Current marketing discourse seems to be less and less about communicating to customers, and more and more about communicating with customers. Concurrently, traditional news companies are in a bit of a crisis where their business models are failing to compete with the growing colossus of “free” news that circulates the web. In the aftermath of all this, native advertising – an umbrella term for advertisements that look like editorial content – has emerged like a panacea. But while native advertisements might be effective where traditional advertisements are not, they also create a problematic ambiguity for the consumer – what is marketing and what is news? This thesis set off to investigate whether consumers perceive native advertisements as advertisements and how that might affect their trust towards the advertiser (company) and platform (news site). A questionnaire with a slightly experimental touch was constructed from various theoretical focal points; 207 respondents were exposed to three different types of native advertisements and then answered statements about how they perceived them on a 7-point Likert scale. The majority of the respondents considered all three of the native advertisements as sponsored content, with regard to some notable disparities between the examples. However, not all of them did; in one case, as much as 27 % stated they did not perceive the advertisement as sponsored content at all. There was also a unanimous preference towards traditional advertisements, particularly among those who felt they had a hard time distinguishing native advertisements from editorial content, and frequent occurrence of sponsored content on a news site weakened its general credibility among the respondents, as well as their trust in both advertiser and platform. This study is more exploratory than conclusive and should be interpreted as such, but from these results it seems that stakeholders should tread a lot more carefully when using native advertisements compared with traditional advertisements – particularly considering how they have become an industry norm in an almost dogmatic fashion. The consequences may not be as direct as a wound up CTR-ratio or increased advertising revenue, but trust is simply a too valuable currency to gamble with in an era filled with ‘post-truth’ and ‘fake news’. / Aktuell marknadsföringsdiskurs verkar handla mindre och mindre om att kommunicera till konsumenter, och mer och mer om att kommunicera med konsumenter. Parallellt med det har de mer traditionella nyhetsbolagen hamnat i något av en kris efter att deras affärsmodeller misslyckats med att konkurrera med den växande kolossen av ”gratis” nyheter som cirkulerar på webben. I efterdyningarna av allt detta har native advertising – ett paraplybegrepp för annonser som liknar redaktionellt innehåll – uppstått som en slags universallösning. Men medan native advertisements framstår effektiva där traditionella annonser inte gör det så uppstår även en problematisk ambiguitet för konsumenten – vad är marknadsföring och vad är nyheter? Denna uppsats tog avstamp i att undersöka om konsumenter uppfattar native advertisements som annonser och hur det påverkar deras förtroende gentemot annonsör (företag) och plattform (nyhetssida). En enkät med en något experimentell touch konstruerades utifrån olika teoretiska infallsvinklar; 207 respondenter exponerades för tre olika varianter av native advertisements, varefter de fick besvara påståenden om hur de uppfattade dem på en sjugradig Likert-skala. Majoriteten av respondenterna ansåg alla tre native advertisements vara sponsrade, med hänsyn till viss diskrepans mellan exemplen. Emellertid var det långtifrån alla som gjorde det; i ett fall var det så många som 27 % som menade att de inte uppfattade annonsen som sponsrat innehåll. Det var också en övervägande preferens gentemot traditionella annonser, särskilt bland de som tyckte det var svårare att urskilja native advertisements från redaktionellt innehåll, och en hög förekomst av sponsrade artiklar på en nyhetssida försämrade inte bara dess generella trovärdighet bland respondenterna, utan också deras förtroende för såväl annonsör som plattform. Studien är mer explorativ än fastställande och bör tolkas därefter, men utifrån dessa resultat framstår det som att alla intressenter behöver träda mycket mer varsamt när de använder sig av native advertisements istället för traditionella annonser – i synnerhet med tanke på hur de blivit en branschnorm på ett nästan dogmatiskt vis. Konsekvenserna kanske inte är lika direkta som en uppskruvad CTR-ratio eller ökade annonsintäkter, men förtroende är helt enkelt en alldeles för värdefull valuta för att gambla med i en era fylld av ’post-sanning’ och ’alternativa nyheter’.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur unga i åldrarna 16-25 uppfattar dold reklam på Instagram och hur deras inställning är till reklamfenomentet, samt den generella användningen av Instagram som ett socialt medium. I detta fall är den dolda reklamen på Instagramkändisars konton i form av sponsrade tävlingar. Denna studie har genomförts med sex fokusgrupper som metod och har sedan analyserats med hjälp av identitet, uses and gratification, representation, tvåstegshypotesen och medialisering som teoretiskt grund. Resultatet av denna studie är att den dolda reklamen i form av tävlingar på Instagram uppfattas och tolkas som reklam. Inställningen till den dolda reklamen är i första anblick negativ, trots detta har ändå en majoritet av respondenterna deltagit i tävlingar. Är priset tillräckligt bra så försvinner därmed bilden av att dold reklam är något negativt. Utöver detta kan man dra slutsatsen att Instagram som plattform används dagligen, ofta som ett tidsfördriv eller i syfte att få bekräftelse eller att inspireras. / The purpose of this paper is to find out how young people in the ages 16-25 comprehend and perceive native advertising on Instagram and how their attitude is to the advertising phenomenon, as well as the general use of Instagram as a social media. In this case, the hidden advertisement is on Instagram celebrity accounts in the form of sponsored contests. This study has been conducted with six focus groups as a method and has since been analyzed using identity, uses and gratification, representation, two-step flow of communication and mediation as a theoretical basis. The result of this study is that the native advertising in the form of contests is perceived and interpreted as advertising. In the first instance, the attitude of the hidden advertisement is negative, yet a majority of respondents have participated. If the price is good enough, the attitude of native advertising as something negative disappear. In addition, it can be concluded that Instagram as a platform is used daily, often as a pastime or for confirmation or inspiration

