‘’The effect of search motivation
on Internet advertising avoidance’’
JULY 2012
BY
BERTUS VAN DIJKEN
S1904329
2
EFFECTIVENESS
OF
INTERNET
ADVERTISING
‘’The effect of search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance’’
By
BERTUS VAN DIJKEN
University of Groningen
Faculty of Economics and Business
Master Thesis BA - Marketing Management
Ossengang 5
9994 PA Toornwerd
Dijken.b.van@hotmail.com
06 46781619
S 1904329
July 2012
3
ABSTRACT
Since the first appearance of commercial banner advertisements on the Internet in the mid-nineties, Internet advertising became the most prevalent advertising format and established a prominent place in the marketing communication mix. However, just as with traditional advertising the effectiveness of Internet advertising still remains a concern because advertising avoidance is a common occurrence.
The objectives of this study are fivefold: (1) to better understand and suggest ways to decrease advertising avoidance on the Internet (main objective), (2) to confirm perceived goal impediment as a positive influencer (amplifier) of Internet advertising avoidance, (3) to detect search motivation as direct influencer of Internet advertising avoidance (hedonic: negative/utilitarian: positive), (4) to detect search motivation as a moderator on the positive relation of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance and (5) to detect privacy concern and Internet experience as positive influencers (amplifiers) of Internet advertising avoidance. In this study, an online questionnaire has been conducted and data was extracted from 135 respondents. The results confirmed perceived goal impediment as a significant strong positive influencer of Internet advertising avoidance. The direct effect of hedonic search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance is found to be significantly negative. The (negative) moderating effect of hedonic search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance is not found to be significant. The direct and moderating effect of utilitarian search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance are both not found to be significant. Additionally, this study found that privacy concern and Internet experience do not significantly affect Internet advertising avoidance.
4
PREFACE
During my Bachelor in Business Administration at the Hanzehogeschool in Groningen my interest in Marketing had grown. Therefore, after I got my Bachelor’s degree I wanted to follow and additional study to learn more about it. Now, when looking back and after finishing my Master of Science I am very glad I did so. At the University of Groningen I have learned a lot more about the topic on itself, strengthened my analytical view and evolved my theoretical approach. This study is my final product as a Marketing Management student at the University of Groningen. Hereby I have finished my Master of Science and my time as a student has come to an end. I hope my 7 years of studying will be fruitful when entering my next phase in life; bringing my knowledge into practice.
This study could not have been established without the help of others. First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Janny Hoekstra who gave me constructed feedback, valuable insights and encouragement during my entire research. In addition I would like to thank Msc. Lisette de Vries for performing a final check on the study. Furthermore I would like to thank my girlfriend, family and acquaintances for providing support and data.
Bertus van Dijken
5
CONTENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION ... 7
1.1 Background ... 7
1.2 Problem statement ... 9
1.3 Academic contribution and managerial relevance ... 9
1.4 Structure ... 10
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 11
2.1 Conceptual model ... 11
2.2 Internet advertising avoidance ... 12
2.3 Perceived goal impediment... 13
2.4 Search motivation ... 14
2.4.1 Hedonic search motivation ... 14
2.4.2 Utilitarian search motivation ... 15
2.5 Privacy concern ... 16
2.6 Internet experience ... 17
3. RESEARCH DESIGN ... 18
3.1 Sample ... 18
3.2 Data collection ... 18
3.3 Measurement of constructs... 18
3.4 Methods of analysis... 21
4. RESULTS ... 23
4.1 General data description ... 23
4.2 Multiple regression analyses ... 23
4.2.1 Direct effects ... 24
4.2.2 Moderating effects ... 25
6
5. DISCUSSION ... 27
5.1 Conclusion ... 27
5.2 Theoretical and managerial implications ... 28
5.3 Limitations ... 29
5.4 Further research ... 29
REFERENCES ... 31
APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire ... 34
APPENDIX 2: Multicollinearity-check on Internet advertising avoidance ... 37
7
1.
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter the topic of the study is introduced. Section 1.1 provides background information of the study. In section 1.2 the problem statement is formulated and the research questions are stated. In section 1.3 the managerial relevance is described and the academic contribution of the study is given. At last in section 1.4 the structure of the study is stated.
1.1 Background
The Internet is the fastest growing medium of all time and electronic marketing posits the biggest threat and opportunity to almost every industry in the 21st century (Eighmey and McCord, 1998; Achrol and Kotler, 1999). It enabled consumers to go online at any time and provided access to a great arsenal of products and services. This intense development of people going online made it possible to widely reach and thereby target consumers. This rapidly attracted advertisers around the mid-nineties who began placing advertisements on Internet sites. Nowadays more than one third of the world population uses the Internet on a daily basis, with a user growth of about 480% (since the year 2000) and more than $98 billion is spent on online advertising worldwide (Wpp, 2012). Despite these great advertisement advantages, advertisers and marketers have faced periods with less comprehensiveness of the Internet over time (Lanctot 2002). This occurrence is mainly formed by the (negatively interpreted by people) approach of Internet advertisements. A phenomenon to illustrate the negative aspects of Internet advertising (among others) is banner blindness (Benway 1999; Drèze and Hussherr 2003). This is the tendency of people to avoid fixing their eyes on anything that looks like a banner advertisement (Benway 1999). Negative trends like banner blindness are associated with Internet advertising and initiate a great essence of understanding how consumers cope with Internet advertising and what the reasons are behind advertising avoidance among these Internet users.
