By employing localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), the near band edge (NBE) emission intensity of ZnO films were greatly varied, while defect emission remained almost the same. This photoluminescence (PL) intensity enhancement or reduction is tunable by changing the position of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) relative to the ZnO films. The remarkable variation of the NBE emission was investigated deeply. These experimental results reveal that the Ag NPs play a key role in tuning the PL performance of the semiconductor material, where LSPR occurs.