Young Consumers’ Online Brand Communications Literacy in the Context of Social Media Dr Margaret-Anne Lawlor (Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland) Áine Dunne (Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland) Professor Jennifer Rowley (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)

Structure of Presentation Theoretical background - children's advertising literacy in an online & offline context Research Methodology & Findings A reconceptualisation of advertising literacy – the Online Brand Communications literacy framework

Children in an online context 5-15 year olds = now spend more time online than watching TV (OfCom, 2016) 72% of 12-15 year olds = social media profile (OfCom, 2016) Emergence of ‘non-traditional’ platforms (e.g. advergames, social media, branded websites, influencer / blog marketing) Capacity for interactivity, subtlety, engagement

Advertising Literacy (AL) The importance of AL The contribution of the Persuasion Knowledge Model -> agent knowledge & persuasion knowledge (Friestad and Wright, 1994) Retrieval & employment of knowledge as a defence against advertising (e.g. Rozendaal, Lapierre, Van Reijmersdal and Buijzen, 2011; Verhellen, Oates, de Pelsmacker and Dens, 2014) Application in traditional adv. context (paid advertising)

(e.g. Forrester, 2009; Stephen & Galak, 2012)

Leading to the present study’s focus on: Young consumers’ awareness & understanding of the forms of commercial content within social media; their ability to filter and critique such commercial messages; application of AL in this context.

Qualitative Study: Sample = 47 girls, aged 12-14 years, in Ireland 15 focus groups Participant observation 11 in-depth interviews Ethical considerations

Discussion Participants’ awareness of advertising / marketing formats in social media -> video/photo/text ads Use of brands / commercial messages as a form of self-expression & social capital Sharing behaviour = a form of peer-to-peer marketing Participants do not view their actions as a means of generating earned media for the brand

The importance of brands – personal & social aspects Donna, 14 years There is a quiz on my page that is called ‘What shoe are you?’ I'm a big fan of Converse shoes and I wanted the quiz to show that on my page, so I took the quiz a couple of times to make sure that the result showed Converse…. I love Converse shoes, they’re cool and really, it is just a bit of fun.

Unintentional Brand Ambassadors No, I don’t think so. I just like these brands. I like their stuff and like to wear them so that is why I have them on my profile page. Not because I’m promoting the brands to my friends. Donna, 14 years

Generation of earned media for the brand? Sandra: I like that ad, it’s funny and I just wanted to put it on my profile for people to see. Interviewer: Do you think that you are helping Cadbury’s advertise their Dairy Milk product? Sandra: No, of course I'm not advertising for them. It’s just funny. (aged 14 years)

The importance of rethinking AL: convergence of traditional online adv. & other forms of online brand content (e.g. ‘opting in’ to a brand on Facebook); brand messaging may originate from the brand owner in a variety of overt and covert forms; online consumers may also act as brand promoters when they engage in brand-related word-of-mouth.  

consider advertising that ‘does not look like advertising’ e. g consider advertising that ‘does not look like advertising’ e.g. native advertising, blogger / influencer marketing, advergames. Therefore, is the advertising literacy paradigm fit for purpose in an online context?