The impact of Product Placement on City Image via the Mediating Role of City Branding, Aswan Case Study

In an increasingly competitive tourism industry, cities must adopt innovative communication strategies to strengthen their image and differentiate themselves in the minds of potential visitors. Product placement has been widely examined in commercial branding; however, its application in city branding and destination image formation remains relatively underexplored.A quantitative explanatory research design was adopted, using a structured questionnaire administered to individuals who had previously viewed films and television dramas featuring Aswan. A total of 272 valid responses were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS to test the proposed conceptual framework and hypothesized relationships.The findings demonstrated that product placement has a significant and positive effect on city branding, while city branding has a significant and positive effect on city image. Furthermore, the results confirmed the mediating role of city branding in the relationship between product placement and city image, supporting the proposed mediation hypothesis.The research contributes to the literature on product placement, city branding, and destination marketing by extending product placement beyond its traditional commercial context to the promotion and image formation of cities. The findings provide practical implications for tourism authorities, destination marketing organizations, and policymakers seeking to leverage audiovisual media as a strategic branding tool to strengthen destination image, enhance competitiveness, and attract potential visitors.The research aims to examine how product placement acts as a strategic communication technique for city branding and image development in audiovisual media. In particular, it investigates the mediating function of city branding and the impact of product placement on city branding and city image. employing Aswan as a case study, the paper tackles the scarcity of research on employing product placement outside of commercial brands in the context of city branding and destination image building.