8
the Internet sites because in this case the perceived goal impediment of people is not that strong due to the fact that the advertisements are more in line with the people’s goal of their Internet visit. However, this effect of perceived goal impediment is dependent on the people who are confronted with Internet advertising. This is because people may differ in what they perceive as goal impediment. This study wants to establish a general distinction in peoples perceived goal impediment. There is goal impediment if there is hindrance on people’s stated goals of their Internet visit. Perceived goal impediment is therefore dependent on the goal people want to achieve. If people’s goal is to experience the internet and just have fun the perceived goal impediment may differ from people who’s goal is to find information as efficient and quick as possible.
Considering this, there is a suitable and connecting theory about people with different motivations when surfing the Internet, namely people’s search motivations. People are motivated through different needs. A common distinction, in people’s search motivation, in this matter is the one used by Babin et al. (1994). They distinguish between hedonic and utilitarian value dimensions. Hedonic value is more subjective and personal than utilitarian value and results more from fun and playfulness. Utilitarian value results more from task completion (Holbrook and Hirschman 1982). These values are also distinctive in search motivation. Hedonic search behaviour is motivated by the achievement of experiential and enjoyment-related benefits (Chitturi et al. 2008). Utilitarian search behaviour is motivated by the achievement of functional, rational, instrumental and task-related benefits (Sherry 1990; Batra and Ahtola 1991; Engel et al. 1993).
9
can provide a better understanding of Internet advertising avoidance and thereby improve advertising effectiveness. Additionally, with this assumption Internet experience and privacy concern are taken into consideration to provide a more realistic and thorough conclusion.
1.2 Problem statement
The problem statement is derived from the situation described above. Internet advertising avoidance is still a common occurrence and requests better understanding to improve advertising effectiveness. This study will outline the effect of search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance and the effect of people’s search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance. Additionally, the effects of Internet experience and privacy concern on Internet advertising avoidance are included in this study.
The research question is formulated as following:
To what extent does search motivation moderate the relationship between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance?
This research question will be supported by the following main sub questions:
To what extent does search motivation affect Internet advertising avoidance ?
To what extent does perceived goal impediment affect Internet advertising avoidance? To what extent does internet experience affect Internet advertising avoidance?
To what extent does privacy concern affect Internet advertising avoidance?
1.3 Academic contribution and managerial relevance
10
account motivations, values (goals) people may have when surfing the Internet and if these will influence advertising effectiveness. This study includes a distinction in search motivation (hedonic and utilitarian) and is researching the direct as well as moderating affects of these variables on Internet advertising avoidance. Hereby this study provides a more thorough understanding of advertising avoidance.
The managerial relevance of this study is that marketing managers and advertisers understand that Internet advertising avoidance is not only driven by the construct of advertisements on itself but also on the people who are confronted with advertisements and the difference in their interpretation of these advertisements. Managers and practitioners should take the direct, as well as moderating effects of people’s search/Internet motivation into account to gain a more comprehensive understanding of advertising avoidance and hereby increase advertising effectiveness.
1.4 Structure
11
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter discusses relevant literature used in this study. Section 2.1 provides a graphical overview of the concept of this study and describes the main factors. Section 2.2 describes advertising avoidance in general and specifies this to the Internet. Section 2.3 provides information about perceived goal impediment as antecedent/influencer of Internet advertising avoidance. Section 2.4 discusses literature about search motivation as a moderator between the relation of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance. Section 2.5 discusses the involvement of privacy concern and section 2.6 describes the involvement of internet experience.
2.1 Conceptual model
Figure 1: Conceptual Model
The study is founded on 5 variables (figure 1). Perceived goal impediment is expected to positively affect Internet advertising avoidance. Hedonic search motivation is expected to have a negative moderating effect on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance. The direct effect of hedonic search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance is also expected to be negative. Utilitarian search motivation is expected to have a positive moderating effect on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance. The
12
direct effect of utilitarian search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance is also expected to be positive. Additionally, privacy concern and Internet experience are expected to have a positive effect on Internet advertising avoidance.
2.2 Internet advertising avoidance
In this study the focus of Internet advertising avoidance is on the behavioural aspect and is defined as all the behavioural actions (e.g. scrolling down, clicking away advertisements) that people employ to reduce exposure to the content of the advertisement in an online setting (Duff and Faber, 2011). It is likely to assume that since the break-through of advertising, advertising avoidance exists. Prior research detected that the origins of advertising avoidance lay in the traditional offline confrontation with advertising (Zanot 1984). This study focuses on the online confrontation with advertising. Concerning online advertisements, banners are very popular (Goldfarb and Tucker, 2011). The two most commonly used banners are static and media-rich banners (Newman, Stem et al., 2004). Static banners are advertisements without movement and media rich banners are interactive and contain sound, animation and movement. Despite the popularity of such online advertisements among advertisers, banners have difficulties with getting people’s attention. This is caused by the response rates, which have fallen dramatically over time (Goldfarb and Tucker, 2011).
