You can find the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSArw7tAUMYNsc4qffnFf9YjB_5FS6u0i

1. BRANDS BRINGING
THE NEWS?
Implementing native advertising
on news websites
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

2. Note: these slides are part of an online lecture about native advertising:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSArw7tAUMYNsc4qffnFf9YjB_5FS6u0i

3. QUIZ:
“Is this an advertisement?”
 3 different pages on Forbes.com
 Look at the part within the red circle

7. Editorial News Article
Native Advertisement
- An advertisement that mimics the look and
feel of editorial news content -
Banner ad
(Did you recognize it?)

8. 2020: almost EVERY news website contains native advertising…!

9. You may wonder:
why is native advertising becoming so popular?

10. Belgian online news readers…
MARKETING
Refers to a good or service being offered by a
company. Ideally, a product should meet a certain
consumer.
IMPROVE
Refers to a good or service being offered by a
company. Ideally, a product should meet a certain
consumer.
SOLUTIONS
Refers to a good or service being offered by a
company. Ideally, a product should meet a certain
consumer.
Creative
Solutions
PROVIDING THE BEST SOLUTIONS
Refers to a good or service being offered by a
company. Ideally, a product should meet a
certain consumer demand, or it should be so
compelling that consumers believe they need it.
…Avoid traditional banner advertisements
… Don’t pay anything for online news
25%
use an
AD
blocker
89%
Don’t pay
anything
for online
news

11. Brands
generate attention for their stories
Publishers
generate more revenue by creating and publishing the ads

12. But what does the
READER
think about native advertising?
?!
Does it work, and if so, why?

13. Native ads receive often more
more attention and
engagement
compared to traditional ads

14. In-depth investigative news article native advertisement about the need to reform women’s prisons

15. Native ads receive often more
more attention and
engagement
compared to traditional ads
• Intentional Exposure theory
Readers may be more motivated
to pay attention towards content
that can fulfil their media needs
• Advertising Utility
Readers may consider the native
advertisements as useful and
interesting

16. Deception
• Persuasion Knowledge Model:
Readers are often not aware that
they are viewing native
advertisements, and therefore
process the native ads less critically.
Advertising recognition / Persuasion
Knowledge activation often results
into more negative evaluations
WHY DOES NATIVE ADVERTISING WORK?

18. (How) Can we implement this in an effective
and sustainable manner,
without deceiving the readers?

19. RESEARCH
3 key principles
for an effective and sustainable implementation of native advertising
T R F
1. TRANSPARENCY 2. RELEVANCE 3. FOCUS

20. NEXT VIDEO

disclosure labels
&
transparency
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

21. BRANDS BRINGING
THE NEWS?
Implementing native advertising
on news websites
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

22. 3 key principles for an effective and sustainable implementation
of native advertising on news websites
T R F
1. TRANSPARENCY 2. RELEVANCE 3. FOCUS


23. News? Or an advertisement?

24. disclosure labels…
 Provided by…
 Partner content
 Sponsored content
 Paid post
 Branded Content
 Advertorial
 Brandvoice
 #spon
 Presented by…
 In collaboration with…
 Brand publisher
A wide variety of
 “this is an advertisement”

25. Eye-Tracking research:
 “Implicit disclosure wordings such as “brandvoice”
are not effective (2 - 3 %)
See: Wojdynski, B. W., & Evans, N. J. (2015). Going Native: Effects of Disclosure
Position and Language on the Recognition and Evaluation of Online Native Advertising
Journal of Advertising, 1-12. c
 “Advertisement” and “Sponsored by brand X”
are more effective (12 - 13 %)

26. Eye-Tracking research:
 “Implicit disclosure wordings such as “brandvoice”
are not effective (2 - 3 %)
 “Advertisement” and “Sponsored by brand X”
are more effective (12 - 13 %)
BUT: eye-tracking study showed:
• Readers often do not notice the labels at all!
(in a computer context)
• Labels that are positioned near the top of a page
may be missed
• A label between the article text may be more effective
See: Wojdynski, B. W., & Evans, N. J. (2015). Going Native: Effects of Disclosure
Position and Language on the Recognition and Evaluation of Online Native Advertising.
Journal of Advertising, 1-12.
Example of eye-tracking (not from this study)

27. Advertisers are afraid of using clear disclosure labels…
If readers know that they are
reading content from an
advertiser, they don’t trust it
anymore…

