The Effects of Brand Endorsements in YouTube-videos on Young Viewers: The Role of Sponsorship Disclosure and Parental Mediation
(R2020-83367)

AUTHORS

Bianca Harms, University of Groningen; Tammo Bijmolt, University of Groningen; Janny Hoekstra, University of Groningen

KEYWORDS

Influencer marketing; sponsorship disclosure types; parental mediation

ABSTRACT

Children frequently watch YouTube-videos of social influencers with commercial motives. Lack of transparency in such brand endorsements may inhibit recognition of the content as advertising. We study two pivotal antecedents of the effect of YouTube videos on young viewers: sponsorship disclosure (written or/and spoken) and parental mediation style (active or restrictive). Both may activate the child’s persuasion knowledge, which may stimulate defense strategies and affect the attitude towards the video and the advertised brand. We collected data among 609 parent-daughter dyads in an online experiment, in which the children watched a vlogger video. Data are analyzed with PLS-SEM. Our findings provide important insights for practitioners in the field of advertising and contribute to more effective online advertising.

REFERENCES

This work was supported by The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under grant 023.005.065 and RUGCIC.