The Effect of Ad Authenticity on Advertising Value and Consumer Engagement: A Case Study of COVID-19 Video Ads

This study explored the role of ad authenticity in influencing consumers’ ad evaluations and their engagement intention in the context of COVID-19 video advertising. Results showed that aside from informativeness and entertainment, three dimensions of ad authenticity—brand essence, realistic plot, and message credibility—were positively related to consumers’ evaluation of ad value, which further increased ad attitude and social media engagement intention. Interestingly, a realistic plot was the strongest predictor of advertising value, with informativeness as the weakest predictor. Our findings suggest that such a shift of emphasis on content-specific ad authenticity would increase the effectiveness of pandemic-related brand communication on social media. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.