I’m excited to share some background on my recent publication, “Revealing the Hidden: The Effect of Advertisement Disclosure on Heavy and Light Instagram Users’ Influencer Avoidance,” co-authored with my PhD supervisor, Naim Çınar, and published in the Journal of Marketing Communications.

This research started with a simple but important question: How do people respond when influencers don’t clearly disclose that a post is an advertisement? While influencer marketing has become a standard practice, the ethics and effectiveness of ad disclosure remain complex and underexplored.

Our study focused on Instagram, one of the most popular platforms for influencer marketing. We wanted to understand whether the type of disclosure—and how much people use Instagram—shapes their tendency to avoid influencers. Specifically, we examined three disclosure conditions:

No disclosure (the ad isn’t labeled at all)

Sponsorship disclosure (clear labels like #ad or #partnership)

Non-sponsorship disclosure (labels that claim it’s not sponsored)

We conducted an experimental study with 165 university students in Türkiye, classifying them as heavy or light Instagram users based on daily usage time. Participants saw real influencer posts under these different disclosure conditions and responded to questions measuring ad recognition, influencer credibility, and their willingness to avoid the influencer.

Key findings included:
✅ Heavy Instagram users are skilled at detecting hidden advertising—even without disclosure—and they penalize influencers for not being transparent by avoiding them and reducing their credibility.
✅ Sponsorship disclosures led to higher ad recognition, but also reduced the influencer’s credibility and increased avoidance.
✅ The effect of disclosure on avoidance is moderated by how intensively users engage with Instagram: heavy users react much more critically to undisclosed or deceptively labeled content.

This study adds nuance to the idea of the privacy paradox and consumer skepticism in advertising. It shows that heavy social media users have developed a kind of “advertising literacy,” enabling them to recognize hidden ads and respond critically—even when influencers try to hide their commercial intentions.

We believe these results have clear ethical implications:
⭐️ Transparency in influencer marketing isn’t optional.
⭐️ Regulatory agencies are right to insist on clear, honest disclosure.
⭐️ Brands and influencers risk losing credibility and trust if they mislead their audience.

I hope this paper contributes to a more honest, respectful relationship between brands, influencers, and audiences.

If you’d like to read the full article, you can find it here.

And if you’re curious about this topic, want to discuss it, or are interested in collaborating, feel free to email me (aysarjjyahya@gmail.com).