“This Post is Sponsored” Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure on Persuasion Knowledge and Electronic Word-of-Mouth in the Context of Facebook

• In Event: Persuasion II: Message Features

Abstract

Social media such as Facebook offer the opportunity to reach the target group of brands in a less obtrusive way than traditional media through sponsored posts. Regulations by the Federal Trade Commission require advertisers to explicitly inform consumers about the commercial nature of these posts. This study addresses the effects of sponsorship disclosures by means of an experiment with a 2 (no disclosure vs. sponsorship disclosure) x 2 (source: celebrity endorsers vs. brand) between subjects design. Results showed that 1) overall consumers persuasion knowledge of advertising on Facebook is well-developed; 2) a sponsorship disclosure only influences the use of persuasion knowledge when the posts is disseminated by a celebrity; and 3) a disclosure starts a process in which the recognition of advertising (i.e., the activation of conceptual persuasion knowledge) causes consumers to develop critical beliefs about the post (i.e., use of attitudinal persuasion knowledge), and in turn, decreases their intention to engage in electronic word-of-mouth.

Authors

• Sophie Carolien Boerman, ASCoR / University of Amsterdam

• Eva P. Van der Aa, U of Amsterdam

• Lotte Michaela Willemsen, U of Amsterdam