28. Most academic research: focused on Persuasion Knowledge:
= the knowledge that people use to recognize and cope with persuasion attempts (Friestad & Wright, 1994)
 Conceptual Persuasion Knowledge: cognitive dimension, related to readers’ recognition and
understanding of an advertisement
 Attitudinal Perusasion Knowledge: critical feelings towards the advertisement,
such as skepticism, feelings of manipulation, disliking
(Boerman, Van Reijmersdal, & Neijens, 2012)

29. (e.g. Boerman, 2014)
Persuasion Knowledge Model
Label recognition:
Readers notice a
disclosure label
Conceptual Persuasion Knowledge:
They recognize that they are
viewing an advertisement
This leads to more attitudinal PK,
resistance, and more negative evaluations.
(e.g. Boerman, 2012; Wojdysnki and Evans 2015; Becker-Olsen 2003; Carr and Hayes 2014; Krouwer and Poels 2016).
Consumers’ coping behavior is
not always negative

30. Ad recognition  Deception
Disclosure- and advertising recognition
can lower readers’ trust in news media and advertisers
But some studies did not find this effect!
Deception
also damages readers’ evaluations of
advertisements, advertisers and media
(e.g. Carr and Hayes 2014)
What if we implement the ad in a way that is
more transparent?

31. Sponsorship Transparency
“The extent to which a sponsored communication message makes
noticeable to the consumer its paid nature and the identity of the sponsor”
(Wojdynski, Evans and Hoy, 2017)

32. Study:
Moving towards
transparency for
native advertisements:
A test of more detailed
disclosure labels
(Krouwer, Poels en Paulussen, 2019)

33. Transparency via disclosures?

34. Ad Recognition ≠ Understanding…
Why am I seeing this
between my news?
Who is the author
of this text?
A journalist?

35. News Contexts  Other media contexts
Why am I seeing this
between my news?
Who is the author
of this text?
A journalist?
Key elements of transparency in news contexts
 Name of the advertiser
 Advertising / Editorial divide (journalists work independently)
 Internal processes and decision making
(Karlsson, 2010; van der Wurff & Schönbach, 2014)

36. A test of 4 more- and less detailed disclosure labels
1.
Little information
Partnercontent
2.
Paid nature +
name of the
advertiser
Sponsored by Spa Water
3.
Details about
authorship
Sponsored by Spa Water +
This sponsored article has been created for an advertiser.
The journalists of the news website have not been involved in the creation of
the content.
4.
Details about the
business model of
news media
Sponsored by Spa Water +
This sponsored article has been created for an advertiser.
The advertising revenues support the news website, helping us to fund our
journalism and to keep providing you your news.

38. Advertising Recognition
Partner content Sponsored by
Spa
Explanation
authorship
Explanation
business model
news media
Ad recognition 60,2% a 76,3% b 81,0% c 85,8% c
Disclosure recall
(readers who mentioned the
label as reason)
4,4% a 28,9% b 46,6% c 41,6% c
*Significant difference between cells with a different letter (p <.05)
Sponsorship Transparency
Partner content Sponsored by
Spa
Explanation
authorship
Explanation
business model
news media
3.34a 4.16b 4.46c 4.64c
Seven-point scale. *Significant difference between cells with a different letter (p <.05)

39. Partner content
(ref. category)
Sponsored by (…)
Detailed disclosure
authorship
Detailed disclosure
business model
news media
Credibility
native advertising
Sponsorship
Transparency
0.82***
1.12***
1.29***
.34***
NS = non-significant, *** = p < .001. Reference category: ‘partner content’.
Credibility
advertisers
Credibility
news websties
.29***
.33***

40. Moving towards transparency:
A more detailed
disclosure label
- Advertising recognition
- Perceived transparency
Credibility of native ads,
advertisers and news websites
in general
Readers should be clearly informed about:
- The advertiser behind the sponsored content
- The importance of advertising revenue for news media
- The separation between advertising & editorial departments

41. Transparency of the disclosure labels in practice:
Are there any tradeoffs?

42. Transparency of the disclosure labels in practice:
A live test on “De Telegraaf”
(“Provided by Reaal”) (“Provided by )(“Partner content”)

43. Evaluations
of the advertiser
Perceived
Sponsorship
Transparency
Evaluations of the
news website
A more detailed label (“provided by…”) increased advertising recognition and
perceived Sponsorship Transparency,
which resulted into more positive evaluations.
Partner content
(reference category)
Provided by
Provided by Reaal

