Tracing Sources of Information Pollution: A Survey and Experimental Test of Print Media's Labeling Policy for Feature Advertising

Abstract

This study explores feature advertising, or single advertisements designed to look like editorial copy. A national survey of editors and ad managers at newspapers and magazines found that print media typically have an unwritten policy to label feature ads as advertisements. An information processing experiment was performed to test the efficacy of such labeling. Experimental results suggest that feature ads borrow from the editorial credibility of a publication and that the current labeling policy does not adequately address the problem.