Unidentified advertising: Separating contents and radio owner responsibility

Abstract

This article analyses sound indicators as compulsory elements that separate information content from commercial content in order to preserve the rights of consumers and following the legal regulations and codes of conduct. The study has been carried out using a sample of 372 intersection spaces broadcast by the most popular Spanish commercial generalist radio stations and coded following certain variables such as time slot, commercial content, audio signal input separation and audio signal output separation. The results provide substantial evidence regarding the lack of social responsibility of radio owners towards their audience as well as the passivity with which government and self-regulation bodies protect the rights of listeners to be warned of the commercial nature of these radio broadcasts.

Keywords

Broadcasters responsibility codes of conduct media policy policy and law (media systems)radio accountability

Introduction

Advertisers are solely responsible to their target audiences for the content of commercial messages and for the choice of radio station, format and time of broadcast (Perelló-Oliver and Muela-Molina, 2012). In Spain, many of them try to improve the questioned effectiveness of a radio spot broadcast together with 20 or 30 other advertisements in a commercial break lasting 10 minutes or more, and resort to ‘[other formulas in an attempt to intertwine with radio programming in a more blurred and smooth manner]’ (Muela-Molina, 2001: 243). Yet, when advertising material is blurred with editorial content (Cameron and Curtin, 1995; Ellerbach, 2004), it generates in the listener a confusion regarding the nature and intentionality of the communication.

On the other hand, radio, as mass media, must act responsibly towards its audience and respect listener rights in response to their loyalty. In this sense, Nebenzahl and Jaffe (1998) maintain that ‘the right to be informed is synonymous with the right to know if a message is sponsored’ (p. 807). Spanish radio owners are responsible for their broadcast content and are therefore entitled to reject any advertising they consider unfit or harmful for listeners. In this sense, Harro-Loit and Saks (2006) argue that ‘the trend that most endangers independent media content is the diminution of the border that separates journalism from advertising simplifying the problem to a case of unethical journalistic behaviour’ (p. 312) while Dix and Phau maintain that advertisers do not seem too concerned about the potentially harmful effects of blurring practices (Dix and Phau, 2009: 425).

Sandler and Secunda (1993) argue that the lines used traditionally to separate promotional messages from programming content in mass media advertising were rigidly established and clearly delineated to begin with, but that they have begun blurring. In this regard, many research studies (Nebenzahl and Jaffe, 1998; Secunda, 1995) have analysed the reasons that lead advertisers and the media to use communication practices that are a breach of the principle of authenticity and transparency and which, therefore, do not comply with the legal regulations and codes of conduct of the sector. In the case of blurring, this bad practice has a harmful effect on listeners who, having received no warning of the commercial content to be broadcast, suffer a violation of one of their rights as audience: to choose whether to be exposed to or not, as the case may be, to the commercial message within the first seconds of contact.

Two of the main problems of the research have been the lack of previous work on which to base the study and the absence of a developed framework of ethical conduct for commercial radio owners, which would regulate these communication practices in Spain. The interest to develop the object of study lies, however, in exposing a communication reality that affects a daily audience of millions of listeners (Crisell, 1994; Lacey, 2013). Thus, the main objectives of this work are to analyse the respect shown by generalist radio stations (GRS) owners in Spain for separating information content – editorial content based on news/talks and sports information – from any other type of commercial communication – non-editorial content, that is, messages paid by a third party – and to detect the presence or absence of separation lines between contents throughout radio programming, as required by the current Spanish legislation and codes of conduct of the sector, as well as to establish how this compulsory separation takes place.

Social responsibility and accountability of radio as mass media

The accountability policy in the area of advertising is analysed by Polonsky and Hyman (2007) to conclude that the development of a bad social responsibility (SR) policy in media harms the image of advertisers in the long term, and therefore stakeholders demand responsible advertising consistent with social interests. Other approaches are based on the need to establish a specific legal framework that would regulate the media accountability (MA) policy in advertising. Van Cuilenburg and McQuail (2003), Reinard and Oritz (2005) and Gibbons and Humphreys (2012) compare the diverse paradigms of media SR policies in the United States and Europe, revealing that the American model is more sensitive regarding MA.

Some works (Harrison and Woods, 2001; Potschka, 2012) focus on radio media to establish that in Europe, where self-regulation in advertising is traditionally important, the European Commission allows its different states to freely regulate these policies (Muela-Molina and Perelló-Oliver, 2014). Other studies support that some European countries like Germany, Finland and the Netherlands follow a correct model of accountability (De Haan and Bardoel, 2011; Nielsen and Linnebank, 2011) within a consensual political system which has generated a strong tradition of public service media.

