Marketing Goes Undercover; An Experimental Study on Undercover vs. Disclose Marketing in Social Media, The Moderating Role of Advertising Source

Abstract

Abstract. This study aims to identify the effect of undercover marketing by using a 2 (undercover vs disclose marketing) x 2 (celebrity vs non-celebrity endorser) experimental research design. The results concluded that undercover marketing and non-celebrity endorser are less likely to activate consumers’ persuasion knowledge (i.e. consumers are less likely to recognize the content as advertisement and less likely to have sceptical and distrusting attitude) and also result in a higher level of consumers’ engagement. In contrast, disclose marketing and celebrity endorser are more likely to activate consumers’ persuasion knowledge (i.e. consumers are more likely to recognize the content as advertisement and more likely to have sceptical and distrusting attitude) and also result in a lower level of consumers’ engagement. Keywords: Undercover marketing; Sponsorship disclosure; Persuasion knowledge; Consumer engagement; Social media; AdvertisementAbstract
This study aims to identify the effect of undercover marketing by using a 2 (undercover vs disclose marketing) x 2 (celebrity vs non-celebrity endorser) experimental research design. The results concluded that undercover marketing and non-celebrity endorser are less likely to activate consumers’ persuasion knowledge (i.e. consumers are less likely to recognize the content as advertisement and less likely to have sceptical and distrusting attitude) and also result in a higher level of consumers’ engagement. In contrast, disclose marketing and celebrity endorser are more likely to activate consumers’ persuasion knowledge (i.e. consumers are more likely to recognize the content as advertisement and more likely to have sceptical and distrusting attitude) and also result in a lower level of consumers’ engagement.

Keywords: Undercover marketing; Sponsorship disclosure; Persuasion knowledge; Consumer engagement; Social media; Advertisement