ABSTRACT
Native advertising – disguising sponsored content as journalistic material – is not a new phenomenon, but only recently has it reached news media outlets that stand for high-quality journalism. To investigate the potential impact of native advertising on perceived media quality, a 2 (source: low vs. high quality media outlet) × 3 (content: ad-free article vs. declared native advertising article vs. undeclared native advertising article) factorial between-subjects experiment was conducted. This experimental study found that news media outlets that stand for high-quality journalism damage their quality as perceived by recipients when publishing properly declared native advertising.
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Notes on contributors
Philipp Bachmann
Philipp Bachmann is Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IKMZ), University of Zurich. His research interest focuses on public relations, media management, and media quality.
Sévérine Hunziker
Sévérine Hunziker has studied at the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IKMZ), University of Zurich, where she received a Master’s degree
Tanja Rüedy
Tanja Rüedy is a Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research (IKMZ), University of Zurich. Her research interest focuses on societal impacts of algorithmic selection on the Internet.