13
2.3 Perceived goal impediment
When Internet advertising is a significant source of nuisance, people find that Internet advertisements are hindering their efforts to browse the Internet, disrupt their Internet page viewing, distract them from the Internet page's editorial integrity, and intrude on their search for desired information. This phenomenon based on Cho & Cheon (2004) is defined in this study as perceived goal impediment and can be concerned with impediment in browsing Internet pages, Internet page downloading and Internet navigation.
For instance, people may feel that the navigation process to find desired content is hard on the Internet because Internet advertising disrupt or intrude on the people’s overall search for information. This given situation is likely to result in avoidance behaviour. People avoid Internet advertising because of the fact that they perceive that Internet advertising impede their goals (Cho & Cheon 2004). Subsequently, when advertising interrupt a consumer’s goal, it may result in undesirable outcomes, such as negative attitudes and advertising avoidance (Krugman 1983).
Previous studies (Speck & Elliott 1997: Miller 1996) on advertising avoidance in traditional media found that traditional media has formed a valid link between perceived goal impediment and advertising avoidance. Valid link in this sense means that these studies provided evidence that perceived goal impediment was found as a significant antecedent of advertising avoidance. This finding is consistent with the research results of Cho & Cheon, 2004) who found that perceived goal impediment caused by Internet advertising is a significant concern among people and a prominent reason to avoid advertisements on the Internet.
Additionally, the percentage of explained variance of perceived goal impediment on advertising avoidance in their results was significantly higher than that of traditional media. This is the reason (based on Speck & Elliott 1997 and Cho & Cheon 2004) why it is hypothesized that perceived goal impediment might evoke advertising avoidance on the Internet.
H1: The greater the perceived goal impediment, the greater the Internet advertising avoidance on
14
2.4 Search motivation
The Internet can be used as a medium for engaging in many diverse types of behaviours, namely: merely exploring, searching for specific information, entertaining oneself, or shopping (Parasuraman & Zinkhan, 2002). A general distinction in the use of Internet can be found in search motivation. The most usable distinction in peoples motivation values in this matter is the one used by Babin et al. (1994). They describe the development of a two-dimensional scale of perceived value, which recognizes that consumer value is indicated in both utilitarian and hedonic terms. The outcome of their research proves that utilizing both value dimensions may better explain general consumer choice. Other research supports the existence of these two dimensions and found hedonic and utilitarian shopping motives in any consumer their shopping motivations (Arnold and Reynolds, 2003; Jones et al., 2006; Cardoso and Pinto, 2010). This study focuses on Internet usage/surfing/searching in general. The usage of Internet is also motivated by the benefits from using the Internet hedonically, as well as utilitarian (Korgaonkar & Wolin, 1999; Childers et al., 2001; Cotte et al., 2006) however until today research lacks findings of the influence of hedonic and utilitarian search motivations on perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance.
2.4.1 Hedonic search motivation
15
H2: The greater the hedonic search motivation of people, the weaker the perceived goal impediment
influences are on Internet advertising avoidance.
H3: The greater the hedonic search motivation of people, the lower the Internet advertising
avoidance.
2.4.2 Utilitarian search motivation
In contrast to hedonic search behaviour, utilitarian search behaviour is motivated by the achievement of functional, rational, and task (problem solving) related benefits (Batra & Ahtola 1991; Engeletal. 1993; Sherry 1990). Utilitarian value may result from situational involved people collecting information out of necessity rather than recreation (Chitturi et al. 2008). Additionally Kim (2006) describes that there are two important dimensions in utilitarian motivations, which are efficiency and achievement. Efficiency refers to the needs of people to save time and resources and achievement refers to a goal related orientation. Again, considering task completion, Li, Edwards, & Lee (2002) state that people are more likely to be goal directed when they make use of the Internet and people avoid Internet advertising because of the fact that they perceive that Internet advertising impede their goals (Cho & Cheon 2004). Considering these studies it is likely that this especially accounts for people who are more utilitarian motivated. These people are initially more concerned with efficiency (e.g. saving time) and a have goal related orientation. Thereby it is assumable that highly utilitarian motivated surfers are more likely to avoid advertising on the Internet, since they are more likely to perceive advertising as an impediment because they are less open to benefits besides goal accomplishment. Thus people with a high utilitarian search motivation are more likely to perceive advertisements as impeding because their goal intention is to fulfil a task as efficient as possible. Additionally, because people are more likely to be goal directed when they make use of the Internet on itself also the direct influence of utilitarian search motivation on Internet advertising avoidance is assumed to be positive. Internet advertising avoidance on itself may be more common among people who are highly utilitarian motivated since they are more likely to see the Internet as a goal directed medium because they have an intrinsic orientation for goal completion. Therefore this study hypothesizes that the influence of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance will be stronger when people are more utilitarian motivated and that the utilitarian search motivation on itself has a positive influence on Internet advertising avoidance.
H4: The greater the utilitarian search motivation of people, the stronger the perceived goal
impediment influences are on Internet advertising avoidance.
