YouTube and online advertising

As the line between friend and celebrity fades, the role of endorsements in new media is blurring

Lilyana Espinoza / Contributor / The USD Vista

There is a danger that lurks within the screens of computers. It slips under the radar and attempts to infiltrate the minds of users undetected. This danger is online advertising. Social media advertising has the potential to be unrecognizable as advertising and it can slowly affect consumers, including college students. YouTube and its influencers have played a large role in this new modern form of advertising.

As someone who watches influencers on YouTube, senior Noe Petrill believes that their impact on advertising is greater than traditional methods.

“I think they have more influence (than TV ads),” Petrill said. “TV ads are things that you don’t necessarily watch on purpose and you may not completely care for them. YouTubers get a following and their fans make an attachment to these influencers — fans who value their opinion and care what they have to say. I have found myself downloading new apps or buying certain products because a certain YouTube influencer said (to).”

Petrill reported that she spends three to four hours of her week watching makeup and vlog videos on YouTube. She admitted to noticing the influence the videos she watches have on her day-to-day life.

“I think they have a pretty good influence on me personally and on their fans as a whole,” Petrill said. “I will probably refer to reviews or first impressions videos when it comes to makeup and brands. I find myself moving away from one’s my favorite YouTubers don’t like, even in vlog videos. The things I learn about in their videos do seem to have a sway in my opinions.”

Although Petrill does not mind being influencers advertising within their usual content, she finds it important that the opinions the influencers share are honest, and the quality of the advertised products are good enough to merit the positive reviews.

“I think as a collective, it’s a good way of getting people to like or dislike certain products or brands,” Petrill said. “I think it can be dangerous if used in a manipulative way or if influencers give fake reviews just to make money, from certain brands especially. I have heard of a lot of YouTubers using their platform to sway their fans into liking or buying products that aren’t actually good, but the influencers make money. If used objectively by the YouTubers themselves, I find no problem in them providing me with information that might have an influence on me.”

When it comes to the world of YouTube and other social media outlets, the concept of disclosure becomes a gray area. If influencers are paid for a certain advertisement, then it is their duty to be transparent with their viewers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) aims to ensure honesty in advertising. Therefore, when an influencer has been paid or given something of value to speak about a product, that information must be disclosed according to the FTC guidelines.

This allows consumers to make decisions based on all relevant information, including where the source of the advertisement is coming from. This provides the viewer with the knowledge that an influencer is being paid to promote a product.

Although disclosure of compensation is required by the FTC, the lines become difficult for consumers to identify when these guidelines are not followed.

Colin Campbell, an assistant professor of marketing, focuses his research on online video advertising and native advertising, which is advertising that matches the format of the platform it exists on. According to a recent paper Campbell co-authored with Kent State Professor Pamela E. Grimm, “The Challenges Native Advertising Poses: Exploring Potential FTC Responses and Identifying Research Needs,” native advertising is an umbrella term that refers to new online forms of advertising in settings which don’t typically signal advertising to consumers. These forms of advertising are found in settings such as keyword searches, publisher websites, and social media. He noticed that these native advertising methods, such as YouTube videos, have a much more subtle effect on viewers than they realize and they should be aware of.

“Typically it is people suggesting something or recommending something,” Campbell said. “They don’t say go buy this right away, although in some cases you do see that. Most of the things you see are more subtle. It means you really have to be on guard on who is getting paid to say what.”

Campbell recognized that the participation in advertising of micro-influencers, influencers with fewer followers, may cause even more confusion for consumers who are unaware of the role advertisements are playing.

“The bigger (influencers) perhaps in some cases are better because you probably expect bigger influencers to be charging money,” Campbell said. “It is probably the micro-influencers that are more concerning because you may not recognize someone with 1,000 followers or 2,000 doing this stuff.”

Influencers may be seen as friends to their viewer, making them appear to be more trustworthy. Through Instagram and Snapchat, the audience can follow an influencer’s day-to-day life. This creates a different type of relationship between influencers and consumers.

Campbell identified why influencers can be more capable of having their advertisements fly under the radar than famous celebrities would.

“With celebrities, because we recognize them, they are very good at getting attention,” Campbell said. “But because they are likely to be recognized they are also recognized as ads. You will probably not have Brad Pitt as your friend on Facebook. So if you see them on Facebook you recognize it as an ad. What is interesting with influencers is they look like everyday people. If they are not famous they can potentially be more stealthy in some ways because you may not recognize that they are being paid. You may not notice that the mommy bloggers are actually getting paid or someone posting something is getting money for doing that.”

Another important detail of influencers is their slow impact on consumers. Campbell explained how influencers aim to plant the ideas to purchase products.

“Many of these ads you don’t buy right away,” Campbell said. “You may just be interested, come back in a couple weeks, and then you might buy that. Or maybe you go into the actual store and see the product there. It is really hard to track the effect. A lot of this is the influencers getting people excited about something. Maybe you follow their account, maybe you see their content. Later on did you buy something because of the influencer? Did you buy it because of the other content? Did you buy it because of the other stuff you saw from other influencers?”

Senior Samantha Alfaro listed several YouTube channels and video genres she watches regularly.

“I watch a lot of YouTubers like Liza Koshy, David Dobrik, Scotty Sire, Heath Hussar, Zane Hijazi, Carly Incontro, Erin Gilfoy, Gabbie Hanna, and most of the other YouTubers in their friend group,” Alfaro said. “I also watch beauty gurus like James Charles, Manny MUA, Jeffree Star, and Kathleen Lights. Kathleen Lights is the only one I will watch for make-up tutorials or make-up comparison videos. The others I watch to see the creative or dramatic makeup looks.”

Alfaro described her take on how YouTubers develop personal connections with their viewers.

“With YouTubers, they tend to put their personal lives out there and you know more about them,” Alfaro said. “Most try to connect and interact with their fan base, so their subscribers are more likely to try products that they promote on their channel.”

Alfaro explained the ways in which influencers have guided her personal purchasing decisions.

“I think the make-up artists influence me and my buying habits more because I buy make-up anyway and I consider what I’ve heard about different brands or products,” Alfaro said. “For example, if I’ve heard Kathleen Lights say one brand’s product is cheaper but comparable to a high-end brand, I’ll take it into account.”

The exposure to YouTube led Alfaro to believe influencers will be prominent to the future of advertising.

“YouTube influencers are going to be highly sought after for advertising,” Alfaro said. “They are appealing because normally they are already searching for brand deals. Also, companies will probably want these influencers because they have huge, dedicated fan bases. I think these people are appealing because they are relatable; they are just people who decided to make videos and post them online. Many YouTubers also frequent meet and greet events, which is appealing to their fan bases who actually get the opportunity to meet them; this is contrary to the big-name actresses and actors who seem to be inaccessible.”

Due to the high demand for influencers to sell products, Alfaro found that this could also have potential problems for the influencers as well as the consumers.

“What is unappealing about some YouTube influencers is that it has turned into a business and they may not even like what they are doing, but they just need to post videos to make money,” Alfaro said. “Sometimes content will revolve solely around what they think will get a lot of views rather than what they want to make a video about.”

With the changing landscape of advertising in media, and lines blurring between advertisement and endorsement audiences will have to change the way they interact with media.