Abstract
The Children's Advertising Review Unit's recent press releases involving child influencer unboxing videos expressed concern that they did not appropriately disclose sponsorship. Placement of pre-roll advertising was also cited as contributing to the blurring between content and advertising. This study investigated parents’ understanding of and responses to sponsored child influencer unboxing videos. We conducted a 2 × 3 online experiment among 418 parents that examined the influence of sponsorship text disclosure (present or absent) and sponsor pre-roll (sponsor pre-roll, nonsponsor pre-roll, and no pre-roll) on conceptual persuasion knowledge, perceptions of sponsorship transparency, and several outcome measures. We also tested the potential moderating variable of parental mediation. We found that sponsor pre-roll advertising positively impacted parents’ perceptions of sponsorship transparency, which in turn mediated attitudinal and perceptual outcomes. In addition, high levels of parental mediation conditionally impacted the indirect effect of a sponsor pre-roll advertisement via sponsorship transparency on perceptions of the unboxing video and attitudes toward the sponsor. Based on the findings, we discuss theoretical, managerial, and public policy implications.