The role of online advertising on purchase intention of smartphones: mediating effects of flow experience and advertising value

Abstract

PurposeThe paper aims at identifying the role of online advertising on the purchase intention (PI) of smartphones of Bangladeshi customers. The independent variable (online advertising) has been divided into five dimensional segregations: informativeness (INFO), irritation (IRR), entertainment (ENT), incentives (INC) and credibility (CRD). For increasing the value of investigation to further extent, the authors included two mediators termed as flow experience (FE) and advertising value (ADD).Design/methodology/approachThe study has been conducted on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire received from a valid sample of 281 smartphone users selected on a random basis. SPSS (Version 24) has been used for descriptive statistical analysis, while structural equation modeling technique (utilizing AMOS 24) has been used to test the hypothetical relationships among the variables.FindingsAfter a careful and bias-free statistical analysis, the results indicate that purchase intention is positively and significantly affected by all the independent components INFO, IRR, ENT, INC and CRD. Regarding the mediating effect, FE can partially mediate the relationships between IRR and PI and ENT and PI as both the direct and indirect effects are significant. On the other hand, ADD can partially mediate the relationships between IRR and PI and INC and PI, respectively, since both the direct and indirect effects are significant.Research limitations/implicationsThis empirical study is expected to be beneficial for the academicians in finding some unique dimensional aspects regarding online advertising and purchase intentions.Practical implicationsThe policymakers can formulate some unique online advertising policies with a view to identifying customer psychology and increase sales volume based on the findings.Originality/valueSmartphone market in Bangladesh is growing steadily. This empirical paper has shed some lights on the unique role of online advertising on PI of smartphones of Bangladeshi customer base. Since the market scenario in Bangladesh is somewhat unique than those of Western and Eastern countries, the authors hope that the findings will add numerical theoretical and practical values for further investigation in South Asian markets.