On the other hand, a further line of investigation focuses its object of study on the need to establish a new ethical advertising model for media. In this regard, Lowe and Berg (2013) propose a model adapted to social requirements and public interest, which would allow permanent accountability of the media towards its different stakeholders regardless of the legal obligations imposed by law. In the same line, Wilkins and Christians (2009) and Servaes and Tamayo (2013) defend that the requirements of ethical conduct in media advertising should elicit a critical discussion rather than try to control or manipulate opinion, as well as ensure that objectiveness is maintained to protect audience rights to make personal value judgements.

In a similar line, Lauk and Denton (2011) propose that the need to broaden advertising accountability is due to increasing competition and the commercialisation of contents, while Napoli (2001), McQuail (2003), Bardoel and D’Haenens (2004) and Grummell (2009) conclude that a dynamic analysis of advertising would boost the educational advantages of the media and work towards mitigating its deficiencies.

Separating contents in commercial radio stations: Regulation and self-regulation

Legal framework

The General Advertising Act, Law 34/1988, of 11 November (Ley 34/1988, de 11 de noviembre, General de Publicidad), stipulates the principle of authenticity in Part III regarding advertising contracts, in Article 11 and in the following manner: ‘[The media will noticeably delineate any statements that fall within the scope of providing information from others given as advertising inserts. Advertisers must also clearly reveal the advertising nature of their advertisements]’.

In radio, the protection of listeners regarding broadcast contents is reflected in Law 7/2010, of 31 March, General Audiovisual Communications Act (Ley 7/2010, de 31 de marzo, General de la Comunicación Audiovisual) which is a transposition of Directive 2007/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007. In this Spanish law, Article 6 regarding the right of transparent audiovisual communication, in point 5 establishes that ‘[all people have the right for all commercial communications to be clearly differentiated from the rest of audiovisual contents]’.

Ethical framework

The Spanish advertising self-regulation system is managed by the Asociación para la Autorregulación de la Comunicación Comercial (Autocontrol) (2011) whose Code of Conduct establishes in point 13 the principle of authenticity, requiring that ‘[advertising will be identifiable however and whatever its form or media used]’ (p. 4), a very generic requirement and not at all descriptive of how this basic principle is to be fulfilled.

An analysis of the UK self-regulation system, considered a European reference and highly regarded on an international level, seems relevant at this point. Hence, the Office of Communications (OfCom, 2013) Broadcasting Code ensures consumer protection and describes the principle of transparency as follows:

Listeners should know when material is broadcast in return for payment or other valuable considerations. Signalling is the means by which transparency is achieved. Transparency of a commercial arrangement should be achieved through the appropriate signalling of a brand, trademark, product and/or service of a third party (or third parties) that has paid for broadcast exposure. (p. 64)

Similarly, spot advertisements and commercial breaks ‘must be clearly separated from programming’ (OfCom, 2013: 62).

In addition, to ensure compliance with the transparency principle, broadcasters must provide listeners with clear information on commercial arrangements, at appropriate times. Suitable signalling should consider four aspects: (1) wording, (2) positioning: to signal at the outset of each commercial material, (3) frequency: longer output requires signalling at appropriate intervals and (4) identity: title of the third party must be stated on air (for more information, see section 10: Commercial Communications in Radio Programming, OfCom, 2011). Finally, the Broadcast Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP) summarises the identification of advertising in the following way:

Advertisements must be obviously distinguishable from editorial content, especially if they use a situation, performance or style reminiscent of editorial content, to prevent the audience being confused between the two. The audience should quickly recognise the message as an advertisement. (Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), 2014: 12)

Conceptual framework

The analysis of the object of study has detected a close connection between certain concepts and covert advertising, which is understood as any communication in which the advertiser does not express the intentionality of his message (Crook, 2004; Tanaka, 1999). In this way, disguised advertising is any message that is not perceived as being sponsored, generating an impression on the listener that is deceptive because the message may be misinterpreted (Nebenzahl and Jaffe, 1998: 808). Hidden advertising, on the other hand, is a media practice where ‘content paid for by advertisers is not identified, it is, on the contrary, presented as independently, objectively, neutrally produced’ (Rozukalne, 2012: 15); advertisers therefore use their influence to include hidden advertising into editorial content, especially in radio (Rozukalne, 2012: 17). In this case, the contents and presentation of the commercial message represent a breach of professional ethics and a violation of several regulation acts (Rozukalne, 2012: 15).

