Background: Podcasts are an emerging medium with a steadily growing audience, which is particularly popular among younger generations. This makes them a promising advertising tool that companies can use to reach potential target groups. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how to successfully reach the audience through podcast advertising. Specifically, the listener’s perception of the advertisement and the design of the advertisement are relevant factors. The current market situation with its strong competition calls for special measures, such as celebrity endorsements. People often imitate celebrities and rely on their recommendations. This study applies the concept of celebrity endorsement to podcast advertising as a relationship develops between the listener and the podcast hosts. The host becomes a trusted and valued person to their audience during podcast consumption, which can have a significant impact on the listenership. Purpose: Only a limited number of prior studies did research on the podcast listener’s perception of podcast advertising. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding about the specific design elements of podcast advertising that lead to positive outcomes. Furthermore, there is a gap in academic literature when it comes to exploring the host-listener relationship within the context of podcast advertising. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to investigate how individuals perceive podcast advertising, identify the key design elements that contribute to positive podcast advertising effects, and comprehend the role and influence of podcast hosts in podcast advertising. Method: To achieve this purpose, qualitative research methods are employed. Individual interviews and a focus group are conducted with 20 participants who belong to the younger generations, namely Generation Y and Generation Z, and listen to podcasts at least once a week. Thematic analysis is used to structure the data, which involves coding, analyzing, and interpreting the data. Conclusion: The study concludes with the conceptual framework “Podcast Advertising Evoking Positive Effect”, which is based on the concept of celebrity endorsement, specifically the meaning transfer model. This framework highlights the various aspects that lead to positive advertising effects. These include the attributes of podcast hosts as well as the perceived relationship between the audience and the podcast host. Furthermore, the framework clarifies listeners advertising demands and how commercial messages within podcasts should be presented to achieve favorable advertising outcomes such as a positive change in attitude, purchasing behavior, brand recall, and acceptance of the advertisement.

Tidigare forskning om upplevelser och attityd till reklam i podcaster har varierat i sina resultat. Det finns studier som tyder på att annonsformatet värdläst reklam bidrar till den bästa lyssningsupplevelsen för konsumenterna. Samtidigt finns det andra studier som visar att traditionell radioreklam istället bidrar till en bättre lyssningsupplevelse. Eftersom podcastlyssnandet ökar i Sverige kan det därför vara av intresse att undersöka konsumenternas attityder till dessa två annonsformat i podcaster både för företag som funderar på att sponsra en podcast men även ur ett producentperspektiv. Studien strävar efter att undersöka det här genom 14 kvalitativa intervjuer som transkriberats, tolkats och genomgått en tematisk analys. Resultatet visade att de flesta har en negativ inställning till reklam i podcaster men har en förståelse att reklamen behöver inkluderas ur ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Det uttrycktes som positivt när ett reklaminslag upplevdes som humoristiskt och informativt av informanterna. Negativa åsikter uttrycktes när reklaminslagen upplevdes för monotona och säljande. Generellt var attityden och upplevelsen av den värdlästa reklamen mer positiv på grund av det personliga tillvägagångssättet där det fanns mer utrymme för humor, information och delgivning av privata detaljer från podcasvärden. Med studiens resultat vill författarna presentera upplevelsen och attityden till reklam ur en konsuments perspektiv och på så vis bidra med förståelse och inspiration till fältet inom marknadskommunikation, men även företag och producenter i podcastbranschen. Studien är skriven på svenska. / Previous research on experiences and attitudes towards advertising in podcasts has varied in its results. There are studies that indicate that the host-read advertising format contributes to the best listening experience for consumers. On the other hand, there are studies that show that traditional radio advertising contributes to a better listening experience instead. Since podcast listening has increasing in Sweden, it may therefore be of interest to investigate consumers’ attitudes towards these two advertising formats in podcasts, both for companies that are considering sponsoring a podcast but also from a producers perspective. This study aim to investigate this through 14 qualitative interviews that have been transcribed, interpreted and subjected to a thematic analysis. The results showed that most consumers of this study have a negative attitude towards advertising in podcasts but at the same time have an understanding that advertising needs to be included from an economic perspective. A positive attitude were expressed when an advertising feature was experienced as humorous and informative by the informants. Negative opinions were expressed when the advertising elements were perceived as too monotonous and selling. In general, the attitude and experience of the host-read advertisement was more positive due to the personal approach where there was more room for humor, information and the sharing of private details from the podcast host. With the results of the study, the researchers want to present the experience and attitude to advertising from a consumer's perspective and thus contribute with understanding and inspiration to the field of marketing communication, but also companies and producers in the podcast industry. The study is written in Swedish.