Testing the “Line” between News and Advertising:
The Effects of Sponsor Association on the Content and Credibility of Four E-Newspapers
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to test the effect of sponsorship association on memory for
news content and the credibility and behavioral intent for four e-newspapers. A secondary aim
was to examine whether students versus non-student adults responded differently to the Internet
sponsorships. The authors conceptualized the line between news and advertising in terms of how
closely the sponsor’s product associated with the news. The method was a 3 (sponsor
association) x 2 (section) x 4 (newspapers) x 4 (news story) factorial experiment. The
participants were 110 students and 81 non-student adults. The high sponsorship association
condition significantly decreased the credibility of the e-newspapers. Students and non-students
significantly differed with regard to memory for the content, and credibility and behavioral intent
for the e-newspapers.