How to strategically disclose sponsored content on Instagram? The synergy effects of two types of sponsorship disclosures in influencer marketing

Abstract

Given the burgeoning usage of influencers in social media marketing, the need to understand how consumers react to sponsored messages is on the rise. Drawing on the signaling theory, Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), and the message sidedness literature, this study illustrates the interaction effect between two types of sponsorship disclosures—brand influence disclosure (brand vs. honest opinion) and compensation type disclosure (gift vs. payment vs. sales commission)—on purchase intentions via influencer credibility, influencer-follower parasocial interaction (PSI), and brand attitudes. Through an experiment with 401 female participants, we found that a proper combination of these two types of disclosures generates a two-sided disclosure message and motivates people to scrutinize this two-sided message, which will boost influencer credibility, PSI, brand attitudes, and eventually, purchase intentions.

Keywords:

• Influencer marketing
• sponsorship disclosure
• brand influence disclosure
• compensation type disclosure
• elaboration likelihood model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Southern Methodist University under the Meadows FacultyDevelopment Grant.

Notes on contributors

Quan Xie

Dr. Quan Xie (Ph.D., Ohio University) is an Assistant Professor of Advertising in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on the advertising effects in the interrelated contexts of digital technologies and culture. From this perspective, she investigates the mechanisms through which advertising affects information processing, consumer behaviour, and brand building at the intersection of digital media and culture. Her research topics focus on content marketing, digital advertising, and social media advertising. Her research has been published in the Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Product & Brand Management, and Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, among others. Dr. Xie is an editorial board member of the International Journal of Advertising.

Yang Feng

Dr. Yang Feng (Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale) is an associate professor of advertising in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Her research mainly focuses on examining advertising effects in the algorithmic media environment using natural language processing and computer vision in addition to surveys and experiments. She has published scholarly articles in the Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, Journal of Health Communication, and Computers in Human Behavior, among others. Also, Dr. Feng is an editorial board member of the Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising.