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Native advertising effectiveness: The role of congruence and consumer annoyance on clicks, bounces, and visits

  • Original Empirical Research
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Abstract

In response to increased avoidance of traditional banner advertising, publishers have turned to a subtler form of display advertising called native advertising. Unlike traditional banner ads, native ads are intentionally designed to be cohesive with editorial content and assimilated into the design of the publisher’s website. We examine the performance of native advertising placements across three studies. In Study 1, we use a large dataset from a native advertising platform to examine the interplay of ad placement and ad content. We find that clicks are higher when ads are (1) delivered in-feed and (2) contain lower levels of selling intent, highlighting the interplay between the ad content and delivery. Study 2 confirms that in-feed placements experience higher clicks, but they also result in more bounces relative to in-ad placements. As a result, their effect on net visits is similar to in-ad placements at a higher cost. To further understand this phenomenon, we conducted a lab study (Study 3), which shows that when consumers are redirected to an advertiser’s site from an in-feed (versus in-ad) placement they experience higher annoyance and, ultimately, higher bounce intentions and reduced advertiser purchase intentions.

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Data Availability

The datasets for this research are not publicly available due to confidentiality agreements. However, data are available from the first author upon reasonable request.

Notes

  1. Given that the coders were required to code all twelve advertisements across a variety of scales, we believe that fatigue played a major role in coders not passing quality checks.

  2. In addition to this assessment, we also re-estimated the models using continuous scores from the graduate assistant coding process and the results were also consistent. Consequently, the choice of coders did not influence our results.

  3. A pre-test (N = 100) demonstrated that consumers perceived no significant difference in perceived selling intent between the US News Landing Page and the Wayfair landing page (MUSNEWS = 5.17; MWAYFAIR = 5.46, p = 0.46), which provides support that any differences in bounce is not likely due to differences in selling intent.

  4. https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/pictures/the-top-5-retro-inspired-accessories-you-need-to-elevate-your-home/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter T. Paul College of Business, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Alexander C. LaBrecque

  2. Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Clay M. Voorhees

  3. Fowler College of Business, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

    Farnoosh Khodakarami

  4. D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115-5000, USA

    Paul W. Fombelle

Authors
  1. Alexander C. LaBrecque
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  2. Clay M. Voorhees
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  3. Farnoosh Khodakarami
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  4. Paul W. Fombelle
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Correspondence to Clay M. Voorhees.

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LaBrecque, A.C., Voorhees, C.M., Khodakarami, F. et al. Native advertising effectiveness: The role of congruence and consumer annoyance on clicks, bounces, and visits. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-024-01014-z

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