Perceived credibility of the organic and sponsored links in the search engine listings : Factors affecting the internet users' perception of the links

Abstract: People choose to spend a large amount of their time on the internet these days, which has led to an increase in search engine marketing. It is a form of online marketing that displays the ads as organic and sponsored links and is considered less intrusive by internet users. However, internet users' low perceived credibility towards online marketing, in general, seems to be affecting their perception of the two links as well. There is currently a gap in knowledge regarding what factors affect internet users' perceived credibility towards organic and sponsored links. This was explored in this study to see what affects the users' perception and how it could be raised. The trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness factors in the source credibility theory were utilized and explored to see if they affected the internet users' perceived credibility towards the links. This was achieved through a quantitative study and by conducting two questionnaires with sample sizes of 140 respondents each. The findings of this study indicate that the three factors positively affect internet users' perceived credibility. By performing a t-test on the combined results from the two questionnaires, it was also evident that which type of link it is, organic or sponsored, plays a significant role in how the users perceive the link’s credibility. The organic links have a more positive effect on the users' perceived credibility and are viewed as more credible than the sponsored links, suggesting a bias towards the sponsored links.