Provide the citation and attach a pdf of the article (10 pts) 

• Schauster, E. E., Ferrucci, P., & Neill, M. S. (2016). Native Advertising Is the New Journalism: How Deception Affects Social Responsibility. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(12), 1408–1424. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764216660135 
• PDF of article: Native Advertising Is the New Journalism – Blog Post 6

What is the abstract of the article? (10 pts)  

• Native advertising’s effectiveness lies in its ability to look like content produced by journalists. The potential for deceiving readers and proliferation of native advertising threaten journalism’s credibility along with its core boundary: the separation between editorial and advertising. For the press to function in a normative manner, as a watchdog, contributing to the public’s ability to self-govern, it simply cannot participate in deception. Therefore, 56 qualitative interviews were conducted with journalists, advertising, and public relations executives to examine the extent to which native advertising impedes on the social responsibility of the press. Perspectives revealed that all three professions agreed native advertising raises ethical concerns. Native advertising potentially deceives audiences who are unaware that native advertising is paid, persuasive content versus editorial, thus contributing to the diminishing credibility of journalism. Furthermore, if native advertising is done well, it is undetectable from traditional editorial content. Based on these findings, authors discuss how native advertising threatens several tenets of social responsibility theory.

Was the study experimental or non-experimental? Explain, tell us what made that clear. (10 pts)

• This study is non-experimental. According to Patten & Newhart’s definition (2018) that non-experimental studies “observe participants in order to describe them…” (p. 13). This study states that it uses detailed interviews to conduct its research, an example stated in the textbook.

Was the research qualitative or quantitative? Again, explain. (10 pts)

• The research done in this study is qualitative because it uses a smaller sample size of only 56 participants. It also states in the abstract that “qualitative interviews were conducted” (p. 1408). When a study solely relies on answers from interviewees, they analyze these comments to form conclusions for their question at hand. Since there are no actual numbers in the study, there is no way it could be quantitative. 

What was the population studied? Why do you say that? (5 pts)

• This study clearly states what group was sampled to conduct the qualitative interviews; however, they do not state anywhere in the article how they decided to select the interviewees other than “purposive sampling” (p. 1412). With this type of sampling, researchers rely on their judgment; therefore, there was no precise method of picking from a larger group. Although not stated, the implied population could be the Journalism community involved with public relations ethics, advertising, journalism and native advertising. 

What sample was used for this study? Explain. (5 pts)

• The sample used for this study is 56 individuals in journalism-based professions. There were 30 journalists, 11 advertising executives, 14 public relations executives and 1 digital marketing executive. These individuals covered a range of different organizations. The study even defines the specific samples as “n=,” which indicates the study is talking about the sample (p. 1412). 

What was the method of measurement? (10 pts) 

• Since this study is qualitative, the data collected was the participant’s answers to questions relating to the main point about their perceptions of native advertising, including ethical nature. An example of a question asked is, “How would you describe the ethical nature of native advertising?” (p. 1413) The 56 participants answered questions related to the topic, which was then organized and analyzed. The data being collected is simply the quotes from the participants such as “[Native advertising’s] whole goal is to fool people, otherwise it wouldn’t attempt to look like regular copy” (p. 1414). 

What was the method of analysis? (10 pts). 

• The study has a section that explains its analysis process in detail, which involves many steps. First, the data was recorded and transcribed so it could be put through the analysis process. Two researchers coded the transcripts from the participants and then used open coding to “which involved identifying content concerning native advertising… and the ethical nature of native advertising” (p. 1413). After the transcripts were coded in the first stage, the two researchers made notes to identify matching themes with the participants’ answers. The researchers then compared notes for discussion and agreed on the presented themes. The analysis takes one more step by using the quoted statements of the participants that related to the researcher’s finalized themes and adding them to a coding sheet.

What was the conclusion of the study? (10 pts)

• The study’s conclusion seems to be open-ended since the researchers could conclude the similar themes of the participants and the stand-alone ideas presented. Overall, native advertising has different ethical responsibilities from different job descriptions. For advertising and public relations to be considered ethical, they must show actual effectiveness with their advertisements. However, from the journalist’s point of view, the native advertising’s credibility should be based on the credibility of the environment it was uploaded to. But if a consumer fails to differentiate the editorial content from the native content, this could tarnish the publication’s credibility. This shows that native advertising can be interpreted in many ways, which in some cases interferes with journalism ethics. 

 Why is this study useful to you? Explain in detail. (10 pts)

• This study is useful because it ties into the research I talked about in the first blog post. I wanted to know if there is a new type of journalism and what factors have played into this observation. This study discussed the Social Responsibility Theory, which outlines how journalism changed its tone due to yellow journalism and the fear of being regulated. Journalism changed their act to a more professional one that established ethical standards. However, today with the internet, journalism has taken a new look that seems to go back more toward the sales and views aspect of the yellow journalism era. This article showed how native advertising, while it might be needed for different companies, has the chance of soiling the credibility of journalistic publications. Overall this insinuates that with journalism slowly losing credibility that others have changed their views from more professional journalism to social media for their source of news. This study helps me prove that many factors, even as little as native advertising, have created a new form of journalism. 

What would be the next logical step in extending this study? (10 pts)

• The study states that the Federal Trade Commission called for native advertisement to be labeled as an advertisement instead of other terms such as sponsored. “Future research could examine the extent to which the new label affects consumers’ perception of credibility as well as professionals’ perception of the efficacy of native advertising” (p. 1421). Also, another approach would be to create an experimental experiment where it is tested to see if consumers of media rate the credibility of a publication by having them read an article with native advertising and the same article with no native advertising. A Likert scale could then be used to establish the different levels of credibility that the consumers perceived. This experimental study will also show if this is even a significant issue with journalism and warrants updates. 

Book Reference:

Patten, M. L., & Newhart, M. (2018). Understanding research methods: An overview of the Essentials. Routledge.