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Automobiles lead product categories, followed by food and beverages, while branded items often remain with primary characters for extended sequences. The findings extend PPL research on non-US OTT programming and discuss South Korea’s regulatory differences.",{"@graph":14,"@context":71},[15,34,54],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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2026, Vol. 22(1) 45–69 © The Author(s) 2026  \nArticle reuse guidelines:  \n[sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/17427665251415575](DOI: 10.1177/17427665251415575)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/17427665251415575)[journals.sagepub.com/home/gmc](journals.sagepub.com/home/gmc)  \nEmily S. Kinsky 1, Min Wha Han 1,  \nKristina Drumheller 1 and Rebekah Grome2  \nAbstract  \nThis content analysis offers a benchmark of product placement (PPL) in eight Korean dramas that earned top viewership on Netflix during the COVID-driven media consumption of 2020 and continued streaming 5 years later. Researchers found 507 labelled products from 78 unique brands, including a heavy presence of brands from 11 non-Korean countries. Automobiles appeared most frequently as a product category, followed by food and beverages. Branded products were often used by primary characters for extended periods of time. Findings add to PPL literature by evaluating non-US over-the-top (OTT) programming with continuing global SVoD viewership and includes explanations of regulation differences in South Korea.  \nKeywords  \nSubscription Video On Demand (SVOD), Over The Top (OTT), product placement (PPL), brand placement, series, Korean Wave, content analysis, Netflix, advertising, viewership  \nIntroduction  \nProduct placement (PPL), which has existed in films since 1896 (Newell et al., 2006) and television since the 1950s (PQ Media, 2020), benefits brands and media content producers, and has been a vital method for funding dramas on Korean television networks and  \n1 West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX, USA  \n2Independent Researcher  \nCorresponding author:  \nEmily S. Kinsky, Department of Communication, West Texas A&M University, WT Box 60754, Canyon, TX 79016, USA.  \nEmail: [ekinsky@wtamu.edu](ekinsky@wtamu.edu)  \nnow also on Netflix. Previous studies have discussed the benefits of PPL as a way advertisers can pay or barter to embed products into stories to counteract ad avoidance (PQ Media, 2020), a cost-effective option over traditional television advertising (e.g. Law and Braun, 2000), a way to break through the clutter of other promotional messages (e.g. Gillespie et al., 2018), a method of changing brand attitudes in an entertaining way (e.g. Cha, 2015), an opportunity to demonstrate a product in use (Chae and Sun, 2013), and an opportunity for transference of positive views of a character onto a brand (e.g. Russell et al., 2006) . PPL also lasts longer than a traditional advertisement because it stays embedded in the programme for reruns and other types of distribution (e.g. PQ Media, 2020; Russell and Belch, 2005), such as on-demand content. A product’s appearance on a popular show can prompt positivity within internal brand audiences as well, including franchise operators and shareholders (Russell and Belch, 2005) . In comparison to films, PPL on television/series programmes offers a quicker production route to an audience, which means ‘advertisers can better synchronize placements with campaigns’(Chae and Sun, 2013: 57) . Television placements have driven the highest PPL revenues among media platforms around the world – US$20 .62 billion worth was placed within TV programming in 2023, which was 70.1 per cent of all PPL that year, followed by PPL in films comprising 11.9 per cent of 2023’s global product placements (PQ Media, 2024) . In addition to benefits to brands, product placements benefit programme producers by adding realistic elements to scenes (Russell and Belch, 2005), financially supporting productions (Blair, 2009), decreasing costs through the provision of free props (Newell et al., 2006) and reducing advertising costs to publicise the programme because of crosspromotions by featured brands (Russell and Belch, 2005) .  \nIn recent years, the combination of stream","cbCaimVoDW6H5fu9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimVoDW6H5fu9","pdf",300920,26,"English","# Introduction\n## Product placement benefits and industry context\n## Streaming expansion and Netflix viewing patterns\n## South Korea’s PPL regulation and market structure\n## Reported brand sales impacts of K-drama PPL","[{\"question\":\"What is the document’s main focus regarding Korean dramas and Netflix?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how product placement operates in eight top-viewership Korean dramas on Netflix and how placement patterns persist over time.\"},{\"question\":\"How many products and brands are identified in the analysis?\",\"answer\":\"The study finds 507 labeled products from 78 unique brands across the selected dramas.\"},{\"question\":\"Which product category appears most often, and how are products typically used in scenes?\",\"answer\":\"Automobiles appear most frequently, and branded products are often used by primary characters for extended periods.\"}]","Global brand opportunities and K-dramas - Product placement on transnational streaming media | PDF",66]