The effects of social presence, contextual congruence and source credibility in evaluation of online advertising on news websites

This study investigates how advertising on news websites is affected by social presence, contextual congruence and source credibility. It employs a 2 (social presence vs. no social presence) × 2 (contextual congruence vs. no contextual congruence) × 2 (high website credibility vs. low website credibility) between-subject factorial experimental design. Participating in this study are a total of 328 students from a university in the upper Midwest. Findings suggest that social presence positively influences how consumers evaluate advertising and brand. Contextual congruence also positively influences consumers' advertising and brand evaluations. Source credibility, however, positively influences only advertising evaluation (not brand evaluation). This study broadens our understanding of the roles of social presence, contextual congruence, and media vehicle effects in a computer-mediated communication context.