The rise in usage of the internet in general and social media in particular has spurred an increase in the amount of spending on digital marketing. This in turn has led to new and innovative ways of conducting marketing online, one of which is called in-feed advertising. Visually, in-feed ads share the same features as their surrounding content. In terms of function, these ads collect data from consumers’ online activities in order to offer personalized ad content. While this field of study has started to be explored in recent times, there are still major gaps in existing literature. In particular, little to no research has been conducted in the area of consumers’ perception of in-feed advertisement, with regards to privacy-invasiveness and consumers’ willingness to make personal information available online to marketers for in-feed ads. The purpose of this thesis is to research consumer perception of the privacy-invasive aspects of in-feed ads, and examine what happens when consumers’ knowledge of the privacy-invasive data collection methods increases. The research method used was a semi-controlled field experiment which gathered quantitative and qualitative data from the experiment participants through questionnaires and group-held discussions. Our main findings show that consumers accept -sometimes reluctantly- the privacy-invasive procedures deployed by marketers online due to the added benefits of receiving personalized content online. Consumers do express concerns over their internet privacy, but seem unwilling to take measures to prevent privacy-invasive procedures due to a perceived inevitability towards having online activities tracked.

The use of Native Advertising has sparked ethical concerns, due to its controversial nature inherent in its definition - a paid form of advertising that disguises persuasive communications as the editorial content of the publishing media outlet. The growing popularity of Native Advertising practices over the past decade in online news publishing has contributed towards the increasingly blurred lines between commercial and editorial content which in turn engenders feelings of deception in consumers and threatens to lower the trustworthiness of news publishers as an objective source. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to undertake theory testing guided by the tenets of the Persuasion Knowledge Model [PKM] (Friestad & Wright, 1994) to uncover insights on whether disclosure serves as an effective measure in publishers' efforts of mitigating the potential of consumer deception. In particular, this study investigated the relationships between: (1) effect of disclosure label positioning on advertising recognition; (2) mediating influence of visual attention on the aforementioned relationship; and (3) effect of advertising recognition on Inference of Manipulation [IMI] and perceptions of the online news publishers' credibility. The study used a quantitative multi-methodology research approach. An innovative Neuromarketing approach was undertaken through a psychophysiological-based analysis of visual attention to disclosure, measured as Fixation (ms/m) using eye-tracking technology, in addition to self-reported measures obtained via an online survey. In line with similar past studies, this study used convenience non-probability sampling and random assignment of participants to experimental groups, on a sample of 87 students between the ages of 20-29 years from the University of Cape Town (UCT). Findings showed no significant difference in the likelihood of advertising recognition, neither between the groups presented with a disclosure and those not, nor between the varying positions of disclosure. Additionally, advertising recognition had a positive influence on perceptions of credibility, contrary to theory and evidence from past studies (described in the Literature Review). Thus, it was concluded that disclosure and advertising recognition are necessary antecedents for critical processing and formation of judgement, but by themselves are not sufficient for perceived transparency and subsequent evaluations of the publisher's credibility. This study presents design implications for practitioners in the online news publishing industry and marketers: the perceived utility of the sponsored content, along with sponsorship transparency through disclosure, plays an important role in minimizing the negative influence of advertising recognition on perceived credibility.