H5: The greater the utilitarian search motivation of people, the higher the Internet advertising
16
2.5 Privacy concern
Privacy concern relates to people’s apprehension and uneasiness over the use of their personal data (Westin, 2003). The technological advantages that made the Internet such a lucrative marketing tool also have a downside. Namely, the development of technology increased the threats to user privacy and thereby stimulated privacy concern. Information is being collected not only on those who register and shop, but also on those who use credit cards, e-mail and even on those who merely surf (Caudill & Murphy, 2000).
If people perceive that companies/sites are acting responsibly in terms of their privacy policies people are expected to show less concern for their Internet privacy (Lwin et al., 2007). On the other hand, if sites are not perceived as acting responsibly, people will be very concerned about their privacy and will lead them to defensive measures. The three most used defensive measures are the fabrication of fictive personal information (e.g. fake name etc.), the adoption of protective measures and refusal to transact with or withhold of an Internet site (Lwin et al., 2007). These defensive measures are consistent with a variety of personal responses stated in previous studies on consequences of privacy and security concerns in marketing (e.g. Culnan & Milne, 2001).
Internet advertising avoidance can be seen as a protective measure. If people are concerned about their privacy this will probably also lead to Internet advertising avoidance because this way people will avoid potential hazards concerning their privacy. Complementary, the study of Van Noort et al. (2008) found that when privacy concerns are more salient, people are more likely to have a prevention focus towards advertisements. Additionally, Turow et al. (2009) and Wathieu & Friedman (2009) state that people’s appreciation of the information of targeted advertisements is tempered by privacy concerns. Conclusively, prior research already found that privacy concern can provoke defensive behaviour of people who use the internet and can have a tempering effect on the appreciation of advertisements. Still unenlightened is if people are highly concerned about their privacy they also initially may be more likely to avoid Internet advertising. Considering previous research (Lwin et al., 2007; Van Noort et al., 2008; Turow et al., 2009 and Wathieu & Friedman, 2009) this study hypothesizes that privacy concern has a positive influence on Internet advertising avoidance. Marketers need to take notion of people’s online privacy concern because these can decrease a company’s marketing effectiveness through the defensive measures as described above.
17
2.6 Internet experience
In this study Internet experience is defined as the frequency of visits and the trust of people in the online environment and decreases the amount of time and (cognitive) efforts involved in surfing the Internet (Naseri & Elliot 2011). People who are experienced with the internet know where or not to click and need less time to navigate Internet sites and search for information.
Although this study’s data collection method is an online survey (so overall, respondents will be familiar with the Internet) it is of importance to measure this variable. People with more Internet experience may perceive and react differently to Internet advertising than people with less Internet experience. The emergence of the Internet has developed people’s activities such as information search, using online services (e-governance, banking), online purchase or participating in online blogs and communities or a more recent development engaging in social networking (Naseri & Elliot 2011). These technological advances enable people to access information instantly, communicate, receive direct services, download information, make online purchases and engage in a range of educational, social and entertainment services. In this study all these assets are included in Internet experience. Additionally Novak et al. (2000) found issues of skill and control on an individual level in using the Internet. Conclusively, people who are experienced with the Internet have (had) a high frequency of visits and have gained trust in the online environment and manoeuvre online with little effort. Moreover, this is a scale on an individual level since it is about expertise.
This study assumes an effect of Internet experience on Internet advertising avoidance because frequency and trust of the online environment will matter. More experienced people will interpreted advertising differently than people that barely surf. Considering previous studies (Novak et al. 2000; Merino, 2003; Naseri & Elliot 2011) that Internet experience will decrease efforts involved in surfing (increase efficiency), this study assumes that Internet experience will lead to more Internet advertising avoidance. This is assumed because of the fact that more experienced (with Internet) people, will be more aware of advertising and therefore will avoid them more intensively in order to browse the Internet in an efficient way as possible.
18
3. RESEARCH DESIGN
This chapter gives an overview of the study’s research design by describing the methodology. Section 3.1 provides information about the sample used in this study. Section 3.2 lines out how the data is collected. Section 3.3 discusses the construct of measurement of all the variables used in the study. At last, section 3.4 declares the method of analysis.
3.1 Sample
The information is gathered through a convenience sample via social media, namely Facebook and Hyves and direct mailing. 143 respondents voluntary participated in this study. 135 of these online questionnaires have been used because 8 of the gathered questionnaires were incomplete.
3.2 Data collection
An online survey (appendix 1) has been conducted to collect the data because the paper's topic (Internet advertising avoidance) is highly relevant to the medium (the Internet), and it enables quick and accurate gathering of survey information with minimal cost compared with a traditional paper-and-pencil method (Kelley-Milburn and Milburn 1995; Rosen and Petty 1995). In addition, the online data gathering method can provide reliability and validity equivalent to traditional paper-and pencil methods (Morris, Woo, and Cho 2003). The questionnaire is founded on the 5 variables of this study. First the Internet experience is measured. Thereafter the search motivation is constructed. After that the Internet advertising avoidance variable is measured and the perceived goal impediment is constructed. Afterwards the privacy concern is measured and finally some demographical information is gathered.
3.3 Measurement of constructs
19
Table 1: Measurement of constructs
CONSTRUCT
SOURCE
CRONBACH ALPHA
Internet advertising avoidance
When I visit Internet sites:
• I scroll down Internet pages to avoid
banner advertisements.
