No, Virginia, it’s not true what they say about publicity’s “implied third-party endorsement” effect

Abstract

This essay re-examines “implied third-party endorsement” as an explanation of publicity’s effectiveness. Instead of the traditional explanation that publicity’s superiority can be attributed to an implied recommendation found in media content, the author argues that any effect involves inferences by audience members who use biased processing that favors news and disfavors advertising. This article reviews relevant research, including 11 experiments, which provide only qualified support for claims about the superiority of news. Original findings from an assessment of audience perceptions provide support for the biased processing hypothesis and suggest that the presentation of information as news is not necessarily perceived by audiences as an endorsement of a topic by news workers. Kirk Hallahan, Fellow PRSA, is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Technical Communication at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.