This article describes a framework that ensures transparency and listener rights, and broadcasters should work within its scope and separate information content from commercial content, that is, identify the broadcast of commercial messages. Unidentified advertising is therefore understood as the commercial reference to a brand, trademark, product and/or service, whatever its format or length, broadcast during programming without previous warning to listeners that the communication is subject to a commercial arrangement. Examples of this would be sponsoring, product placement, brand placement, endorsements or commercial breaks that include spot advertisements and that must be identified as such through the use of a separation signal of contents, although in practice this separation does not take place. So, the key element for distinguishing an unidentified message from other covert advertising modalities is the person responsible for these practices. In this way, advertisers decide on the contents (Perelló-Oliver and Muela-Molina, 2013), format and time of broadcast of the message while, in unidentified advertising, only radio owners can demand the use of content separation signals when a paid message is broadcast.

Theoretical background and research questions

There is abundant literature focusing on the study of advertising messages that imitate the programmes or editorial content of their broadcast media, blurring in this way the separation lines between information and commercial communication. More specifically, what is known as advertorial – a combination of advertising and editorial – has been the object of study of multiple investigations using diverse approaches and methodologies (Balasubramanian, 1994; Cameron and Curtin, 1995; Crook, 2004; Eckman and Lindlof, 2003; Ellerbach, 2004). Although this theme is related in certain ways to the object of study of this article, it differs significantly in many aspects.

More in line with the present research, Harro-Loit and Saks (2006) interviewed Estonian newspaper and television journalists to investigate media mechanisms used to diminish the clarity of delimitation between advertising and editorial contents. Furthermore, Grotta et al. interviewed newspaper and television audiences to evaluate their attitudes towards content and advertising to conclude that, in the case of newspapers, the audience did not distinguish between the two: ‘Rather, it appears to regard the content of newspapers as a source of information, regardless of whether the journalist categorises the information as “news” or “advertising”’ (Grotta et al., 1976: 454). Television audiences, however, did distinguish between the different contents, a fact that was later confirmed by Steininger and Woelke (2008) who also indicated the importance of this when incorporating advertising messages into broadcast programming.

The diminishing power of traditional media advertising is for Secunda (1995) the main reason why advertisers use hidden media methods or camouflage promotion techniques. Thus, if this work is focused on marketing communication, Nebenzahl and Jaffe (1998) describe the ethical perspective of disguised and obtrusive advertising, in particular the violation of consumer autonomy and his right to know.

Techniques to integrate advertising into programming content were analysed by Sandler and Secunda (1993) who conducted a survey among top advertising executives in both client organisations and advertising agencies, enquiring about the various dimensions of the blurring issue. Dix and Phau (2008) replicated the work of Sandler and Secuda in Australia, but in this case, in addition to the group of advertisers and agencies, the survey included the perspective of media consumers who have tended to take a more conservative view of blurring practices, expressing deeper concerns for the consequences of blurring when compared to both agencies and advertisers (p. 5).

Closely related to this article’s line of work is the research of Baerns (2003) who analyses the principle of separating advertising content and programme content in advertising, journalism and public relations in Germany, from both a legal and professional (codes of conduct) viewpoint. Previous literature, however, clearly shows the preference of researchers for the analysis of television and printed media (press and magazines) and a lack of works focusing on radio media. There is also an absence of studies on the practice analysis of radio station owners, to empirically demonstrate how and how often the principle of content separation is violated under the current legislation and codes of conduct of the sector.

Thus, the main interest to develop this work is based on the defence of listener rights to be forewarned when they are going to be exposed to a commercial space or reference, so that they can voluntarily activate their attention filters (Nebenzahl and Jaffe, 1998: 808). In GRS, all programming content is based on current affairs information and the audience has a highly defined profile, dependent on the time of connection, and shows a clear willingness to be informed and an attitude of active listening. In this way, certain time slots have a higher advertising content due to an increase in the listeners that follow the programmes compared to other times in the day, so that unethical practices affect a higher number of listeners during these time slots. Using this fact as a starting point, the first question of the investigation is set in the following manner:

RQ1. Is the separation between commercial and information contents carried out in a similar way throughout the entire radio programming in its different time slots?

The most common form of advertising in radio programming is commercial breaks that include a number of spot advertisements and saturate programmes with high audience ratings. There is, however, another type of advertising that is embedded into the programme, is live, and even offers the participation of the radio host and other collaborators. This distinction regarding the broadcast of the different advertising messages sets the second question of the investigation:

RQ2. Is the separation between commercial and information contents carried out in a similar way regardless of the format of the advertising message to be broadcast?

