A Dialectical Perspective on How Sponsorship Disclosure Affects Influencer Marketing
Prof. Jun PANG
Professor of Marketing
Business School
Sun Yat-sen University
Date: 14 November 2025 (Friday)
Time: 10:00-11:30
Venue: E22-3002
Host: Prof. Esther LIU, Assistant Professor in Marketing
Abstract
Given the prevalence of influencers not disclosing sponsorships in native ads, this research examines how sponsorship disclosure impacts the effectiveness of native advertising and explores regulatory approaches to increase disclosure compliance. Across six studies, including one with real behavioral outcomes, the authors demonstrate that sponsorship disclosure decreases native advertising effectiveness among non-dialectical thinkers (e.g., U.S. consumers) but enhances it among dialectical thinkers (e.g., Chinese consumers). Contrary to previous findings, these effects are not driven by activation of consumers’ persuasion knowledge. Instead, they arise because sponsorship disclosure influences consumers’ perceptions of an influencer’s egoistic and altruistic motives in posting sponsored content. Furthermore, we show that consumer awareness of disclosure regulations mitigates the negative impact of sponsorship disclosure on advertising persuasiveness for non-dialectical thinkers, while sustaining its positive effect for dialectical thinkers. These findings contribute to the literature on influencer marketing and consumer dialecticism, as well as provide valuable insights for promoting sponsorship disclosure to support the sustainable development of the influencer marketing industry.
Speaker
Prof. Jun PANG is a Professor at the Business School of Sun Yat-sen University. Before joining Sun Yat-sen University, she was an Associate Professor of Marketing at the School of Business, Renmin University of China. She received her Ph.D. in Management from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.
Her research interests center on consumer psychology and behavior in new technology environments, the influence of social factors on consumption behavior, sensory marketing, and cross-cultural consumer psychology and behavior. Her work has appeared in leading international journals, including Journal of Marketing, MIS Quarterly, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Retailing, and International Journal of Research in Marketing.
All are welcome!
