Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Advertising assistant professor, CJC doctoral students Susanna Lee and Ben Vollmer and Cen April Yue, Ph.D. 2020, are the authors of “Impartial Endorsements: Influencer and Celebrity Declarations of Non-Sponsorship and Honesty” published in Computers in Human Behavior on May 6.

The authors studied the effects of impartiality claims on Instagram and other social media. They sought to find out how impartiality claims about brand-focused social media posts influence persuasion knowledge, credibility, intentions to engage with the message, attitudes, and purchase intentions.

According to the authors, “We observed that posts claiming non-sponsorship were perceived as less likely to be advertisements or have selling intention. These non-sponsorship claims also enhanced trustworthiness. Honesty claims enhanced expertise. Honesty and non-sponsorship worked together to boost trustworthiness, expertise, attitudes, and purchase intentions, yet messages with no claims at all yielded the most positive attitudes and intentions.”

They add, “This illustrates that impartiality claims work better together than in isolation. Impartiality claims performed similarly for influencers and celebrities. Presenting impartiality claims at the beginning of a post aided ad recognition but reduced intentions to share or follow a source.”

Posted: May 12, 2021
Category: Alumni News, College News, Student News
Tagged as: Ben Vollmer, Benjamin Johnson, Cen (April) Yue, Susanna Lee