Native Advertising: Is Deception an Asset or a Liability?

Abstract

Native advertising is among the most ethically charged strategies of digital communications. The ethical controversies are inherent in native advertising’s definition—paid advertising that is disguised to make readers think it is editorial content of digital publishers. Drawing on moral philosophy, the persuasion knowledge model, the social responsibility of the press theory, schema theory, and psychological reactance theory, this project demonstrated that consumers’ perceptions of native advertising’s deceptiveness increased advertising skepticism, irritation, and avoidance. In contrast, higher media trust resulted in lower perceived deceptiveness, skepticism, irritation, and avoidance. Thus, advertisers and online publishers will benefit from explicit disclosure of sponsorship that is responsible and transparent.