Method

Sample

The concept of this work and its objectives require a quantitative research based on an analysis of contents, as the most adequate tool to explore the sample object of this study. In this sense, Berelson (1952) sustains that ‘content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication’ (p. 18).

The GRS sample was selected following data taken from the Estudio General de Medios (EGM) (Asociación para la Investigación de Medios de Comunicación (AIMC), 2013) for the last 4 months of the year, as the month chosen for obtaining the sample was October 2013 due to its high advertising content. Once the stations were identified, one of them was rejected due to its public nature and lack of advertising, while others were rejected for being regional and therefore not broadcast in Spanish. The selected national commercial GRS with highest audience ratings from Monday to Friday were Cadena Ser (4,726,000 daily listeners, share: 35%), Onda Cero (2,598,000 daily listeners, share: 20.7%) and Cadena Cope (1,861,000 daily listeners, share: 11.9%). It can therefore be argued that the entire radio programming of GRS on a national level has been analysed, reaching a target audience of 9,185,000 listeners (76%) from a total of 12,081,000 listeners. Subsequently, 24 hours of broadcast in consecutive days (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) of the same week were registered from the three selected radio stations in an external storage device and, with the use of audio computer software (Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9.0), the entire radio programming was analysed for the registration and coding of variables.

The representativeness and statistical significance of the sample (Perelló-Oliver, 2009) of this study is perfectly guaranteed as it covers the totality of commercial spaces or references broadcast in a commercial – therefore, private – GRS sample of national coverage. In order to preserve the reliability of content analysis, to begin with, a single coder performed the active listening of the 72 hours of programmes to detect and indicate all instances throughout the programming that included a commercial reference or space. In a second phase, two different coders analysed the sample amounting to a total of 372 intersection spaces between information content and advertising spaces or commercial references. The intersection spaces were coded following the variables described below which have in turn been associated to develop a statistical analysis of residuals, allowing the identification of the most relevant atypical associations (Sánchez Carrión, 1999: 502) after the required tests of statistical significance.

Variables

The framework of radio and advertising policies and research questions have been the basis on which the variables have been operationalised with their corresponding attributes and with a frequency and percentage that can be found in Table 1:

1. Time slot. Coinciding with the EGM classification, we have characterised this variable with the following attributes:

(a) Early morning (00:00–05:59);

(b) Morning (06:00–11:59);

(d) Evening (16:00–19:59);

(e) Night (20:00–23:59).

2. Incoming Commercial Content (ICC). Identification of the space modality or commercial reference. The coded attributes have been taken from a report on advertising contents in radio by the AEA (Asociación Española de Anunciantes, 2014):

(a) Commercial break. Advertising space separated from the programme, consisting of pre-recorded advertising messages, normally radio spots.

(b) Commercial programme. Advertising space over 60 seconds long, previously recorded or not, similar in format to information contents such as interviews or radio reports.

(c) Mention. Advertising space broadcast live by the presenter or programme collaborator, between 1- and 60-second long, where a reference is made to a brand or which describes a product or offer; can be an endorsement and/or brand or product placement.

(d) Sponsorship. Advertising space or section within a programme, generally a news item, where an advertiser tries to create a direct association in return for payment.

The criteria used by the first coder to decide whether a message is to be part of the sample are based on whether it is a paid or unpaid mention. In this way, the main discriminating factor is the context in which the brand is mentioned: if it is part of the editorial content of a programme, included in a news item or a discursive element of an analysis on current affairs, then it has not been considered a paid mention.

3. Audio Signal Input Separation (ASIS). Identification of the type of sound signal that precedes an advertising space or commercial reference based on two of the four rules described by OfCom (2013): wording and positioning:

(a) Absence;

(b) Sound effect. Non-musical sound, generally very brief, such as time signals;

(d) Word. Pre-recorded message or live verbal warning from the presenter or collaborator;

(e) Mixing. Sound effect combination followed by a musical extract or verbal message, or verbal message with background music;

(f) Audio logo. Brand music and/or slogan, claim and name of programme and/or radio station.

4. Audio Signal Output Separation (ASOS). Identification of the type of sound signal that follows an advertising space or commercial reference, with the same attributes as variable 3:

(a) Absence;

(b) Sound effect;

(d) Word;

(e) Mixing;

(f) Audio logo.

Table 1.

Distribution of ASIS, ASOS and time slot.