• I close windows to avoid pop-up
advertisements.
• I do any action to avoid advertisements on
the Internet.
• I click away from the page if it displays
advertisements without other contents.
Cho & Cheon (2004)
α = ,841
Perceived goal impediment
When I am surfing the Internet:
• Internet advertisements make it harder to
browse Internet pages.
• Internet advertisements slow down Internet
page downloading.
• Internet advertisements make Internet
navigation difficult.
• Internet advertisements disrupt my viewing
of Internet pages.
• Internet
advertisements
disrupt
the
reception of desired content.
• Internet advertisements intrude on my
search for desired information.
• Internet advertisements distract me from
the editorial integrity of Internet pages.
• Internet advertisements infringe on my
control.
• Internet advertisements interrupt the flow
of an editorial unit.
Speck and Elliott (1997)
Cho & Cheon (2004)
20
Hedonic Search motivation
• I enjoy using the Internet for its own sake,
not just for the information I find.
• Surfing the Internet is truly a joy.
• Surfing the Internet truly feels like an
escape.
• Compared to other things I could have
done, the time I spend surfing the Internet
is truly enjoyable.
• While surfing the Internet, I am able to
forget my problems.
• While surfing the Internet, I felt a sense of
adventure.
Babin et al. (1994)
α = ,927
Utilitarian Search Motivation
• I accomplish just what I want to, when I
use the Internet, and then I log off.
• While surfing the Internet, I find just the
item(s) I was looking for.
• I only accomplish what I want to, when I
am surfing the Internet.
• When surfing the Internet, I want to finish
quickly.
Babin et al. (1994)
α = ,841
Privacy concern
• I am concerned that my personal data may
be used for purposes other than the reason
I provided the information for.
• I am concerned about my online personal
privacy on the Internet.
• I am concerned about the fact that the
Internet might know/track the sites I visited.
• I am concerned about the Internet sharing
my personal information with other parties.
21
Internet experience
• I make use of the internet frequently.
• I make use of email/chat room/social
media frequently.
• I make use of e-banking frequently.
• I make use of e-share trading frequently.
• I make use of e-government frequently.
Naseri & Elliot (2011)
α = ,679
Advertising avoidance is measured by 4 behavioural statements (the higher the score, the higher the higher the Internet advertising avoidance). This measurement is also used in the Internet advertising avoidance study of Cho & Cheon (2004). The 9 perceived goal impediment (the higher the score, the higher the perceived goal impediment) scale items were taken from previously validated measures in the literature (Speck and Elliott 1997) and were modified to fit the context of Internet advertising by Cho & Cheon (2004). The search motivation scale (hedonic, 6 statements/utilitarian 4 statements: the higher the score, the higher the hedonic or utilitarian search motivation) is taken from the study of Babin et al. (1994). The privacy concern scale is conceived from the study of Lwin et al. (2007) and consists of 4 statements (the higher the score, the greater the privacy concern of a respondent). At last, the Internet experience is taken from the study of Naseri & Elliot (2011) and consists of 5 statements (the higher the score, the greater the Internet experience of a respondent). All the Cronbach alpha’s of the constructs (third column of table 1) were found to be internally consistent because they all scored higher than 0,6 what indicates the generally accepted sufficient level of reliability (Malhotra and Birks, 2007).
3.4 Methods of analysis
22
Table 2: Multiple regression; Internet Advertising Avoidance
The multicollinearity check on the 5 variables (see appendix 2) showed no tolerance factors below ,10 and the VIF values are all below 2,9. This indicates that there is no multicollinearity problem (Leeflang et al., 2000). Additionally, table 3 provides an overview of the correlation between the variables in this study.
Table 3: Correlation overview
* = P-value < 0,01
** = P-value < 0,05
IAA
PGI
HSM
USM
PC
IE
23
4. RESULTS
This chapter outlines the statistical outcomes and provides thorough information about the performed analyses. Section 4.1 provides information about the demographical distribution of the sample. Section 4.2 discusses the ANOVA results of the study. Section 4.3 states the results of the multivariate regression analysis. At last section 4.4 evaluates the proposed hypotheses.
4.1 General data description
Table 4 gives an overview of the main demographic data distribution. Of the 135 respondents 76 (56,3%) are male and 59 (43,7%) are female, so the conducted online questionnaire is (although males are slightly more represented) quite evenly distributed among gender. The males have an average age of 28,45 (standard deviation of 10,06) and the females have an average age of 28,51 (standard deviation of 9,57). This concludes that also the distribution of age is also quite evenly distributed among respondents. Furthermore the respondents their overall education level is MBO-HBO and they are overall students or full-time employed. Appendix 3 provides an overview of all demographic figures.
