Winning Over Listeners with Podcast Advertising : Exploring the Podcast Audience’s Perception of Commercial Messages in Podcasts and the Role of Podcast Hosts

Abstract: 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.