Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of behavioural attitudes towards the most popular social medium in the world, Facebook, amongst Millennials in South Africa (SA), and to determine whether various usage and demographic variables have an impact on intention-to-purchase and purchase perceptions. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative research was conducted by means of a survey among a sample of over 3,500 respondents via self-administered structured questionnaires in SA. A generalised linear model was used to analyse the data. Findings – The results confirm that advertising on Facebook has a positive influence on the behavioural attitudes (intention-to-purchase and purchase) of Millennials who reside in SA. The usage characteristics, log on duration and profile update incidence, as well as the demographic influence of ethnic orientation also resulted in more favourable perceptions of Facebook advertising. Research limitations/implications – Research on Facebook advertising was only conducted in SA, whereas other emerging countries warrant further investigation to establish if they share the slight positive sentiment towards intention-to-purchase and purchase. This inquiry only provides a “snap shot” of behavioural attitudes, usage and demographic factors towards social media advertising, whereas future research could consider the development of cognitive, affective and behavioural attitudes towards Facebook advertising by employing longitudinal and qualitative research designs. Practical implications – Organisations and managers should consider that their existing Facebook advertising strategies may only have a limited effect on intention-to-purchase and purchase in SA. However, certain usage characteristics, namely the more time spent logged on to Facebook and the greater frequency of profile update incidence, as well as the demographic variable, namely black and coloured Millennials, resulted in more favourable behavioural attitudes towards Facebook advertising. Hence, organisations and managers should be prepared to alter or adapt their Facebook advertising tactics accordingly when targeting the notoriously fickle Millennials. Originality/value – This investigation found that Facebook advertising has a nominal positive influence on behavioural attitudes among Millennials, which is in congruence with the communications of the effect pyramid model that was established through traditional advertising research. This paper also makes a noteworthy contribution to attitudinal research in emerging countries where there is a dearth of research in social media advertising.
Highlights
Technological innovation has grown at an unprecedented rate over the past couple of decades, especially in terms of online social media platforms
The sample included a slight majority of females (54.8 per cent); and the ethnic groups accurately portrayed the ethnicity of the Western Cape, including primarily black (35.2 per cent) and coloured (36.4 per cent) ethnic groups (Statistics South Africa (SA), 2012)
The analysis indicates that Facebook advertising has a positive attitudinal influence on intention-topurchase and purchase among Millennials, at a marginal level, which supports the communications of the effect pyramid model
Summary
Technological innovation has grown at an unprecedented rate over the past couple of decades, especially in terms of online social media platforms. Millennials (born between 1982 and 1994) have been exposed to an explosion of online technological applications since their advent, as these have been incorporated into nearly every facet of their daily existence. This cohort has not experienced the world without digital interactive technology. Many articles have characteristically concentrated on the social media attitudes and usage of Millennials who reside in developed countries with unhindered access to social media and information technology. Bolton et al (2013) maintain that social media attitudes and usage may differ among Millennials from emerging countries when compared to their wealthier counterparts owing to technological infrastructure and different cultures. This study aims to establish if Facebook advertising is effective at realising the top communication of effects pyramid objectives, intention-to-purchase and purchase (the behavioural attitude), among the Millennial cohort
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