Moving Towards Transparency for Native Advertisements on News Websites: A Test of More Detailed Disclosures

Abstract

As readers often do not recognize the commercial nature of native advertising on news websites, clear disclosures are required to prevent deception. The present study therefore tests whether and how providing disclosures with more detailed information about both the authorship of native ads and the importance of advertising revenue for news media’s business models can increase readers’ recognition and understanding of native advertising. Once readers are aware that they are viewing native advertising, the study assesses whether perceptions of transparency can positively influence readers’ evaluations of the credibility of native advertising, advertisers and news media in general. Results of the online experiment that tested four disclosure types (N = 453) show that, compared to using standard disclosures such as ‘partner content’ and ‘sponsored by [brand]’, providing more detailed disclosures leads to higher perceived sponsorship transparency, which in turn increases credibility of native advertising, advertisers and news media in general.

Keywords:

• Native advertising
• disclosures
• advertising recognition
• sponsorship transparency
• credibility

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) [Grant Number 11A6718].

Notes on contributors

Simone Krouwer

Simone Krouwer works as a PhD researcher at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp. She is a member of the MIOS research group (Media and ICT in Organizations and Society). Her research focuses on native advertising.

Karolien Poels

Karolien Poels is a full Professor in Strategic Communication at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is a member of the research group MIOS (Media and ICT in Organizations and Society). Her research topics include: (1) advertising and consumer psychology and (2) digital games and social media. She also serves as one of the board members of the Persuasive Communication division of the Netherlands-Flanders Communication Association (NeFCA).

Steve Paulussen

Steve Paulussen is an associate professor in media and journalism studies at the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp. He is member of the research group Media, Policy and Culture (MPC). Most of his publications focus on different aspects of online journalism, participatory journalism, the professional profile of journalists, new media consumption and newsroom convergence. Paulussen is co-author of the book Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) and member of the editorial board of the new journal Digital Journalism.