Search Engine Advertising Adoption and Utilization: An Empirical Investigation of Inflectional Factors

Abstract

Search engine advertising (SEA) is a prominent source of revenue for search engine companies, and also a solution for businesses to promote their visibility on the web. However, there is little academic research available about the factors and the extent to which they may influence businesses’ decision to adopt SEA. Building on Theory of Planned Behavior, Technology Acceptance Model, and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, this study develops a context-specific model for understanding the factors that influence the decision of businesses to use SEA. Using structural equation modeling and survey data collected from 142 businesses, this research finds that the intention of businesses to use SEA is directly influenced by four factors: (i) attitude toward SEA, (ii) subjective norms, (iii) perceived control over SEA, and (iv) perceived benefits of SEA in terms of increasing web traffic, increasing sales and creating awareness. Furthermore, the research we discover six additional factors that have an indirect influence: (i) trust in search engines, (ii) perceived risk of SEA, (iii) ability to manage keywords and bids, (iv) ability to analyze and monitor outcomes, (v) advertising expertise, and (vi) using external experts.

Keywords:

• paid search
• SEA adoption
• search engine advertising
• sponsored search
• structural equation modeling

Notes

¹ Click fraud is a type of Internet crime that occurs in pay-per-click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an advertisement, for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having an actual interest in the target of the advertisement’s link.

² Although UTAUT considers attitude as an indirect determinant, this research considers it as a direct predictor as well, because TPB research has shown the significant direct effect of attitude on behavioral intention.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hamed Jafarzadeh

Hamed Jafarzadeh received his PhD from the School of Information Systems, Technology and Management, University of New South Wales, Australia. He holds a BSc in industrial engineering and an MSc in IT management. He currently works at University of Queensland in the position of specialist business analyst and IT project manager. His main research interests include social networking technologies, search engine advertising, IT strategy alignment, enterprise resource planning implementation, and business systems analysis.

Aybüke Aurum

Aybüke Aurum is the executive director of Aurum Academia, a software consulting company in Sydney, Australia. She has previously worked as an associate professor of Information Systems in the School of Information Systems, Technology and Management, University of New South Wales (1998–2014), and on the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering, University of Canberra (1997–1998). Dr. Aurum received her BSc and MSc in geological engineering at Istanbul Technical University and MEngSc and PhD degrees in computer science from the University of New South Wales. Her research interests include requirements engineering, agile development, outsourcing, and global software development. Dr. Aurum has produced over 130 publications, including three edited books, namely Managing Software Engineering Knowledge, Engineering and Managing Software Requirements, and Value-Based Software Engineering published by Springer. Dr. Aurum is on the editorial board of Information and Software Technology published by Elsevier, and Requirements Engineering published by Springer. She is a member of IEEE, the Association for Information Systems, and the Australian Computer Society.

John D’Ambra

John D’Ambra holds a doctorate in Information Systems from the University of New South Wales, where he is currently an associate professor. His research interests include evaluating ubiquitous computing, mobile-health, user perceptions of the value of the World Wide Web, communication behavior, and e-learning. Dr. D’Ambra has published extensively in such leading international journals as the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Journal of Knowledge Management, Information and Management, Journal of Communication, and Electronic Markets. He received the 2009 Rudolph J. Joenk, Jr. Award for Best Paper in the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. Prior to entering academia Dr. D’Ambra’s experience in the commercial IT industry included positions at Pacific Power and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Babak Abedin

Babak Abedin is a senior lecturer in Information Systems at University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He completed his PhD in Information Systems at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Abedin has published in various high quality journals on topics such as electronic commerce, social media, and educational technologies. Prior to entering academia, he worked as a business analyst and a project manager at consulting firms, as well as oil and petrochemical companies

Behrang Assemi

Behrang Assemi received a BEng degree in software engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran, in 2003 and an MSc degree in computer science from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2006. He recently finished his PhD in Information Systems at UNSW Business School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has been a research fellow with the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture, and Information Technology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia since 2013. He has multiple papers published at peer-reviewed information systems, as well as transportation, conferences and journals. His current research interests include electronic marketplaces, signaling, decision making, and crowdsourcing. He is a section editor of the Australian Journal of Information Systems.