How well does 'spon-con' blend in with real social media posts?

Press/Media: Research

Period13 Aug 2025

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleHow well does 'spon-con' blend in with real social media posts?
    Degree of recognitionNational
    Media name/outletscimex
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    Date13/08/25
    DescriptionOverseas researchers assigned 152 participants, all of whom were regular Instagram users, to one of three simulated social media feeds. After each session, the scientists asked the participants about their experience. Eye tracking revealed users spent less time looking at posts when they recognised them as sponsored content. However, some participants felt misled by the subtlety of the sponsored posts, and others were unaware of ad disclosures until late in their viewing. The scientists say these findings show that transparency goes well beyond just labelling ads.
    URLhttps://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/how-well-does-spon-con-blend-in-with-real-posts-on-social-media
    PersonsMaike Hübner, Jörg Henseler