• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 29, 2015

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of big national advertisers plan to boost spending on “native advertising” formats over the next 12 months, according to findings of a member survey released this morning by the Association of National Advertisers.

The report, “Advertising Is Going Native,” characterized the shift to native as “substantial” and indicates the primary driver is that marketers are seeking to “position their message in the context of the user’s experience.”

The findings, based on results of 127 marketing executives, were fielded during the fourth quarter of 2014, and cover a variety of issues related to native formats, including budgeting, measurement and “disclosure and ethics issues.”

Two-thirds of the executives also agreed that native advertising “needs clear disclosure that it is indeed advertising.”

Only 13% of the respondents said they feel disclosure is not needed, although the Federal Trade Commission Act legally requires that advertising is clearly disclosed to consumers.

Overall, ANA members said it is the responsibility of both publishers and advertisers to disclose native advertising experiences.

Three-quarters of the respondents said they feel there is an “ethical boundary for the advertising industry when it comes to native advertising. Disclosure/transparency is the single biggest issue about native advertising that keeps respondents up at night.”

The survey also found that 58% of respondents already use native formats, and 55% have increased their native ad budgets in the past year.

In 2015, 63% of respondents said they plan to increase their native ad budgets.