Whoo’s laughing now? A qualitative study of User Responses to Native Content Marketing

Abstract: In the dynamic realm of social media marketing, maintaining a competitive edge is crucial; hence marketers are actively seeking strategies to stand out and increase levels of engagement. The study aimed to provide valuable insights into companies' utilisation of native content advertising on TikTok and users' attitudes towards this marketing strategy. By exploring the content types that influence users' attitudes toward native content advertising, the study discussed the potential positive and negative outcomes within different content categories. A qualitative content analysis was conducted to achieve the thesis goal, explicitly focusing on Duolingo's TikTok. The findings indicated that humour and trends in native content marketing reduced the factors contributing to persuasion coping mechanisms, making this type of content the most successful in generating positive consumer engagement. Furthermore, the findings revealed that content featuring trends perceived as entertaining could generate positive responses and mitigate negative associations with the brand. The findings also indicated that non-native content marketing, such as service-oriented content, was more likely to receive negative consumer responses and elicited comments regarding the company's service.