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Paying Positive to Go Negative: Advertisers' Competition and Media Reports

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  • A. Blasco
  • P. Pin
  • F. Sobbrio

Abstract

This paper analyzes a two-sided market for news where advertisers may pay a media outlet to conceal negative information about the quality of their own product (paying positive to avoid negative) and/or to disclose negative information about the quality of their competitors' products (paying positive to go negative). We show that whether advertisers have negative consequences on the accuracy of news reports or not ultimately depends on the extent of correlation among advertisers' products. Specifically, the lower the correlation among the qualities of the advertisers' products, the (weakly) higher the accuracy of the media outlet' reports. Moreover, when advertisers' products are correlated, a higher degree of competition in the market of the advertisers' products may decrease the accuracy of the media outlet's reports.

Suggested Citation

  • A. Blasco & P. Pin & F. Sobbrio, 2011. "Paying Positive to Go Negative: Advertisers' Competition and Media Reports," Working Papers wp772, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    • Handle: RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp772
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    Cited by:

    1. Ozerturk, Saltuk, 2022. "Media access, bias and public opinion," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Dewenter, Ralf & Heimeshoff, Ulrich, 2015. "More ads more revs: A note on media bias in review likelihood," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 156-161.
    3. Amitrajeet A. Batabyal & Hamid Beladi, 2017. "A game model of competition between a new good producer and a remanufacturer using negative advertising," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 329-336, October.
    4. Blasco, Andrea & Pin, Paolo & Sobbrio, Francesco, 2016. "Paying positive to go negative: Advertisers׳ competition and media reports," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 243-261.
    5. Federico Etro, 2012. "Leadership in Multi-sided Markets and Dominance in Online Advertising," Chapters, in: Joseph E. Harrington Jr & Yannis Katsoulacos (ed.), Recent Advances in the Analysis of Competition Policy and Regulation, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Francesco Sobbrio, 2012. "A Citizen-Editors Model of News Media," RSCAS Working Papers 2012/61, European University Institute.
    7. Germano, Fabrizio & Meier, Martin, 2013. "Concentration and self-censorship in commercial media," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 117-130.
    8. Andrea Mangani, 2021. "Media bias against women in music: an empirical analysis of Italian music magazines," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 657-676, July.
    9. Tom Hamami, 2019. "Network Effects, Bargaining Power, and Product Review Bias: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 372-407, June.
    10. Biondo, A.E. & Pluchino, A. & Rapisarda, A., 2018. "Modeling surveys effects in political competitions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 503(C), pages 714-726.
    11. Blasco, Andrea & Sobbrio, Francesco, 2012. "Competition and commercial media bias," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 434-447.
    12. Rafael Di Tella & Ignacio Franceschelli, 2011. "Government Advertising and Media Coverage of Corruption Scandals," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 119-151, October.
    13. Francesco Sobbrio, 2014. "The political economy of news media: theory, evidence and open issues," Chapters, in: Francesco Forte & Ram Mudambi & Pietro Maria Navarra (ed.), A Handbook of Alternative Theories of Public Economics, chapter 13, pages 278-320, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Ruenzi, Stefan & Focke, Florens & Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra, 2014. "A Friendly Turn: Advertising Bias in the News Media," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100497, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Beattie, Graham, 2020. "Advertising and media capture: The case of climate change," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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