Effects of Pre-Purchase Search Motivation on User Attitudes toward Online Social Network Advertising: A Case of University Students

Abstract

Since last few years, social media have profoundly changed the ways of social and business communication. Particularly, social network sites (SNSs) have rapidly grown in popularity and number of users globally. They have become the main place for social interaction, discussion and communication. Today, businesses of various types use SNSs for commercial communication. Banner advertising is one of the common methods of commercial communication on SNSs. Advertising is a key source of revenue for many SNSs firms such as Facebook. In fact, the ex- istence of many SNSs owners and advertisers is contingent upon the success of social network advertising (SNA). Users demand free SNS services which makes SNA crucial for SNSs firms. SNA can be effective only if it is aligned with user motivations. Marketing literature identifies pre-purchase search as a primary consumer motivation for using media. The current study aims to identify the effects of pre-purchase search motivation (PSM) on user attitudes toward SNA. It also assesses the association between the attitudes toward SNA and users' banner ad-clicking behavior on SNSs. Data was gathered from 200 university students in Islamabad using offline survey. Results show positive effects of PSM on user attitudes toward SNA. They also show posi- tive association between user attitudes toward SNA and their SNS banner ad-clicking behavior. The firms which promote their products through SNSs to the young South Asian consumers may benefit from the findings of the current study.