دانلود رایگان مقاله روابط عمومی و تمرین محتوا: مفاهیم عملی، نظری و پیامدهای اخلاقی

abstract

This article focuses on the relatively new marketing phenomenon of embedded paid content. However, the reality is that Israeli public relations (PR) practitioners are engaged in promotion of paid digital content marketing (DCM) without full disclosure or transparency on various internet sites. Three major questions are therefore raised and discussed: (a) Does payment for content – which entails PR practitioners control over content – demand a review of PR practice definitions? (b) Does PR paid DCM makes “give-and-take relationships” with journalists and the “two-way symmetric model” redundantin digital channels? (c) What are the ethical implications of using paid DCM without full disclosure for PR practitioners and brand stakeholders? We suggest that definitions of PR should be reviewed in light of using undisclosed paid DCM. Moreover, we claim that the penetration of PR into buying digital media, and thus purchasing control in the same way as advertising, contributes to an ambiguous line between PR and advertising. From an ethical perspective, when paid DCM is embedded into our main digital information channels, often hiding commercial messages, readers may be confused between editorial and paid content generated by marketers. This confusion may well lead to a decline in the trustworthiness of media organizations and business organizations using this practice.

2. Paid content profile

The origins of paid DCM, that is, the paid integration of commercial content regarding brands into digital media content, can be traced to non-digital media such as TV, movies, and print (Ford, 1993). Indeed, paid content has many names: Russell and Belch (2005) use the term brand placement for the integration of a brand into entertainment activities, mainly TV and movies, in order to achieve marketing goals. Hackley, Tiwsakul, and Preuss (2008) define product placement as a form of marketing communication integrated into entertainment content, where the identity of the marketer, his intentions, and brand message are hidden from the viewer.