Background: Online marketing tactics designed to have a minimized impact on consumer experience have emerged recently whereas native advertising is one concept. Native advertising is an approach designed to decrease interruptions in consumers’ online experience by matching the form and functions of the platform in which the advertisement appears. It occurs online, with the one characteristic in common that it should not disrupt or negatively affect consumer experience. The desire to minimize consumer disruption has led to that native advertising in its most effective nature can be difficult for the reader to identify, which leads to the discussion of whether the tactic is deceptive. It is found that ad disclosures are frequently the only thing that separates native ads from commercial content. Unexplored areas in the literature exist, which include if native ad disclosures can be made more efficient with the use of brand disclosures.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if brand disclosure in native advertisements affects consumers’ native ad recognition ability.  Method: Data was collected through an eye-tracking experiment, exploring if brand disclosures affect the native ad recognition ability. The experiment was created in Tobii Pro Lab which tracked participants’ real-time physiological reactions. Results were complemented with a questionnaire and data was analyzed in SPSS. The sample consisted of 60 students at Jönköping University.  Findings: The analysis illustrates that the experimental test group which received brand disclosures of high prominence showed an increased ability to recognize and identify native advertisements as promotional content compared to the control group. By implementing Mann-Whitney U tests and a Chi-Square test in order to test the hypotheses, results were found significant. The hypotheses were supported and could not be rejected, which resulted in the conclusion that brand disclosures increase the native ad recognition ability.

Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med studien är tvådelat; för det första syftar studien till att undersöka och förstå hur publiken resonerar kring och uppfattar native advertising i journalistisk kontext. För det andra syftar studien till att undersöka om förekomsten av native advertising i svenska nyhetsmedier påverkar publikens förtroende för nyhetsjournalistiken. Studien har tre övergripande frågeställningar: Hur upplever publiken att förekomsten av native advertising i nyhetsmedier påverkar deras förtroende för nyhetsjournalistiken? Hur uppfattar och resonerar publiken kring användningen av native advertising i dagspress jämfört med kvällspress? Hur kan man förstå respondenternas uttalande och uppfattningar om native advertising med utgångspunkt i idén om journalistikens sociala kontrakt? Metod och material: Studien tar avstamp i en kvalitativ ansats och det empiriska materialet består av samtalsintervjuer med sammanlagt åtta unga vuxna (22–30 år). Huvudresultat: Majoriteten av respondenterna hade en negativ inställning till native advertising. Budskapen och innehållet i native advertising spelade en stor och central roll för hur respondenternas förtroende för nyhetsjournalistiken påverkades. När innehållet motsvarade vad respondenterna uppfattade som ”seriöst” och samhällsnyttigt” innehåll, beskrev de att deras förtroende inte påverkades negativt av användningen av native advertising i nyhetsmedier.

Problemformulering och syfte: Social medier-influencers har blivit mer användbara i företags marknadsföringsstrategier, tack vare deras höga följarantal och möjlighet att skapa stor spridning till en bred allmänhet. YouTube är en populär plattform som innehåller mycket reklamsamarbeten och marknadsföring från just influencers. YouTube har en strikt 13-årsgräns, men trots det är plattformen välbesökt av yngre barn. I Sverige ställs särskilt höga krav på marknadsföring som riktar sig till eller berör barn på grund av barnens bristande förmåga att förstå vad som är reklam och inte. Digitaliseringens framfart har dock resulterat i att barn utsätts för reklaminnehåll som de egentligen inte bör utsättas för, vilket upplevs problematiskt. Denna studie är kvalitativ, av explorativ karaktär, och syftar med grund i problemformuleringen till att bidra med kunskap om reklam som flickor och pojkar i tolvårsåldern exponeras för på YouTube. Huvudresultat: Alla de studerade influencerna anspelar mycket på trovärdighet och använder sig av strategier för att skapa och förstärka parasociala interaktioner och relationer till sina följare. Eftersom influencerna kommunicerar på liknande sätt oavsett om det är öppen eller inbäddad reklam, är det generellt svårt att skilja de olika budskapen åt. Det upplevs problematiskt eftersom barn har svårare att avgöra vad som är reklam och inte. Gällande genus och könsstereotyper stämmer innehållet överlag överens med de teorier som finns, men det finns även vissa typer av könsstereotypiska anspelningar som inte går att finna i det undersökta materialet.

