BRANDS BRINGING NEWS: READERS’ REACTIONS TOWARDS HYBRID ADVERTISEMENTS IN ONLINE NEWS MEDIA

Simone Krouwer

Simone.krouwer@uantwerpen.be

“A type of hybrid advertising in which advertisers create or

sponsor content intended to blend in with the editorial content”

(Carlson, 2014, p. 850).

NATIVE ADVERTISING

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4

European spendingon native advertising would reach

€13.2 billion by 2020

a

156% increase on today

And take a

52% shareof the digital display market.

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CHALLENGES

SIMONE.KROUWER@UANTWERPEN.BE

Uses an Ad-blocker

Does not want to pay for online

news

Suffers from “Banner Blindness”

Brandscan earn attention and authority

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Mediacan monetize their online content

?

ADVERTORIALS

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NATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

Same style as context Most known from magazines Labeled as “advertorial” Explicit selling message Brand-oriented content

Same style as context Less commercial Many labels Looks even more like an

editorial story

Comparing different types of hybrid advertisements:

More commercial Less commercial

Previous studies on hybrid advertisements:more editorial = more advantageous

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Persuasion Knowledge Model

Intentional exposure theory

attention

Source credibility theory

Spill-over theory

trust

appreciation

Lower:- Ad recognition (H1b)- Perceived commerciallity (H1b)

Higher:- Attention (H1c)- Appreciation (H1a)

- Entertainment- Information- Irritation

- Change in attitude towardsthe advertiser (H2)

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HYPOTHESES: NATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS:

=

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News media

≠• Offline magazines• Radio• television

RQ: ACCEPTABLE / MISLEADING?

Free (NU.nl) VS

Paid (NRC.nl)

news website

Pre-tested (N = 55)

Repeated measures ANOVA

Sig. different on credibility

• (F (1, 33) = 9.28, p = .005)

• NRC.nl (M = 4.45, SD = 0.96)

• NU.nl (M = 3.75, SD = 1,03)

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SPILL-OVER EFFECT (H3)

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Online 2 X 2 between-subjects experiment:

• 2 types of hybrid advertising:- Advertorials (more commercial) - Native Advertisements (more editorial)

• 2 types of news websites:- High-authority (NRC.nl)- low-authority (NU.nl)

• N = 312• 60.6% female• Mage = 34 years, SDage = 15.23 years

ADVERTORIALS

NATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

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MEASURES

After experiment:

• Ad recognition• Appreciation

(information, amusement, irritation)• Change in attitude towards the

advertiser (Coca-Cola)• Spill-over effects website:

high VS low authority website

After informing participants:• Acceptance• Attention / avoidance

• Control variables: web experience, newswebsite familiarity, age, education…

ANCOVA ANALYSIS & PREACHER AND HAYES MEDIATION ANALYSIS

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Native advertisements

VS Advertorials

Perceivedcommerciality

Attention

Appreciation

Acceptance

Brand attitude

Medium authority

Web + Online news reading

experience

YES NO

“Did you notice any advertising?”

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Native advertisements 60% 40%

Advertorials: 73% 27%

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COMMERCIAL IRRITATION ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE BRAND

(no differences in amusement and information)

NATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS, WHEN COMPARED TO ADVERTORIALS…

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Recognition of commercial intentions

Advertising condition Irritation

-.37**.47**

.25 (-.42)*

Unstandardized estimates are shown. *p<.01, **p<.001

Irritation

Recognition of commercial intentions

Attitude towards theadvertiser

-.51*-.21**

-.07 (.07)NS

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We found

NO

differences in

SPILL-OVER EFFECTS

of news website credibility

on

AD APPRECIATION

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Then we explained participants that they had

just seen either a

NATIVE ADVERTISEMENT

or

ADVERTORIAL

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READERS

reported a significantly

HIGHER

intention to

AVOID ADVERTORIALS

Advertorials (M = 5.02, SD = 0.12)

Native advertisements (M = 4.26, SD = 0.12)

(F (1, 308) = 21.10, p < .001)

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NATIVE ADVERTISEMENTS

were perceived as significantly

LESS MISLEADING

and

MORE ACCEPTABLE

Acceptable: (F (1, 308) = 10.67, p = .001). Misleading: (F (1, 308) = 9.20, p =.003).

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MAIN CONCLUSION

- Readers perceived native advertisements as:

- Less commercial

- Less irritating

- Less misleading

- More acceptable

- More positive change in attitude towards the brand, but also lowerbrand recall

- No influence of type of news website

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?

BUT….

ADVERTISERS

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TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT:

• News media credibility• Persuasion Knowledge• Behavior (eye-tracking)• Implicit memory• Disclosure VS content• News Categories

QUESTIONS?

Simone.krouwer@uantwerpen.be