Variables	Attributes	Frequency	Percentage
Time slot	Early morning	34	9.1
	Morning	146	39.2
	Midday	82	22.0
	Evening	49	13.2
	Night	61	16.4
	Total	372	100.0
Audio Signal Input Separation (ASIS)	Absence	110	29.6
	Sound effect	17	4.6
	Music	41	11.0
	Word	78	21.0
	Mixing	40	10.8
	Audio logo	86	23.1
	Total	372	100.0
Audio Signal Output Separation (ASOS)	Absence	94	25.3
	Sound effect	28	7.5
	Music	67	18.0
	Word	57	15.3
	Mixing	52	14.0
	Audio logo	74	19.9
	Total	372	100.0

Results

An analysis of the selected sample provides a table of basic results (Table 1). It is worth noting that 29.6% of the analysed commercial spaces lack the required ASIS and that in 25.3% of the cases an ASOS cannot be detected. That is, there is a significant amount of advertising contents lacking the signals for content separation required by law and the codes of conduct of the sector to warn listeners that the message is, in fact, advertising and not part of the information discourse.

From the perspective of time slot, therefore answering RQ1, and in relation to the different types of ASIS (Table 2), the association relationships that stand out are the following: early morning programmes are linked to mixing in its different modalities (4.3) and audio logos are a characteristic element of evening programmes (4.6) while showing a highly relevant rejection relationship with the night time slot (−3.0). In any case, it is worth noting that 38.2% of all ASIS absences are found in the morning time slot, followed by the night time slot which accumulates 23.6% of the total absences.

Table 2.

Audio Signal Input Separation (ASIS) by time slot (residuals).

		Time slot										Total
		Early morning		Morning		Midday		Evening		Night
ASIS	Absence	10.9	(0.8)	38.2	(−0.3)	21.8	(0.0)	5.5	(−2.9)	23.6	(2.4)	100.0
	Absence	35.3	(0.8)	28.8	(−0.3)	29.3	(0.0)	12.2	(−2.9)	42.6	(2.4)	29.6
	Sound effect	0.0	(−1.3)	58.8	(1.7)	35.3	(1.3)	5.9	(−0.9)	0.0	(−1.9)	100.0
	Sound effect	0.0	(−1.3)	6.8	(1.7)	7.3	(1.3)	2.0	(−0.9)	0.0	(−1.9)	4.6
	Music	2.4	(−1.6)	46.3	(1.0)	36.6	(2.4)	4.9	(−1.7)	9.8	(−1.2)	100.0
	Music	2.9	(−1.6)	13.0	(1.0)	18.3	(2.4)	4.1	(−1.7)	6.6	(−1.2)	11.0
	Word	5.1	(−1.4)	37.2	(−0.4)	19.2	(−0.7)	19.2	(1.8)	19.2	(0.8)	100.0
	Word	11.8	(−1.4)	19.9	(−0.4)	18.3	(−0.7)	30.6	(1.8)	24.6	(0.8)	21.0
	Mixing	27.5	(4.3)	32.5	(−0.9)	10.0	(−1.9)	2.5	(−2.1)	27.5	(2.0)	100.0
	Mixing	32.4	(4.3)	8.9	(−0.9)	4.9	(−1.9)	2.0	(−2.1)	18.0	(2.0)	10.8
	Audio logo	7.0	(−0.8)	38.4	(−0.2)	20.9	(−0.3)	27.9	(4.6)	5.8	(−3.0)	100.0
	Audio logo	17.6	(−0.8)	22.6	(−0.2)	22.0	(−0.3)	49.0	(4.6)	8.2	(−3.0)	23.1
Total		9.1		39.2		22.0		13.2		16.4		100.0
Total		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0

χ² = 75.822 (20, N = 372), p < .001.

In the case of ASOS (Table 3), the presence of audio logos in morning programmes (3.2) is worth noting as well as the intense use of wording in the midday time slot (4.3). As with ASIS, the absence of ASOS is mainly found in the morning time slot (34.0%) and in the night time slot (23.4%).

Table 3.

Audio Signal Output Separation (ASOS) by time slot (residuals).