44. 1
2
3
Results: click-through rate
 Readers were less likely to click when a more detailed label was used…
 BUT: news websites often get paid per reader that clicks on the article…
Provided by Reaal
Provided by
Partner content

45. Lezers: ???
Transparency? Case: Teenvogue, 2020

46. Choose Transparency
Provide an explicit label and the name of the advertiser
Provide detailed information about the creation of the native ads
Other studies: importance of visual characteristics:(1) position, (2) contrasting color, (3) logo
Think about what tradeoffs you might need to make:
(for instance: more clicks, partly due to clickbait, or more positive evaluations)

47. NEXT VIDEO

the importance of
relevance
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

48. BRANDS BRINGING
THE NEWS?
Implementing native advertising
on news websites
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

49. 3 key principles for an effective and sustainable implementation
of native advertising on news websites
T R F
1. TRANSPARENCY 2. RELEVANCE 3. FOCUS

50. Persuasion Knowledge & Relevance
Advertising recognition
(Conceptual Persuasion Knowledge)
more negative
evaluaties
More or Less
attitudinal Persuasion Knowledge
(critical feelings, skepticism,
feelings of manipulation)
Relevance of
Content and Context
More positive or

51. The influence of
labels &
brand presence
(Krouwer, Poels en Paulussen, 2017)

52. Fact: most brands love to talk about themselves…
Check out this sponsored article
on innovations for the smartphone industry!
(Samsung blablabla, Samsung blablabla,
Samsung blablalba, Samsung Samsung,
blablabla Samsung)

53. Brand presence & feelings of manipulation
Inferences of Manipulative Intent (attitudinal PK):
▹ High brand presence  the advertiser mainly tries to benefit
 reader feels manipulated  more resistance
▹ Low brand presence  increase in value for reader
 low inferences of manipulative intent  less resistance
(e.g. Campbell, 1995; Sweetser, 2016)

54. High Low
Experiment: Brand Presence…

55. … and Label Position

56. The Middle - positioned
disclosure
was more often recognized
(22.8% VS 11.2%)
X There was no added value
combining a top- and
middle-positioned
disclosure
(26.7% VS 22.8%)
X Feelings of
manipulation
(attitudinal PK)
X Attitudes
towards the
ad
Conceptual PK
(advertising recognition)
Disclosure
recognition
X Attitudes
towards the
brand
X Attitudes
towards the
news website
+
+
-
-
-
Results: readers’ recognition of the disclosure labels

57. X Conceptual PK
Feelings of manipulation
(attitudinal PK)
High Brand
presence
Attitudes towards the news
website
Attitudes towards the brand
Attitudes towards
the ad
• All effects controlled for news website experience and involvement
• News website, Ab and Aad mediated by attitudinal PK
-
-
-
+
+
Brand Presence

58. Disguise the brand in the article…
Mention the brand name in the label
(Sponsored by [brand])
Add the logo of the advertising brand to the label
Add a banner ad next to the native ad
Stimulate readers to click through
to brand page / website (if relevant)
Disclose the brand in the label!
`How are people going to
remember my brand?

59. The influence of
message sidedness
and credibility of the advertiser

60. Most advertisements are ‘one-sided’

61. Experiment 2: message sidedness
One-sided native ad: Two-sided native ad:
Stevia on the rise:
A sweetener with many advantages
Stevia on the rise: What are
the advantages and disadvantages?
One-sided communication  more feelings
of manipulation and resistance
Attribution theory  A two-sided message increases
the credibility of the advertiser
Inoculation Theory  A two-sided message reduces
counterarguing

62. Message sidedness: experiment
One-sided
Two-sided

63. Expectation: two-sided native advertising:
Higher credibility of the
advertiser and more positive
attitudes towards the advertiser
Higher credibility of the
ad and more positive
attitudes towards the ad
Two-sided
native advertising Less feelings
of manipulation

64. Influence of advertiser credibility
Low credibility
Profit
High credibility
non-profit
5.59b3.66a
Source credibility: scale 1 - 7.
Different letter = significant difference in source credibility as an information provider
about artificial sweeteners (p < .05)
High credibility
Profit organization
5.01b
 Source credibility: The extent to which readers’ native advertising recognition leads to more critical
processing, might depend on the type of source and its credibility.
News article
=
benchmark

65. Message sidedness X Type adverteerder
Strongest positive effect of
two-sided message
Smaller positive effect of
two-sided message
Weakest effect of two-sided
message
Low-credibility advertiser
High-credibility advertiser
Profit (Study 1) and non-profit (study 2)
Journalist (news article)

66. 3 (source: journalist, credible advertiser, not credible advertiser) x 2 (message sidedness: one-
sided versus two-sided advertisement) between-subjects experimental design
 2 experiments! 

