Israeli media reality vs. consumer attitudes: TV viewers’ ethical perceptions and attitudes towards regulation of embedded paid content

Covert advertising such as embedded paid content (EPC) is flourishing on Israeli TV, but in most cases regulators’ prohibiting rules are not enforced. Though the regulators’ role is to safeguard the public’s right to know, the public’s attitudes and ethical perceptions of EPC on TV is not being addressed. The current survey is an initial attempt to discover TV viewers’ attitudes towards EPC. While respondents’ attitudes towards product placement were indifferent, their attitudes towards EPC were generally negative. Results indicate that after being informed regarding paid TV content, respondents considered EPC to be culturally acceptable in Israeli (relativism), but morally unethical (moral equity). They also considered EPC a violation of the unwritten contract with media creators regarding the authenticity of media content (contractualism). Findings suggest that the Israeli public should be better informed regarding EPC and should be taken into consideration when dealing with its use, regulation and enforcement.