This dissertation contributes to the body of literature on consumer behavior and marketing communication by exploring how brand mentions in music influence memory, attitudes, and purchase intentions. Even though the definitions of product placement have expanded to include a variety of media, there is no scholarly literature that explores this phenomena. More importantly, there are conceptual differences between product placement and brand mentions that differentiate this form of promotion. Thus, two studies were conducted to test the influence of brand mentions on hip-hop consumers ages 18-36. Study One (n=204) used a hip-hop song created specifically for this research with four brands in the lyrics with varying degrees of prominence in the song and congruence with hip-hop culture. Three fictitious press releases were also used to manipulate perceived initiator. A 3x2x2x2 repeated measures with between subjects design was employed to analyze the effects of the executional factors (prominence and congruence), perceived initiator and primary beneficiary, along with involvement on the dependent variables. In Study Two, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena in Study One. The overall findings suggests that brand mentions may be an effective tool to increase brand awareness. In Study One, highly prominent, incongruent brands were remembered more in comparison to high prominent congruent brands, but this effect was reversed in the low prominent conditions. In addition, 87% of the subjects were able to recall at least one brand mentioned in the song. Highly involved participants had more favorable attitudes towards the brands than low involved participants. However, the difference was most evident in the rating of congruent brands. The hypothesized interaction between perceived initiator and involvement was not supported. Additionally, the findings did not support the predicted effects of perceived primary beneficiary. However, findings in Study Two reveal possible explanations. Study Two also revealed four emergent themes that influence the effectiveness of brand mentions in hip-hop music: third person effect, authenticity, consumer skepticism, and ethics. The current research is the first attempt to tackle this phenomena empirically. Thus, there were some limitations as well as many future research directions. / text

This thesis is structured around an exploration of the global phenomenon hip-hop. It considers how its far-reaching effects, as a cultural export from the United States,have influenced cultural production in South Africa. The investigation focuses specifically on the work of two visual artists: Zimbabwean born, Johannesburg-based Kudzanai Chiurai, and Cape Town born, Berlin-based Robin Rhode. The introduction familiarises the reader with the two artists and briefly outlines their histories and methods, as well as giving a short history of the development of hip-hop as a subculture from its beginnings in 1970s New York. The first chapter follows this brief introduction to outline some of the parallels, especially concerning race relations, between 1970s America and post-apartheid contemporary South Africa. This comparison aims to highlight similarities that gave rise to the hip-hop phenomenon and which also place South Africa in a prime position to welcome such influences. The second half of the chapter explores how migration theory and issues of diaspora have not only influenced the development of hip-hop, but have also become points of focus for both artists, who are in fact disporans themselves. The second chapter explores ‘ground level’ concerns of everyday life in the city. Issues of crime,gangsterism, politics and activism are characterised as focal elements of Chiurai’s and Rhode’s artwork and also of hip-hop musical content. Inner city contexts in different parts of the globe are compared through a discussion of the art and music that come out of them. This comparison of the philosophical and conceptual content of the art and music is extended, in Chapter three, into a comparison of methods of production, considering how these influence various readings of the artistic output, whether musical or visual. Ideas of authenticity are discussed and finally the focus shifts to explore how both the conceptual and practical concerns of musicians and artists are being shaped by an increasingly ‘globalized’ world. The conclusion explores the challenges that globalization poses to cultural practitioners and seeks to highlight some of the artists’ methods as examples with which to facilitate the growth of a more inclusive global aesthetic.