Table 4:Main demographics
RESPONDENTS
GENDER
ABSOLUTE/PERCENTAGE
AGE
MEAN/STANDARD
DEVIATION
Male
76 / 56,3%
28,45 / 10,06
Female
59 / 43,7%
28,51 / 9,57
Total
135
28,47 / 9,81
4.2 Multiple regression analyses
24
4.2.1 Direct effects
25
4.2.2 Moderating effects
The variables used in the interactions are mean-centred in order to limit multicollinearity. There are two moderating effects, namely hedonic search motivation and utilitarian search motivation (model 2). These two interactions are measured simultaneously since people can be both hedonic and utilitarian in their search motivation. The first moderating effect is the effect of hedonic search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance. According to previous research this will (H2) decrease the positive effect of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance (the greater the hedonic search motivation of people, the weaker the perceived goal impediment influences are on Internet advertising avoidance). This hypothesis is not supported. The regression analysis shows a positive influence of hedonic search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance (B = ,310/ P = ,000). The second moderating effect is the effect of utilitarian search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance. According to previous research this will (H4) increase the positive effect of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance (the greater the utilitarian search motivation of people, the stronger the perceived goal impediment influences are on Internet advertising avoidance). This hypothesis is not supported. The regression analysis shows an insignificant influence of utilitarian search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance (B = -,009 / P = ,886).
Table 5: Regression results Internet advertising avoidance
(standardized coefficients)
* = P-value < 0,01
** = P-value < 0,05
*** = P-value < 0,1
MODEL
1
MODEL
2
(Direct) Variables
26
4.3 Hypotheses evaluation
The from theory derived hypotheses that were constructed in chapter 2 are evaluated in this part. Here below a graphical overview is given in table 6 of the several hypotheses that were stated and whether the conducted analysis support these hypotheses or not. The discussion chapter will give a further explanatory view on these insights.
Table 6: Results hypotheses
HYPOTHESIS
RESULT
H1: The greater the perceived goal impediment, the greater the
Internet advertising avoidance on the Internet.
Supported
H2: The greater the hedonic search motivation of people, the
weaker the perceived goal impediment influences are on Internet
advertising avoidance.
Not Supported
H3: The greater the hedonic search motivation of people, the lower
the Internet advertising avoidance.
Supported
H4: The greater the utilitarian search motivation of people, the
stronger the perceived goal impediment influences are on Internet
advertising avoidance.
Not Supported
H5: The greater the utilitarian search motivation of people, the
higher the Internet advertising avoidance.
Not Supported
H6: Privacy concern positively influences Internet advertising
avoidance.
Not Supported
H7: Internet experience positively influences Internet advertising
27
5. DISCUSSION
This chapter summarizes the study and will provide an explanatory and concluding view on the gathered results. Section 5.1 gives insight on the stated objectives of the study, discusses whether these are achieved or not and provides the conclusion. Section 5.2 presents the theoretical an managerial implications of this study. Section 5.3 describes the limitations of the study and section 5.4 provides suggestions for further research.
5.1 Conclusion
As stated in the introduction, the objectives of this study were fivefold: (1) to better understand and suggest ways to decrease advertising avoidance on the Internet (main objective), (2) to confirm perceived goal impediment as a positive influencer (amplifier) of Internet advertising avoidance, (3) to detect search motivation as direct influencer of Internet advertising avoidance (hedonic: negative/utilitarian: positive), (4) to detect search motivation as a moderator on the positive relation of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance and (5) to detect privacy concern and Internet experience as positive influencers (amplifiers) of Internet advertising avoidance.
28
goal impediment and Internet advertising both significantly correlate negative with hedonic search motivation (table 3), hedonic search motivation still increases the influence of perceived goal impediment on Internet advertising avoidance. The possibility exist that advertisements are not that fun (enjoyment-related) and do not contribute that much to the hedonic needs that they temper perceived goal impediment. Additionally, considering the non supported results of utilitarian search motivation, it is possible that advertisements not only impede people’s goal but can also make them reach their goals earlier. It can occur that an advertisement withholds a direct link to the information someone was looking for. In this case advertising is not likely to be seen as goal impediment. This may explain that next to the direct effect of utilitarian search motivation, also the moderating effect of utilitarian search motivation on the relation between perceived goal impediment and Internet advertising avoidance is not found to be significant. Additionally, privacy concern and Internet experience do not significantly affect Internet advertising avoidance. They both explain no additional value, relatively to the other constructs. A remark considering the results of privacy concern and Internet experience is that every respondent had a high to great privacy concern and almost every respondent was highly experienced with the Internet.
5.2 Theoretical and managerial implications
29
5.3 Limitations
This study contains several limitations that should require some future research. The main limitations are described in this section. First of all the theoretical approach. Although this study provides valuable insights on Internet advertising avoidance the study is entirely based on literature studies and is conducted by an online questionnaire. The use of an online questionnaire is a data collection method that does not facilitate any actual observations of respondents avoiding advertisements. Another limitation is the sample size. This study was conducted among 135 respondents by a convenience approach. This sample is relative small considering the fact that it has to provide outcomes for Dutch Internet users in general. Another concern is that this study is limited because next to the discussed variables, there are more variables influencing Internet advertising avoidance. At last, only a few hypotheses were supported by this study. Privacy concern was hard to measure since all respondents were highly concerned about their privacy and all respondents were highly experienced with the Internet. Most of the limitations are mainly due to a lack of finance and time constraint.
5.4 Further research
30
31
REFERENCES
Aaker, J., Benet-Martínez L, V. and Garolera, J (2001). ‘’Consumption symbols as carriers of culture: A study of Japanese and Spanish brand personality constructs’’. Journal of Personality Sociology
and Psychology, 81(3), 492–508.
