Natalie Danner

Mrs. Martin
English 1102
21 March 2019
Comparing Sources

While doing research, the most important thing I have learned is the credibility of

sources. I have looked through numerous amounts of scholarly sources and non-scholarly

sources; I found difference in credibility is directly related to the legitimacy of the information

you are gathering. While Comparing two sources on opposite sides of the spectrum, I have noted

many of the factors that play a key role in the credibility of the source. The scholarly source I

have chosen in comparison of the non-scholarly source is, “Why Am I Seeing This Ad? The

Effect of Ad Transparency on Ad Effectiveness” from the Journal of Consumer Research. This

article exposes the ways companies target their audience with ads as well as explaining the

change in effectiveness marketing has on their consumers once they are aware of the company’s

marketing strategies. This article is profoundly more credible than the article “Walgreens Tests

Digital Cooler Doors with Cameras to Target You with Ads” from the Wall Street Journal which

is the non-scholarly source I have chosen. This article is reporting a new marketing tactic

Walgreens is implementing into their stores which uses cameras to decide which beverage from

their cooler section to advertise to their customer.

A key element in knowing if a piece of writing is credible or not is by doing research on

the author and using your findings in determining if they are an expert. The scholarly article has

three authors; Tami Kim, Kate Barasz, and Leslie John. Both Tami Kim and Kate Barasz hold

Doctorates in Business Administration from Harvard University and Leslie John received a

Ph.D. in behavioral decision research from Carnegie Mellon University. The one author of the
non-scholarly source is Lara O’Reilly who got a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Kingston

University. Although all these women received college degrees, a doctorate shows for more

expertise than a bachelor’s degree.

Due to my research being based around privacy and marketing, the field in which the

authors receive a degree is equally important. All three of the women from the scholarly source

have a business-related degree, while the author from the Wall Street Journal Article got a degree

in journalism. This is an important factor because when researching a business-related topic, I

would receive more accurate information from an author who has studied the same field before.

To further examine their expertise, I looked into their careers. Tami Kim, one of the

authors from my scholarly source, is an assistant professor of marketing at Darden Business

school. It is also stated in Tami Kim’s biography on Darden Business Schools faculty page,

“Tami's research focuses on the topics of firm transparency, consumer empowerment, and

implicit contracts. She is especially interested in studying the evolution of consumer-firm-as well

as interpersonal-relationships in the digital age.” This is important to mention because my topic

is directly related to marketing. Therefore, I should be using sources written by authors who have

done extensive research in that field which proves their competence. The other two authors from

my scholarly source both assistant professors at Harvard University, a prestigious school and to

be able to teach other students about business proves their expertise. In comparison, according to

Lara O’Reilly’s biography on the Wall Street Journal’s website, “Lara O'Reilly reports on

advertising and media for the Journal.” This shows she reports stories that can have a similar

subject to the topic of my research paper, but she also received her degree in journalism, not

business. This shows she does not have the proficient knowledge of the business world that the

authors from the scholarly source do.

 Although the scholarly authors have much more extensive education. The authors from

the scholarly source and the author from the non-scholarly source all have the experience of

publishing more than one article. Most of the articles written by the authors of the scholarly

source are published in academic and business journals while Lara’s articles are published

online. Nevertheless, all four women have publishing experience.

Another factor that can determine rather a source is credible or not is the publisher’s

editorial process. My scholarly article was published by the Journal of Consumer Research

(JCR). Their editorial policy is rigorous and has a guideline in place to ensure every article meets

the requirements as well as being reviewed by one of the appointed Chief-in-Editors. Although

there is no limit on how many articles can be published in a certain period, the acceptance rate in

monitored by the publication board. Likewise, the WSJ where my non-scholarly article was

published also has guidelines set up but compared to JCR their policy is far less rigorous. Due to

WSJ being more of a news outlet, they are putting hundreds of articles out per week and these

articles are not reviewed by CIE’s. When companies such as the WSJ are publishing large

numbers of articles daily, there is big room for mistakes and false information to be overlooked

because the time it takes to review is not there. These articles can also be anonymous which does

not allow the reader to ensure what they are reading is done by a credible author. When a source

is taking the time and effort to ensure what is being published is written by experts and the

information within the article is accurate, this shows credibility.

Lastly, one of the most important elements in a source is the content and depth. In a

scholarly source, the authors will thoroughly discuss the information they are discussing, most

questions are not left unanswered. They ensure to discuss all key points and do not skip over any

information. Therefore, articles within academic journals are often long in length because to
include all the information the reader needs, the article will be long. On the other hand, a non-

scholarly source like the one I am analyzing today are most likely a few paraphs long. Due to the

rapidness of publishing the authors tend to discuss the main points, but do not go into depths

about the topic. This can be helpful for answering the main questions, but when you want to

know more information it is usually not available.

Besides just the length of an article, the content implemented is essential to rather that

source will be credible or not. In the scholarly article is states, “We study these questions by

testing the impact of actively and conspicuously revealing information about ad practices to

consumers (e.g., by presenting an ad and its ad practice alongside each other” This goes to show

the scholarly source goes as far as to do case studies and testing to back up their claims whereas

the non-scholarly source just feeds back information given to them. An example from the Wall

Street Journal Article is the excerpt, “Cameras and sensors inside the coolers connected to face-

detection technology also can determine which items shoppers picked up or looked at, giving

advertisers insight into whether their on-screen promotions worked” Here, the author, Lara

O'Reilly, discusses how the technology will work, but fails to explain what the store will do with

this information once it is received which is the main concern of many skeptical customers.

The last important detail is the use of references mentioned within the article. The

scholarly article has eighty-four references, this shows me they did extensive research to provide

the most accurate information. Unlike, the non-scholarly article which has no mention of any

references which leads me to question where they received their information.

Although it is possible to educate yourself through both scholarly and non-scholarly

sources, to ensure you are getting the most accurate and detailed information you should be

reading scholarly sources. The important things to investigate when debating the credibility of a
source are the author and their expertise, the publisher in which the article has been published

through, and how detailed and in depth the content presented to you is. After doing this research

the more credible source should be transparent to you.

 Work Citied

O’Reilly, Lara. “Walgreens Tests Digital Cooler Doors with Cameras to Target You with

Ads.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 11 Jan. 2019

Kim, Tami, et al. “Why Am I Seeing This Ad? The Effect of Ad Transparency on Ad

Effectiveness.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 45, no. 5, Feb. 2019, pp. 906-932.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jcr/ucy039.

“Tami Kim.” Faculty and Research, Darden School of Business,

www.darden.virginia.edu/faculty-research/directory/tami-kim/.

Barasz, Kate. “Faculty & Research.” Kate Barasz - Faculty - Harvard Business School,

www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=566390.

John, Leslie K. “Faculty & Research.” Leslie K. John - Faculty - Harvard Business School,

www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=589473.

“Journal of Consumer Research.” Journal of Consumer Research, www.ejcr.org/.

Journal, Wall Street. “About The Wall Street Journal Newsroom.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow

Jones & Company, 1 Nov. 2018, www.wsj.com/articles/about-the-newsroom-

1539110913?mod=wsjfooter.

Journal, Wall Street. “Lara O'Reilly - News, Articles, Biography, Photos.” The Wall Street

Journal, Dow Jones & Company, www.wsj.com/news/author/lara-o'reilly.