Abstract:

This study investigate the relationship among Mawthooq awareness, perceived influencer content ethics, perceived compliance with advertising disclosure requirements, and trust in sponsored influencer content among Saudi social media users. A cross-sectional convenience-sample survey yielded 271 eligible and complete responses. Measures comprised 22 five-point Likert-type items assessing Mawthooq awareness, perceived content ethics, perceived disclosure compliance, and trust. Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent (Cronbach’s α = .721–.944). Mawthooq awareness was not significantly associated with perceived disclosure compliance, b = 0.118, β = .106, p = .081. In contrast, a joint regression model showed that perceived content ethics (b = 0.465, β = .484, p < .001) and perceived disclosure compliance (b =
0.428, β = .425, p < .001) were each positively associated with trust in sponsored content; together, they explained 69.7% of variance in trust. The findings suggest that audience trust is more closely aligned with perceived ethical content and transparent disclosure practices than with subjective awareness of the Mawthooq framework alone. The findings reflect perception of observable discourse practices rather than independently verified legal compliance. Interpretation should also account for the study’s cross-sectional design and non-probability sampling.