Achrol, R. S., and Kotler, P (1999). "Marketing in the Network Economy." Journal of Marketing, 63(5), 146-67.
Anand, Punam and Brian Sternthal (1990), “Ease of Message Processing as a Moderator of Repetition Effects in Advertising,” Journal of Marketing Research, 27 (August), 345–353.
Babin B.J., Darden W.R. and Griffin M (1994). ‘’Work and/or Fun: Measuring Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Value’’, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 20.
Batra, Rajeev and Michael Ray (1986). “Situational Effects of Advertising Repetition: The Moderating Influence of Motivation, Ability, and Opportunity to Respond,” Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (March), 432–445.
Batra, Rajeev and Olli T. Ahtola (1991), "Measuring the Hedonic and Utilitarian Sources of Consumer Attitudes," Marketing Letters, 2 (April), 159-170.
Bhattacharjee, A., Berger J and Menon G (2010). ‘’Escaping the crosshairs: Reactance to identity marketing’’, Working paper, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Cacioppo, John and Petty, Richard E (1979), “Effects of Message Repetition and Position on Cognitive
Response, Recall and Persuasion,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 (January), 97– 109.
Calder, Bobby J and Brian Sternthal (1980), “Television Commercial Wearout: An Information Processing View,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37 (January), 173–186.
Caudill, E. M and Murphy, P. E (2000). ‘’Consumer Online Privacy: Legal and Ethical Issues’’, Journal of
Public Policy and Marketing, 19 (Spring), 7–19.
Childers, T.L., Carr, C.L., Peck, J and Carson, S (2001).’’Hedonic and Utilitarian Motivations for Online Retail Shopping Behaviour’’, Journal of Retailing, 77, 511–535.
Chitturi, R., Raghunathan, R and Mahajan, V (2008). ‘’Delight by Design: The Role of Hedonic Versus Utilitarian Benefits’’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 72 (May), 48–63.
Cho, C.H and Cheon H.J (2004). ‘’Why do people avoid advertising on the Internet?’’, Journal of
Advertising, vol. 33, no. ), 89-97.
Cotte, J., Chowdhury, T., Ratneshwar, S and Ricci, L (2006). ‘’Pleasure or utility? Time planning style and Web usage behaviours, Journal Of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 20, 45-57.
32
Journal of Marketing Research, 13 (November), 365–372.
Culnan, M. J and Milne, G. R (2001). ‘’The Culnan–Milne survey on consumers and online privacy notices’’. (accessed February 8, 2012). Available at:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/glb/supporting/culnan-milne.pdf
Donthu, N and Yaveroglu, I (2008). ‘’Advertising Repetition and Placement Issues In Online Environments’’. Journal of Advertising, vol. 37, 31–43.
Drèze, X and Hussherr F, X (2003). ‘’Internet advertising: Is anybody watching?’’, Journal of
Interactive Marketing, 17(4) 8–23.
Edwards S.M., Lee, J.H and Li, H (2002). ‘’Measuring the Intrusiveness of Advertisements: Scale Development and Validation’’, Journal of Advertising. Vol. 31.
Eighmey, J and McCord, L (1998). "Adding Value in the Information Age: Uses and Gratifications of Sites on the World Wide Web." Journal of Business Research, 41(3), 187-94.
Engel, James F., Blackwell, Roger D and Miniard, P.W (1993). Consumer Behaviour, Chicago: Dryden. Goldfarb, A and Tucker, C (2011)a. ‘‘Online display advertising: Targeting and obtrusiveness’’,
Marketing Science, 30(3), 389–404.
Goldfarb, A and Tucker, C (2011)b. ‘’Privacy regulation and online advertising’’. Management Science, 57(1), 57–71.
Holbrook, Morris B (1986), and Elizabeth C. Hirschman (1982), "The Experiential Aspects of
Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun,'" Journal of Consumer Research, 9 (September), 132-140.
Kim, H (2006), ‘’Using Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Motivations to Profile Inner City Consumers’’,
Journal of Shopping Center Research, Vol. 13
Korgaonkar, P.K and Wolin, L.D (1999). ‘’A Multivariate Analysis of Web Usage’’. Journal of
Advertising Research, 39 (March/April), 53–68.
Lanctot, Jeff (2002), "Media for the Online World," MediaPost's Media (November 10), available at www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_mediamag.cfm?magJD=193863 (accessed May 23, 2003).
Leeflang, Peter S.H., Dick R. Wittink, Michel, Wedel and Philippe A. Neart (2000), “Building models for marketing decisions,” Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Liu, Y and Shrum L.J. (2002). ‘’What is interactivity and is it always such a good thing? Implications of definition, person and situation for the influence of interactivity on advertising effectiveness’’,
Journal of Advertising. 31(4), 53-64.
33
Malhotra, Naresh K and Birks, David F (2007). ‘’Marketing Research: An Applied Approach’’, Pearson
Education Limited, Harlow, England. Third European Edition.
Miller, Steven E (1996). ‘’Civilizing Cyberspace: Policy, Power, and the Information Superhighway’’, New York: ACM Press.
Novak, T.P., Hoffman, D.L and Yung, Y (2000). ‘’Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach’’, Marketing Science, 19(1), 22–42. Parasuraman, A and Zinkhan, G.M. (2002). ‘’Marketing To and Serving Customers Through the
Internet: An Overview and Research Agenda’’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 30(4), 286–295.
