The Impact of Sponsorship Disclosure on Influencer Posts When Commercial Intent Is Revealed

Abstract

In influencer marketing, which continues to grow, it is obligatory to disclose in posts any sponsorship from companies. On the other hand, previous research has shown that disclosing sponsorship can suppress the effectiveness of posts, while there is little evidence to date on the positive impact of sponsorship disclosure from the perspective of consumer protection. The aim of this study is to shed light on the impact of sponsorship disclosure when it is fully revealed that the post contains a commercial intention.

We collected data from a thought experiment focusing on mega/micro information sources and congruence, using analysis of variance to test our hypothesis. The results of the analysis showed that in the case of micro-influencers, (1) disclosing sponsorship can prevent a deterioration in attitudes when the source is revealed, and (2) if there is a perception of low congruence, disclosing sponsorship can promote a deterioration in attitudes when the source is exposed. The significance of this research is that it shows the benefits of sponsorship disclosure regarding specific information sources when commercial intentions are fully disclosed.