Can US advertising students recognize an ad in editorial's clothing (native advertising)? A partial replication of the Stanford 'Evaluating information' test

摘要

A national sample of US advertising students participated in a study that included a test of their ability to differentiate between editorial and advertising content on a news website. Almost all of the students identified a standard banner promotion as an advertisement. More than one in five misidentified a journalist-bylined article as an advertisement, and about one in four did not classify a story prominently labeled 'sponsored content' as an advertisement. Open-ended explanations indicated source confusion around the terms 'sponsored content,' 'native advertising' and 'advertising.' Results are viewed within the theory and measurement of effects of disclosure on persuasive knowledge activation. Professional and ethical implications for publishers, researchers and educators are discussed, including a proposal for the establishment of a threshold for Native Advertising Origin Confusion.