Ad Disclosures on Social Media: An Excessive Obsession?

Abstract: The way in which brands promote their products and services is constantly developing whilst adapting to the ever-changing media landscape. Today, it is all about communicating with customers in a two-way format, incorporating marketing in social channels and creating content of value. Consequently, many brands choose to advertise themselves through influencers on Instagram. However, incorporating paid content into an editorial feed, raises many ethical concerns in regards of how to disclose this content as advertisement. Swedish labelling policies require disclosures to be placed at the beginning of the post, clarifying who the advertisement owner is. However, these policies lack substantial empirical support. This thesis challenges the Swedish marketing regulations and industry recommendations, by comparing these against previous studies on the subject. The findings of this study prove that the ad disclosure position does not have a significant effect on viewer attentiveness. This empirical evidence favours neither the regulations nor previous theories. Additionally, the presence of an ad disclosure is not as critical an element as has previously been thought, in the quest of clarifying the post's paid nature to the viewer. These results imply that instead of focusing solemnly on the ad disclosure, other post elements should be examined in order to identify the most effective way of disclosing the paid nature of an advertisement.