		Time slot										Total
		Early morning		Morning		Midday		Evening		Night
ASOS	Absence	19.1	(3.9)	34.0	(−1.2)	19.1	(−0.8)	4.3	(−3.0)	23.4	(2.1)	100.0
	Absence	52.9	(3.9)	21.9	(−1.2)	22.0	(−0.8)	8.2	(−3.0)	36.1	(2.1)	25.3
	Sound effect	0.0	(−1.7)	50.0	(1.2)	17.9	(−0.6)	10.7	(−0.4)	21.4	(0.7)	100.0
	Sound effect	0.0	(−1.7)	9.6	(1.2)	6.1	(−0.6)	6.1	(−0.4)	9.8	(0.7)	7.5
	Music	0.0	(−2.9)	41.8	(0.5)	23.9	(0.4)	20.9	(2.1)	13.4	(−0.7)	100.0
	Music	0.0	(−2.9)	19.2	(0.5)	19.5	(0.4)	28.6	(2.1)	14.8	(−0.7)	18.0
	Word	0.0	(−2.6)	24.6	(−2.5)	43.9	(4.3)	17.5	(1.1)	14.0	(−0.5)	100.0
	Word	0.0	(−2.6)	9.6	(−2.5)	30.5	(4.3)	20.4	(1.1)	13.1	(−0.5)	15.3
	Mixing	9.6	(0.1)	32.7	(−1.0)	21.2	(−0.2)	17.3	(1.0)	19.2	(0.6)	100.0
	Mixing	14.7	(0.1)	11.6	(−1.0)	13.4	(−0.2)	18.4	(1.0)	16.4	(0.6)	14.0
	Audio logo	14.9	(1.9)	55.4	(3.2)	9.5	(−2.9)	12.2	(−0.3)	8.1	(−2.2)	100.0
	Audio logo	32.4	(1.9)	28.1	(3.2)	8.5	(−2.9)	18.4	(−0.3)	9.8	(−2.2)	19.9
Total		9.1		39.2		22.0		13.2		16.4		100.0
Total		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0

χ² = 72.947 (20, N = 372), p < .001.

The relationship between ASIS and the different types of advertising spaces (Table 4) is established to answer RQ2. The analysis shows a strong link between audio logos and commercial breaks (4.7), while sound effects are strongly associated with sponsorship (3.1). Mentions, however, present a significant absence of ASIS (4.3). From the point of view of the absence of ASIS, the majority can be found in commercial breaks (53.6%) while 28.2% are associated with mentions. That is, a large amount of these two types of commercial spaces lack the required sound indicators that should precede their broadcast.

Table 4.

Audio Signal Input Separation (ASIS) by Incoming Commercial Content (residuals).

		Incoming Commercial Content								Total
		Commercial breaks		Commercial programme		Mention		Sponsorship
ASIS	Absence	53.6	(−4.6)	10.0	(2.6)	28.2	(4.3)	8.2	(−0.2)	100.0
	Absence	22.5	(−4.6)	55.0	(2.6)	53.4	(4.3)	28.1	(−0.2)	29.6
	Sound effect	70.6	(0.0)	0.0	(−1.0)	0.0	(−1.8)	29.4	(3.1)	100.0
	Sound effect	4.6	(0.0)	0.0	(−1.0)	0.0	(−1.8)	15.6	(3.1)	4.6
	Music	65.9	(−0.7)	7.3	(0.6)	9.8	(−1.1)	17.1	(2.1)	100.0
	Music	10.3	(−0.7)	15.0	(0.6)	6.9	(−1.1)	21.9	(2.1)	11.0
	Word	66.7	(−0.8)	5.1	(−0.1)	17.9	(0.6)	10.3	(0.6)	100.0
	Word	19.8	(−0.8)	20.0	(−0.1)	24.1	(0.6)	25.0	(0.6)	21.0
	Mixing	85.0	(2.1)	2.5	(−0.9)	7.5	(−1.5)	5.0	(−0.9)	100.0
	Mixing	13.0	(2.1)	5.0	(−0.9)	5.2	(−1.5)	6.3	(−0.9)	10.8
	Audio logo	90.7	(4.7)	1.2	(−2.0)	7.0	(−2.5)	1.2	(−2.8)	100.0
	Audio logo	29.8	(4.7)	5.0	(−2.0)	10.3	(−2.5)	3.1	(−2.8)	23.1
Total		70.4		5.4		15.6		8.6		100.0
Total		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0

χ² = 59.111 (15, N = 372), p < .001.

These significant association relationships are also relevant in the case of ASOS (Table 5) where, again, the link between audio logos and commercial breaks (4.0) is strong and where the absence of indicators is especially relevant in mentions (5.0). However, and from the perspective of ASOS, sponsorship is characterised by a noteworthy absence of separations (3.4). With regard to the absence of ASOS, as in the case of ASIS, the majority can be found in commercial breaks (44.7%) while 31.9% of broadcast mentions lack this type of required sound indicator.

