Native Advertising

New Challenges for Online Consumers and the Role Of Media and Advertising Literacy

Abstract

The following paper proposes a study of the concepts associated with native advertising, a new iteration of the advertorial. Native advertising is a growing form of digital communication used by corporations to market their products in an online setting. Because of the fact that consumers are becoming gradually less receptive to traditional forms of advertisement, marketers have been exponentially resorting to more subtle, less intrusive ways of presenting their products. These new advertising practices might create some challenges to consumers, specifically in their capacity to distinguish editorialized contents from commercial ones. It is for this reason that, in this exploration of the definition and characteristics of native advertising, we will also briefly discuss why Media Literacy – which includes advertising literacy – and media skills are important resources to identify and avert the deceptive nature of this online marketing practice. The adoption of some fundamental literacy competence could better prepare consumers to discern between commercial and noncommercial contents, thus empowering them in the digital landscape.