Advertising in podcasts in Brazil: between brand building and sales promotion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26422/aucom.2026.1503.reiKeywords:
podcast, radio, advertising, propaganda, ad formatsAbstract
Podcasts are an emerging media that combines radio characteristics with the reach, flexibility, and personalization provided by the Internet. In recent years, several studies have analyzed the formats and impacts of advertising in podcasts, focusing on listeners' attitudes, audience interaction, and advertiser loyalty. This study analyzes the extent to which advertisements delivered in podcasts use the formats traditionally used in radio programming. The research identifies advertisers, purpose, and structure of the predominant advertising in a sample of 2,514 minutes of recordings from the 50 most popular podcasts in Brazil. With an exploratory and qualitative-quantitative approach, the investigation is based on thematic analysis to evaluate the empirical data. The results of the study indicate that podcasts take advantage of the main radio advertising formats, such as spots, testimonials, and sponsorships, with differences in narrative technique, objective, and message length. The distinctive feature is the focus on sales promotion. The findings contribute to the advancement of theory on podcast advertising and offer evidence for advertisers, agencies and producers to optimize advertising campaigns based on the singularities of the medium.
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