Social media advertisements and their influence on consumer purchase intention

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic details of respondents

Age group	Less than 30	91.1%
	31–40	3.6%
	41–50	4.1%
	More than 50	1.2%
Occupation	Student	49.1%
	Working	45%
	Not Working	4.1%
	Retired	1.8%
Educational qualifications	10 + 2	12.4%
	Graduate	62.1%
	Post Graduate	25.4%
Area of residence	Rural	10.1%
	Semi-Urban	18.3%
	Urban	37.3%
	Metropolitan	34.3%
Average time spent on social media per day	Less than an hour	5.3%
	Between 1 and 3 hours	45%
	Between 3 and 5 hours	32%
	More than 5 hours	17.8%

Table 2. Rotated component matrix

Grouping	Items	Component
		1	2	3	4
Creative characteristics	I consider an ad creative if it stands out from its competitors.	0.711
	I find ads with original ideas more engaging.	0.693
	I find image based ads more engaging than text based ads.	0.693
	Adequate information regarding products/services in an ad often helps in my evaluation process of purchasing the product.	0.676
	Creative ads manage to create more interest in me about the featured products.	0.659
	Entertainment characteristics of an advertisement (color, sounds, music or graphics) tend to increase my level of engagement with the ad.	0.620
	I am likely to pay more attention to the content in an ad if I trust the platform it is advertised in.	0.563
	I consider an ad creative if it sees the implementation of new technologies (Example: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, etc.) in communicating its message.	00.544
	I find video based ads more engaging than text based ads.	0.507
Emotional Appeal	I tend to like ads with strong emotional appeals more than rationally appealing ads.		0.767
	I consider emotional appeal as a necessary prerequisite for an advertisement to be engaging.		0.757
	An emotionally appealing ad more effectively persuades me when I have little motivation or little ability to cognitively process a message.		0.666
	Entertainment characteristics of an ad (color, sounds, music or graphics) influences me to purchase the product/service being advertised.		0.567
	I have a higher level of engagement with brand posts made on weekdays when compared to weekends.		0.509
Attention grabbing details	Controversial ads (ads with political, religious or social views) are more effective in grabbing my attention			0.706
	An attractive offer available on a product/service tends to reduce my information acquisition process.			0.662
	Controversial ads have a lasting effect on me.			0.626
	Ads that include information about peer behaviors (i.e. as social cues like facial expression, body language, etc.) makes the ad more engaging to me.			0.548
	The length of the message/post is crucial in deciding my engagement with an ad.			0.520
	I am motivated to look into the content of an ad only if it mentions the price of the product/service.			0.511
Celebrity endorsement	The pairing of a brand and celebrity with similar attributes results in a positive effect on my attitude towards the brand.				0.839
	The presence of a celebrity in an ad has a positive effect on my attitude towards it.				0.799
	Ads delivered by a celebrity create a greater degree of purchase intention in me when compared to those without celebs.				0.782

Figure 1. Conceptual model

Table 3. Overview analysis of PLS algorithm test

Factor	AVE	Composite Reliability	R Square	Cronbach’s Alpha	Communality	Redundancy
AttnGraDet	0.4311	0.8167	0.0000	0.7447	0.4311	0.0000
CelebEndmnt	0.7530	0.9014	0.0000	0.8372	0.7530	0.0000
CreatChar	0.4428	0.8755	0.0000	0.8444	0.4428	0.0000
EmoApp	0.5522	0.8587	0.0000	0.7934	0.5522	0.0000
Purchase Int	0.5124	0.8000	0.4536	0.6601	0.5124	0.1218

Figure 2. PLS algorithm test results

Table 4. LVC analysis results

Factors	AttnGraDet	CelebEndmnt	CreatChar	EmoApp	PurInt
AttnGraDet	1.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000
CelebEndmnt	0.4083	1.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000
CreatChar	0.3405	0.2228	1.0000	0.0000	0.0000
EmoApp	0.4373	0.3488	0.4273	1.0000	0.0000
PurInt	0.5392	0.5349	0.2387	0.4806	1.0000

Note. AVE values are shown in bold.