Table 5.

Audio Signal Output Separation (ASOS) by Incoming Commercial Content (residuals).

		Incoming Commercial Content								Total
		Commercial breaks		Commercial programme		Mention		Sponsorship
ASOS	Absence	44.7	(−6.3)	6.4	(0.5)	31.9	(5.0)	17.0	(3.4)	100.0
	Absence	16.0	(−6.3)	30.0	(0.5)	51.7	(5.0)	50.0	(3.4)	25.3
	Sound effect	85.7	(1.8)	3.6	(−0.4)	3.6	(−1.8)	7.1	(−0.3)	100.0
	Sound effect	9.2	(1.8)	5.0	(−0.4)	1.7	(−1.8)	6.3	(−0.3)	7.5
	Music	76.1	(1.1)	6.0	(0.2)	13.4	(−0.5)	4.5	(−1.3)	100.0
	Music	19.5	(1.1)	20.0	(0.2)	15.5	(−0.5)	9.4	(−1.3)	18.0
	Word	63.2	(−1.3)	10.5	(1.9)	14.0	(−0.4)	12.3	(1.1)	100.0
	Word	13.7	(−1.3)	30.0	(1.9)	13.8	(−0.4)	21.9	(1.1)	15.3
	Mixing	82.7	(2.1)	3.8	(−0.5)	11.5	(−0.9)	1.9	(−1.9)	100.0
	Mixing	16.4	(2.1)	10.0	(−0.5)	10.3	(−0.9)	3.1	(−1.9)	14.0
	Audio logo	89.2	(4.0)	1.4	(−1.7)	5.4	(−2.7)	4.1	(−1.6)	100.0
	Audio logo	25.2	(4.0)	5.0	(−1.7)	6.9	(−2.7)	9.4	(−1.6)	19.9
Total		70.4	70.4		5.4		15.6		8.6	100.0
Total		100.0	100.0		100.0		100.0		100.0	100.0

χ² = 59.913 (15, N = 372), p < .001.

Discussion

This study shows that the line separating information content from advertising content is losing its essence and purpose, and is becoming increasingly blurred (Harro-Loit and Saks, 2006: 320–321) due to the unethical practice of certain radio owners and journalists working for them. As indicated by Plaisance (2009: 257), the debate so far has focused on the efforts to neutralise the tension between journalistic autonomy and the need for responsible journalism. This investigation contributes to the knowledge on unidentified advertising in relation to previous works (Baerns, 2003; Bardoel and D’Haenens, 2008; Van Cuilenburg and McQuail, 2003), providing an empirical analysis of the principle of authenticity and transparency.

Our data support that consumers are unknowingly exposed to hidden advertisements. This is unethical because listeners, in many cases, are not able to identify the commercial nature of a message. In other cases, by the time listeners identify an advertisement, it is too late to avoid listening to it, if that is their choice. The listener’s right to decide on whether to listen or not to an advertisement is, therefore, removed or reduced due to this absence of warning signals or separation lines between information and advertising contents.

The presence of unidentified advertising is a consequence of the unethical behaviour of radio owners who do not comply with the principle of transparency described in the law and codes. Signalling before the broadcast of a message or reference to a brand or product paid by a third party allows the audience to quickly recognise the message as an advertisement, and prevents the audience from being confused between editorial content and intended communication.

From the viewpoint of time slots, the analysis supports that, in general, ASIS have a significant presence in the evening time slot but tend not to be used during the night time slot. In the case of ASOS, however, this relationship is modified and what becomes characteristic is their presence in the morning time slot, together with audio logos, and in the evening time slot with wording. On the other hand, the early morning time slot is defined by a highly important absence of ASOS. It can therefore be concluded that both ASIS and ASOS are present throughout radio programming in a more or less uniform way, except for the night time slot when the separation of contents becomes more lax and for the morning time slot which concentrates the highest number of listeners.

With regard to sound indicators and the different types of advertising spaces, the results show that in commercial breaks audio logos are normally used for both ASIS and ASOS. Commercial breaks include a high number of radio spots and do not normally attract much attention from listeners; consequently, indicating their beginning and end serves the purpose of regaining listener attention through the use of an element distinctive of the radio station. Commercial programmes, although not normally integrated into the programme, follow it closely with a minimum or no separation signal so that listeners think they are still listening to information content and to, therefore, avoid listener disconnection. On the other hand, mentions are always embedded into the programme which entails higher listener vulnerability, as there is no warning that the journalist providing current affairs information is actually going to recommend a product or service. Finally, sponsorship, generally of a news item (weather, traffic, health, sports, etc.), is identified by a generic sound effect such as an ASIS, although there is normally no warning of its end and the ASOS is substituted by a radio spot that normally follows the news item; in this case, listeners, who are paying close attention to the news item in question, find themselves listening to an advertisement without previous warning.