Peterson, R. A and Merino, M. C (2003). ‘’Consumer information search behaviour and the Internet’’,
Psychology and Marketing, 20, 99–121.
Sherry, John F (1990). "A Sociocultural Analysis of a Midwestern Flea Market," Journal of Consumer
Research, 17 (June), 13-30.
Speck, Paul S and Michae,l T Elliott (1997). "Predictors of Advertising Avoidance in Print and Broadcast Media’’, Journal of Advertising, 26 (Fall), 6l-l6.
Turow, J., King, J., Hoofnagle C.J., Bleakley, A and Hennessy, M (2009). ‘’Contrary to what marketers say, Americans reject tailored advertising and three activities that enable it’’. Working paper, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Vakratsas, Demetrios and Tim Ambler (1999), "How Advertising Works: What Do We Really Know?"
Journal of Marketing, 63 (January), 26-43.
Van Noort, G., P. Kerkhof and B. M. Fennis (2008). ‘’The persuasiveness of online safety cues: The impact of prevention focus compatibility of Web content on consumers’ risk perceptions, attitudes, and intentions’’, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 22(4), 58–72.
Wathieu, L and Friedman A (2009). ‘’An empirical approach to understanding privacy concerns’’, ESMT Working Paper 09-001, ESMT European School of Management and Technology, Berlin. Westin, A. F (2003). ‘’Social and political dimensions of privacy’’. Journal of Social Issues, 59(2), 431
453.
Wpp, (2012). (accessed July 10, 2012). Available at: http://www.wpp.com/wpp/press/default.htm. Zanot, Eric J (1984), "Public Attitude Toward Advertising: The American Experience," International
Journal of Advertising, 3 (January), 3-15.
34
APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire
Geachte respondent, ik ben Bertus van Dijken een student aan de Rijksuniversiteit van Groningen (RUG). Ik ben bezig met mijn afstudeerscriptie en doe onderzoek naar hoe mensen met internetadvertenties omgaan. Ik zou het op prijs stellen als u de volgende vragen naar eerlijkheid in zou willen vullen. Het beantwoorden van deze vragenlijst neemt slechts enkele minuten in beslag. Volledige anonimiteit zal worden gewaarborgd en de gegevens zullen vertrouwelijk worden verwerkt. Alvast bedankt!
Opmerking 7-schaal. 1: Helemaal niet mee eens. 2: Niet mee eens. 3: Een beetje niet mee eens. 4: Neutraal. 5: Een beetje mee eens. 6: Mee eens. 7: Helemaal mee eens.
Het internet kan voor meerdere doeleinden worden gebruikt. De komende stellingen gaan over de ervaring met het internet en het gebruik ervan.
"Ik maak geregeld gebruik van"
Het internet.
E-mail/chat-rooms/social media. Internet bankieren.
Online handelsplaatsen (marktplaats/ebay etc). Online overheidsites (digid).
Ik geniet van het internet surfen op zichzelf, niet alleen van de informatie die ik vind. Surfen op internet is echt leuk.
Door te surfen op het internet ben ik er echt even uit.
Vergelijkend met andere dingen die ik zou kunnen doen is de tijd die ik spendeer aan het surfen op het internet de moeite waard en leuk.
Surfen op het internet stelt mij in staat mijn problemen te vergeten. Ik vind surfen op het internet een soort van avontuur.
35
Nu volgen er stellingen die gaan over het bezoeken van internetsites en de rol van internetadvertenties hierin.
"Als ik internetsites bezoek"
Scroll ik weg om banner advertenties te ontwijken. Sluit ik vensters om pop-up advertenties te ontwijken.
Doe ik er alles aan om advertenties op het internet te ontwijken. Klik ik een pagina weg als deze enkel en alleen advertenties vertoont.
"Internetadvertenties"
Maken het lastiger om door internetpagina’s te bladeren. Vertragen het downloaden van internetpagina’s.
Maken het navigeren op internet moeilijk. Verstoren het bekijken van internetpagina’s.
Verstoren het ontvangen van de verlangde inhoud van internetpagina’s. Verstoren mijn zoektocht naar informatie.
Leiden mij af.
Maken inbreuk op mijn controle over het surfen. Onderbreken de informatiestroom.
De komende en tevens laatste stellingen gaan over eventuele bezorgdheid bij het gebruik van het internet.
"Ik ben bezorgd over"
Het feit dat mijn persoonlijke data gebruikt zou kunnen worden voor andere doeleinden dan waarvoor ik de informatie gegeven heb.
Mijn persoonlijke online privacy op het internet.
Het feit dat het internet mijn bezochte internet sites zou kunnen weten/traceren.
36
Afsluitend nog een aantal vragen (geheel anoniem).
Wat is uw leeftijd?
……….
Wat is uw geslacht?
Man/vrouw
Wat is uw hoogst genoten of huidige opleidingsniveau?
- VMBO 0 - HAVO 0 - VWO 0 - MBO 0 - HBO 0 - WO 0 Wat is uw werksituatie? Student 0 Part-time 0 Full-time 0 Werkloos 0 Gepensioneerd 0