Figure 3. Bootstrap test results

Table 5. Bootstrap test results

Hypothesis	Factor	T-Statistics	Result	Beta Values
H1	AttnGraDet ->PurInt	3.6395	Supported	0.3244
H2	CelebEndmnt -> PurInt	3.7284	Supported	0.3310
H3	CreatChar -> PurInt	0.4985	Not Supported	0.0150
H4	EmoApp -> PurInt	2.9524	Supported	0.2258

Table

Construct	Measure Items	Source
Credibility	I often have no doubts in the credibility of social media ads.The corporate reputation of the advertiser affects my views of the credibility of information provided in the ad.I make purchases only from sites that I trust.I am likely to pay more attention to the content in an ad if I trust the platform it is advertised in.	Henry and Abednego (2015)
Entertainment	Entertainment characteristics of an advertisement (color, sounds, music or graphics) tend to increase my level of engagement with the ad.Entertainment characteristics of an ad (color, sounds, music or graphics) influences me to purchase the product/service being advertised.	Raktham et al. (2017)
Informative-ness	Adequate information regarding products/services in an ad often helps in my evaluation process of purchasing the product.I am motivated to look into the content of an ad only if it mentions the price of the product/service.An attractive offer available on a product/service tends to reduce my information acquisition process.	Lee and Hong (2016)
Personalization	Personalized content of advertisement available on social media sites is often helpful in finding products I need. Personalized content of advertisement available on social media sites intrudes into my personal space. I feel advertisers often manipulate my personal information for their own advantage.	Hassan et al. (2013)
Richness	I often click on interactive links that lead to other websites. I find image based ads more engaging than text based ads. I find video based ads more engaging than text based ads.	Sabate et al. (2014)
Timeframe	I generally engage with brand posts during non-business hours (early in the morning and late at night) than I do during business hours. I have a higher level of engagement with brand posts made on weekdays when compared to weekends.	Sabate et al. (2014)
Control Variables	The length of the message/post is crucial in deciding my engagement with an ad. The number of followers of an advertiser is crucial in deciding my engagement with the ad.	Sabate et al. (2014)
Creativity	Creative ads manage to create more interest in me about the featured products. I consider an ad creative if it stands out from its competitors.I consider an ad creative if it sees the implementation of new technologies (Example: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality,etc.) in communicating its message.	Lee and Hong (2016)
Emotional Appeal	An emotionally appealing ad more effectively persuades me when I have little motivation or little ability to cognitively process a message. I tend to like ads with strong emotional appeals more than rationally appealing ads. I consider emotional appeal as a necessary prerequisite for an advertisement to be engaging.	Lee and Hong (2016)
Social Influence	I generally tend to like an ad if a friend has already shown interest towards it. Ads that include information about peer behaviors (i.e. as social cues like facial expression, body language, etc.) makes the ad more engaging to me.	Chu (2009)
Perceived Authenticity	I find ads with original ideas more engaging.	Henry and Abednego (2015)
Ad Clicking	I often click on ads on social media sites.	Mir (2012)
Materialism	I often end up buying things that I do not need due to ads.I tend to make impulse purchases due to ads.	Henry and Abednego (2015)
Ad Avoidance	The level of sociability (option to comment, share, etc.) of an in-feed ad plays an important role in deciding my avoidance of the ad.I intentionally avoid ads on social media. I use an ad blocker to block ads.	Fan et al. (2017)
Controversy	Controversial ads (ads with political, religious or social views) are more effective in grabbing my attention. I am likely to boycott a brand or product if its advertisement offends my views. Controversial ads have a lasting effect on me.	Massey et al. (2015)
Celebrity Endorsements	The presence of a celebrity in an ad has a positive effect on my attitude towards it. The pairing of a brand and celebrity with similar attributes results in a positive effect on my attitude towards the brand. Ads delivered by a celebrity create a greater degree of purchase intention in me when compared to those without celebrities.	Okorie and Agbaleke (2017)
Purchase Intention	A well made ad often influences my purchase intention positively. Repeatedly viewing the same ad influences my purchase intention positively.	Lin and Kim (2016)

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