This work has shown that on certain occasions, the lines of separation between contents in radio programming are blurred and even avoided with such a lack of respect towards listeners that the rhythm of the radio discourse is broken. Examples of unidentified advertising would be (1) including a radio spot within a sports programme without any signal of separation; (2) hidden advertising such as the unidentified mention of a brand in the space of a news programme; more specifically, a radio host mentioning a brand and other corporate items, a slogan for instance, within the editorial content and with the programme’s music playing in the background, just before a political analysis; and (3) disguised sponsoring, such as transforming into a health news item the story of a patient from a private clinic that is, additionally, the sponsor of the news. In this last case, there is a clear intent to deceive listeners into believing that the story is an objective and impartial report.

These unethical practices break editorial continuity with commercial references and advertising and distort the nature of information spaces. This can affect listener trust in the radio as a source of information as well as the credibility of radio presenters. In this sense, the main contribution of this study has been to ascertain the irresponsible behaviour of radio owners, who violate the rights of listeners, as well as their unethical and illegal practices which breach existent codes of conduct and regulations. The growing accumulation of inadequate practices provides, nevertheless, an opportunity to carry out in-depth studies on the SR of broadcasters, which would eventually lead to a review of the radio accountability model to ensure and guarantee consumer welfare and safety.

Future research works

The contributions of this work should encourage future researchers to carry out in-depth studies on two of the most controversial advertising formats in relation to journalist relationship, structure, morphology and inclusion in the programme: mentions and commercial programmes. Journalist mentions are an object of study which needs to be approached bearing in mind the sensitive issue of opinion leaders making reference to a commercial brand or describing a product. This type of advertising exerts a stronger influence on the audience as it increases the credibility of the source. Commercial programmes also require special attention as the narrative style imitates information content and, therefore, in the majority of cases, listeners are not able to distinguish the nature of the communication, a hypothesis which would also deserve an experimental study.

Many of the background research studies analysed, dismissed due to a lack of common ground with the object study of this article, together with the analysis of radio programming, allow us to suggest a future study on advertorials (Balasubramanian, 1994; Crook, 2004; Ellerbach, 2004) which, although widely analysed for press, magazines and television, seem not to have been researched for radio. On the other hand, as previously researched for other types of media (Cameron and Curtin, 1995; Eckman and Lindlof, 2003), it would also be of great interest to carry out future research on unidentified advertising from the viewpoint of radio owners, through surveys and interviews, to establish their conduct regarding the integration of advertising into information contents, their strategies for planning commercial advertising and whether they feel under pressure from advertisers or not.

Another worrying aspect, as pointed out by Harro-Loit and Saks, is that an adequate control of the legal aspects, code of ethics and sound journalistic practices has been ignored or not very well developed (Harro-Loit and Saks, 2006: 320). In this way, responsible advertising conducts focus more on satisfying the minimum regulations imposed by self-regulation bodies than on taking into account the social impact of their unethical practices (Polonsky and Hyman, 2007: 10). Thus, it would also be advisable to initiate a further line of research into control mechanisms regarding content separation in the different communication media since, as sustained by Lacher and Rotfeld (1994), ‘media ethics and government regulation of broadcast media practices consider it important that readers, viewers, or listeners can discern what is news and what is advertising’ (p. 281).

Limitations and implications

One of the limitations of this study has been to focus on GRS, so that it would be relevant to establish if these practices similarly take place in other types of radio stations such as music stations, as well as in other types of media such as television, press or magazines. Furthermore, it would be interesting to establish if the results obtained describe a practice specific to Spanish GRS or whether it is generalised, by carrying out a comparative analysis of the same object of study in other countries.

The implications derived from this study should raise awareness in (1) radio owners regarding the importance of applying the principle of content separation; (2) journalists regarding the need to warn listeners of mentions and commercial programmes that are similar to information contents; (3) self-regulatory bodies regarding the need to develop specific codes that define with precision the ways in which to be transparent and fair to radio audiences and to establish action protocols that ensure an adequate identification of advertising contents; and (4) governmental agencies to increase the control of these legal offences and demand compliance of the codes of conduct and existent regulations.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of de Government of Spain, State Program R&D Oriented Society Challenges (CSO2014-55804-R).

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