Additional measures are needed for enabling minors to recognize influencer advertising

The current rules on influencer marketing apparently fail in protecting children and young people. They often have difficulty recognizing this form of advertising. This has been revealed by a literature review called "Sponsorship disclosures by influencers" (in Dutch: Sponsorvermelding door influencers), which was conducted by Centerdata at the request of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Platform (in Dutch: Samenwerkingsplatform Digitale Toezichthouders, or SDT). Additional measures are needed for protecting this vulnerable group against hidden commercial influencing. The SDT regulators have drawn this conclusion following this study. Members of the SDT are , the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP), the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), and the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure (RDI).

When recommending products, influencers must be transparent about their sponsorships. In many cases, an influencer is required to disclose a sponsorship in their post, in which they disclose that they receive a fee or some other benefit for this post. This study explains how such a sponsorship disclosure can be designed best. The more noticeable the sponsorship disclosure is, the better: it increases the likelihood that the disclosure will be noticed. For example, the study reveals that sponsorship disclosures are most effective if the text box in which the disclosure is written is placed in the upper left corner or at the bottom of an image or video. In addition, with regard to videos, sponsorship disclosures are presented best at the beginning of the video for at least six seconds. Uniformity in sponsorship disclosures contribute to improved recognition, too.

Social-media platforms themselves already offer standard disclosures, too. Yet many influencers do not use these. One of the reasons for this is that they are afraid of the negative consequences of clear sponsorship disclosures.

Minors

Children and young people are less aware of persuasion techniques that influencers and brands use. They are less able to recognize advertising, even when sponsorship disclosures are presented. And even when they do recognize advertising, children take a less critical look at sponsored messages than adults do. That can be problematic, because it makes them more susceptible to influencing. That is why, when dealing with minors, it is important to explicitly state that the influencer was paid for making sure that followers like the presented product.

Additional measures

The SDT members believe that additional measures are needed for the protection of minors. The study presents important findings that are relevant for the further development of the rules and regulation by the SDT members. For example, the study reveals that sponsorship disclosures are equally as important with messages from influencers with smaller reaches. That can be reason for having smaller influencers, too, fall under the scope of the Dutch Media Act, and thus, by extension, also fall under the CvdM's oversight. It may also be useful to focus on media education in schools in order to have sponsorship disclosures work even better among children and young people.

Martijn Snoep, Chair of the Board of ACM, adds: "Effective protection of minors against commercial influencing calls for us to join forces. Cooperation between regulators is critical to the creation of a safe and transparent digital environment. The next step for us as regulators is to see what measures are effective and feasible, given the different powers of the various regulators. For ACM at least, I see opportunities in the Digital Service Act. This act contains various measures aimed at protecting younger users."

Under the Dutch Media Act, sponsorship disclosures can be only used for sponsorships, not for advertising. However, in this study, the term 'sponsorship disclosures' refers to disclosures about all types of commercial influencing.

This is a joint press release on behalf of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Platform (SDT), which consists of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP), the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), and the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure (RDI).

The entire literature review "Sponsorship disclosures by influencers" can be downloaded as a PDF.