Online advertising: What kind of impact do embedded ads have on an Internet user's perception of an advertisement when it is incongruous with the story content

The aim of the following study was to determine how an Internet user's perception towards a brand is affected when an online advertisement is embedded in hard news content and soft news content. This study will determine if a brand is perceived in a positive or negative manner based on the story content in which an online advertisement is embedded within. The sample was comprised of 153 University of South Alabama students. There were 4 experimental groups: (1) hard news story, comical advertisement, (2) hard news story, serious advertisement, (3) soft news story, comical advertisement and (4) soft news story, serious advertisement.;Positive brand perception was significantly lower for consumers exposed to a comical advertisement embedded within the content of a hard news story than the same advertisement embedded within a soft news story. Participants also found this comical advertisement to be much more offensive when the advertisement was embedded within a hard news story then when embedded in a soft news story.