Class Year
2026
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2025
Department 1
Management
Abstract
As digital marketing continues to be the dominant channel for consumer engagement, understanding the factors that influence ad effectiveness is increasingly important. This study examined how advertisement format (image vs. video) and sponsorship disclosure (non-sponsored vs. sponsored) influence engagement and purchase intention among college students. Using a 2 x 2 experimental design within an online survey, 88 participants viewed one of four real social media ads and completed measures of engagement and purchase intention. Multiple regression results showed that video ads produced higher engagement and purchase intention than static image ads, whereas sponsored ads led to lower engagement and purchase intention than non-sponsored ads. Relative weight analyses revealed that both predictors made meaningful contributions to the outcomes. These findings suggest that short-form video content enhances ad effectiveness among college-aged consumers, while sponsorship disclosures may reduce the impact of digital ads.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Burke, Emily M., "Click or Skip? How Ad Format and Disclosure Shape Engagement and Purchase Intention" (2025). Student Publications. 1183.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/1183
Included in
Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, Marketing Commons
Comments
This work was written for MGT 405: Advanced Statistical Methods for Business.