content exist. In addition, nine makeup videos created by three beauty influencers were collected and analyzed using Grounded Theory by Strauss & Corbin (1990). The videos were coded in three stages: open coding, axial coding and selective coding, to determine interrelationships and core concepts. Coding these nine videos revealed six core characteristics that illustrate how beauty influencers practice product placement and communicate with their audience. Namely: identification, accessibility, confidence, articulation, expertise and helpfulness. In these videos influencers talk to their audience as if they are close friends. They directly connect with consumers in an authentic way. Thereafter, influencers are confident, they articulate comprehensible and videos are professionally edited and clearly structured. They are seen as professionals that give extensive information about product characteristics and guide the viewer in using these products. Results show that beauty influencers practice four different types of product placement in their videos. The first type is verbal product placement, there is solely a verbal reference to the branded product. The second type is visual product placement, which is divided into showing a product extensively and showing a product moderately. The third type of product placement is a combination of both verbal and visual brand appearance. The majority of the branded products in the beauty videos appeared both verbal and visual. The fourth type is active product placement. The main type of placement practiced in these videos is active product placement as products were actively used and applied on the face. Moreover, results show that product placement in YouTube videos by beauty influencers are omnipresent with 1.8 brand appearances in 60 seconds. The coding process provided insight on the visual and verbal, and both visual and verbal brand appearance of beauty products. Overall, 32.9% of brand appearance was only visual, 3.7% of brand appearance was only verbal. The combination of both was most frequently practiced by beauty influencers, as 63.4% of product placement combined both visual and verbal description of a product. Most products were shown in a more or less quick manner, as 32.9% was shown extensively and 63.4% moderately.