Native advertising: Power, responsibility and risk

Native advertising has the ability to integrate brand messages into content which is relevant and interesting to consumers and as such it has become an important element of digital marketing. However, Native Advertising has also attracted criticism for potentially being misleading, deceptive and difficult to regulate. Using the Power-Responsibility Equilibrium theory this study examines native advertising from a stakeholders' perspective by investigating ethical, regulatory and risk considerations. The findings indicate there are differing levels of power and responsibility when developing native advertising content and that risk is a contributing factor in balancing or disrupting the balance of power and responsibility