User Disposition and Attitude towards Advertisements Placed in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube

Abstract

An analytical understanding of user response to advertisements published in social media websites is very interesting from both academic and marketing perspectives. Present research administers two studies; study 1; explores user perceptions of advertisements in four areas of social media, viz. social networking (Facebook), business networking (LinkedIn), microblogging (Twitter) and video sharing (YouTube) dependent to their demographic and lifestyle characteristics, study 2; empirically identifies is there any significant mean difference with the perceived advertising value and attitude across the four social media websites. The data culled from 710 usable responses were used to empirically examine the objectives of this research. The decision tree technique (classification tree) using CHAID criterion and MANOVA was employed to study 1 and study 2 respectively. The results identified that; the four sites showed differing patterns of user attitude towards advertisements published in them (b) both advertising value and attitude compositely differ across the four social media websites.

YouTube marketing communication demographic and usage variables influence on Gen Y's cognitive attitudes in South Africa and Romania

“…The rapid growth of OVIS such as YouTube has begun to wane in several developed markets, whereas many developing countries are still experiencing steady growth owing to the development and upgrading of ICT infrastructure, and this is coupled with the phenomenal growth and usage of mobile devices (Smith, ; Stokes, ; YouTube, ). Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () confirm that a majority of social media research was conducted in developed markets, whereas comparable research should be implemented in developing countries. Therefore, the first hypothesis examines the following:H1a Awareness has a favorable influence on knowledge among Gen Y due to YMC in SA and RO.…”

“…Bolton et al (), Duh and Struwig (), Zhang et al (), and Zambodla () opine that Gen Y is a heterogeneous cohort and should not be considered as a distinct target audience, since older Gen Y affiliates (28‐32 y) are most likely to have dissimilar life phases, attitudes, interests, lifestyles, and opinions in comparison with their younger counterparts (18‐22 y). Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () also suggest that there is not sufficient empirical evidence regarding the influence demographic variables on attitudes towards YMC. Chungviwatanant et al () and Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () found divergent attitudes towards different forms of YMC due to the respondents age.…”

“…Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () also suggest that there is not sufficient empirical evidence regarding the influence demographic variables on attitudes towards YMC. Chungviwatanant et al () and Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () found divergent attitudes towards different forms of YMC due to the respondents age. Hence, the following hypothesis is investigated by this study (refer to Figure ):H3 The influence of awareness on knowledge owing to YMC differs due to Gen Y's age in SA and RO.…”

“…Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam () infer that many studies have considered YMC in developed markets, viz, United States and Western Europe, whereas similar studies need to be conducted in developing countries, due to the fast penetration of social media in these countries. This study is in agreement with Balakrishnan and Manickavasagam (), since a majority of the research discussed in aforementioned text occurred in developed markets, where the Gen Y cohort has superior information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure in comparison with developing countries. Moreover, the social media growth rate has started to wane in several developed markets, whereas a number of developing markets are still growing a healthy rate.…”

“…The poor Internet connection speed and inferior ICT infrastructure in developing countries (particularly in Africa) may result in different cultural and usage characteristics versus developed markets. Additionally, there is also inadequate research inquiry in developing economies, particularly regarding cross‐continental studies, and few have investigated demographic and usage variables influence on YMC (Balakrishnan & Manickavasagam, ; Duh & Struwig, ; Lesame, ; Petzer & De Meyer, ). Therefore, the main aims of this paper are to consider the influence of YMC on awareness and knowledge among Gen Y in South Africa (SA) and Romania (RO) and to ascertain whether country, demographic, and usage variables have an effect on the cognitive attitudinal relationship, which will show if heterogeneity occurs within this generational cohort, as mandated by Bolton et al (), Duh and Struwig (), Zhang, Omran, and Cobanoglu (), and Zambodla ().…”