Podcast is an audio medium that has recently evolved at a rapid pace and is a phenomenon that attracts new listeners every day. Because of this, it becomes interesting for companies to advertise in the forum. The two most common ways to advertise in the medium are traditional advertising, that can also be heard on radio, and native advertising, also known as sponsorship. The study is investigating how the consumers view these two types of advertising by reviewing their attitude, credibility and clarity for a variety of ads. To test this, a questionnaire was formulated and interviews were held with a test group from the target group 18-35 years. Based on the results of the study, it could be concluded that native advertising is the most suitable form of advertising in podcast and that both types of advertising had high credibility and high clarity. Thus, it’s native advertising that advertisers should use to ensure that consumers have as positive attitude as possible for the company and the ad. / Podcast är ett ljudmedium som på senare tid utvecklats i en rask takt och ett fenomen som lockat till sig allt fler lyssnare. I samband med detta blir det intressant för företag att annonsera i forumet. De två vanligaste sätten att annonsera i mediet är antingen traditionell reklam, som även går att höra på radio, eller invävd reklam, som går att likställa med sponsring. Denna studie går ut på att undersöka hur konsumenten ser på dessa två reklamtyper genom en granskning av målgruppens attityd, trovärdighet och tydlighet till en rad olika annonser i podcasts. För att undersöka detta utformades en enkät och intervjuer hölls med en personer från målgruppen 18-35 åringar. Utifrån studiens resultat kunde en slutsats dras att invävd reklam är den annonseringsform som konsumenten ställer sig mest positiv till och att båda typerna av reklam hade både en hög trovärdighet och en hög tydlighet. Därmed är det invävd reklam som annonsörerna bör använda sig av för att konsumenten ska ha en så positiv attityd till företaget och annonsen som möjligt.

Abstract Background “Traditional digital advertising has become wallpaper. It doesn’t improve anyone’s experience on a site and readers, myself included, pretty much look past it” stated by Jason Hill, Global Head of Media Strategies (Adage.com, 2019). Marketing managers attempt and fail in adapting traditional marketing strategies to the unfamiliar digital landscape. Traditional techniques e.g. banner ads appear as intrusive and unwanted according to consumers. Brands have in response strategically changed its communication to a rather subtle approach that aims to be non-intrusive. Aforesaid strategy is referred to as native advertising. Native advertising however is not unproblematic as said approach may be exploited to be deceptive, intrusive and secretive, brand whom implements such a strategy may be rewarded with short term positives. However the long term effects of said strategy prove negatives in various aspects of the brand. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to explain how the conceptualization of native ads influence users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. Method The conducted study implemented a deductive approach to research, including an explanatory purpose as previously elaborated upon. The study is further characterized as a cross-sectional design in which the researchers aimed to test the conceptualization of non-intrusive native advertising. The researchers further conducted a self administrated questionnaire with a total of 158 respondents. The data was cleaned in SPSS and further tested for reliability, validity and hypothesis testing. Conclusion The findings of the conducted study concludes that personalized advertising positively contributes to users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. On the other hand, contextual relevance, 1 transparency, emotional appeal and informational appeal were rejected as such variables were not statistically significant in explaining non-intrusiveness. Therefore, the researchers rejected hypothesis H1, H2, H3, H4 and therefore rejected previous research stating that these variables contributes to users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. However H5 was accepted, therefore theories that suggests that personalization according to one’s interest, previous interactions and real-time data to influence users feeling of non-intrusiveness were confirmed.

As online technology continues to progress, the modes of communication through which content can be shared have exponentially grown. These include advances in navigational options for presenting information and news online. Though the listicle has been around for centuries, the internet has proliferated its growth, as content producers rely on its structure as a vehicle for sharing information. This research shows that in the case of listicles, format had no direct effect on recall, however, participants who had a greater interest in the content showed significantly higher levels of memory sensitivity. This critical finding suggests that news outlets and content producers should concern themselves with ensuring that their content is interesting and relevant to their audience more so than worrying about whether the listicle is in clickable or scrollable form. This first attempt to examine listicles by comparing their navigational difference in terms of recall performance lays a framework for future research on listicles.