67. • Significantly more critically processed than news article
• Significantly less trustworthy than the advertisement from Diabetes Liga
and news article
• Not more critically processed than a news article!
• Just as credible as a news article
• Not more critically processed than a news article
• Just as credible as a news article
News article • Only more credible than the native ad from Coca-Cola!
• Not more credible than a native advertisement from Weight Watchers or
Diabetes Liga
Results: source

68. Credibility of the
advertiser
Attitudes towards the
advertiser
Credibility of the
advertisement
A two-sided
native
advertisement Less feelings
of manipulation
Two-sided message: positive effect
No difference in strength of effect among different types of advertisers!

69. Let’s put our knowledge into practice…
Message sidedness:
• What are the pros and cons of electric driving?
• Things to consider before buying an electric car
• When should(n’t) you buy an electric car?
Source credibility:
• Quote research reports from institutions
• Quote a well-known expert

70. Ethical native advertising?
“Knowledge centre sugar and nutrition” “Professor in food and health”

71. Advertisers:
Focus on relevance
Provide relevant, useful (two-sided) information
Don’t talk too much about your own brand / products
Use credible sources
Readers’ involvement with the topic of the advertisement (Rollins, 2010)
Information Utility (Sweetser, 2016)
Perceived quality of the information (Hwang & Jeong, 2018)
Other studies show the importance of:

72. NEXT VIDEO

How to always
have the right
Focus
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

73. BRANDS BRINGING
THE NEWS?
Implementing native advertising
on news websites
Simone Krouwer
PhD researcher
University of Antwerp
@SimoneKrouwer

74. Advertising
recognition
(Conceptual PK)
evaluations
High Sponsorship Transparency Low Inferences of
manipulative intent
Transparent disclosure label
- Clear language (e.g. ‘advertising’, ‘paid
post’, ‘sponsored by…’)
- Name of the advertiser
- Detailed information about authorship
- Visually prominent: right position and color
Relevance of the content and context
- High information utility
- Low brand presence in the text
- Native ad fits readers’ interests
- Credible sources
- Two-sided information
More positive
Transparency & Relevance...

75. Let’s imagine: you have to create a native ad for your favorite
chocolate brand about fair trade in the chocolate industry.
Will customers consider us
to be a credible source?
How do I know if my story
is indeed relevant and interesting
to readers?

76. Focus on the reader &
do your own research
The golden formula for
Transparency and Relevancy
in practice:

77. 3 key principles for an effective and sustainable implementation
of native advertising on news websites
T R F
1. TRANSPARENCY 2. RELEVANCE 3. FOCUS


78. News websites & research among readers
 Test disclosure labels …
o …in user tests, when readers are browsing on the news website
o …among readers of different ages
o …on different devices: e.g. phone , tablet, computer
 Use surveys and interviews
to measure readers’ understanding and acceptance of (different types of) native ads

79. Advertisers: insights for creating native ads
 Ask the news website about data and insights
o Most-read articles on news websites
o Some publishers have content studio’s that can help with the creation of the ads
 Conduct qualitative research
o Focus groups, interviews and surveys:
 What are readers’ interests? Informational needs?
 When in doubt: test your native advertisement
o A / B testing of the article, testing headlines
o Usability testing  how do readers respond to the advertisement?

80. Don’t forget to measure (and improve) your native advertising campaign
• Clicks  how many readers have read the article?
• Audience demographics  did you reach the right audience?
• Time on page  how long did readers read the article?
• Brand reputation / associations  do readers think differently about your brand?
• Sales?  often not the focus of native ads
Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted.
The trouble is: I don’t know which half!
—John Wanamaker

82. An effective and sustainable implementation of native advertising?
T R F
1. TRANSPARENCY 2. RELEVANCE 3. FOCUS

83. x THOUGHTS?
x QUESTIONS?
x CONTACT?
Reply in the YouTube comments
simone.krouwer@uantwerpen.be
@SimoneKrouwer
Thank
you!