Assessing the Value of Social Network Sites' Advertisements

Assessing the Value of Social Network Sites’ Advertisements

Hossam Deraz

School of Business and Engineering

Halmstad University – Sweden

[email protected]

Gabriel Baffour Awuah

School of Business and Engineering

Halmstad University – Sweden

[email protected]

Desalegn Abraha Gebrekidan

School of Technology and Society

Skövde University – Sweden

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Marketers use social network sites (SNSs) to

merchandise their products and services more

efficiently. However, the scope of the published

studies about assessing social network sites

advertisements’ value (SNSAV) is limited. The

present study consequently aims to include

credibility and interactivity in addition to

informativeness and entertainment and irritation

values as variables for the assessment of SNSAV,

as perceived by SNS users.

The data analysis supports the central concepts of

this study that informativeness, credibility,

interactivity and entertainment values are the main

variables of assessing SNSAV, while irritation

value has no significant effect on the assessment

of SNSAV. Moreover, according to the beta

coefficient, informativeness and entertainment

values, in conjunction with credibility and

interactivity values, have different effects on

consumers’ assessment of SNSAV compared to

the results of the previous studies.

This study is successful in terms of introducing

advertisements’ credibility and interactivity as

crucial variables in the assessment of SNSAV. It

is also successful with regard to offering a new

construct model for assessing SNSAV based on

four main dimensions: informativeness,

entertainment and credibility and interactivity

values. According to the data analysis,

interactivity value has the highest significant

effect with regard to the assessment of SNSAs.

KEYWORDS

Advertising value, E-marketing, Social Network

Ads, Social Network Sites.

1 INTRODUCTION

The advent of electronic marketing (e-

marketing) at the turn of this century has led

to a revolution in business processes and a

redefinition of the notion of the consumers.

The most important technology and business

innovation that has enabled this revolution is

the extension of the Internet to the World

Wide Web [1]. This has led to the potential of

e-marketing to create additional value and

enable many firms to achieve their marketing

objectives by using Internet media, websites

(including third-party websites) and e-mail as

marketing tools [2].

Most recently, many firms that are facing

intensive competition have been using social

network sites (SNSs) to advertise their new

offers or to communicate with their fans [3].

These SNSs manifest new forms of social

regulation in regard to the relationship

between producers and consumers, and they

offer an open market in which large numbers

of buyers and sellers participate and interact

[4]. Based on these advantages, while

browsing SNSs, we can find many firms that

seek to establish fans and followers, thereby

helping them to develop an open-conversation

platform with their consumers. This proves

the crucial role of SNSs as a marketing and

communication tool used by companies to

interact with their target customers.

The value of advertisements is one of the

basic determinants of a brand’s success [5]. It

represents a core determinant of purchasing

decisions and behaviour towards the

advertisements [6]. According to this, and due

to the roles of SNSs in marketing, some

researchers have explored SNSs as marketing

and advertising media [7], [8], [9], [10].

Researchers consider mass customisation,

global access and proliferation as the main

advantages of using SNSs as advertising

platforms. For example, in 2014, Facebook

had about 1.3 billion monthly active users

around the world. In addition, there are about

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on E-Technologies and Business on the Web, Paris, France 2015

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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

51,063 brands, such as Cornetto, Coca-Cola,

Despegar.com, Samsung, Decolar.com and

Converse, advertising their products on SNSs

[11].

However, the scope of the published studies

regarding social network advertisements’

value (SNSAV) is limited. Few researchers

have contributed directly to the assessment of

SNSAs, as perceived by SNS users [12], [13],

[14]. The few studies focus on three main

variables as the main predictors of assessing

SNSAV: informativeness of advertisement,

irritation value and entertainment value. In

these studies, the informativeness of social

network sites advertisements (SNSAs) was

the most effective predictor of consumer

assessment of SNSAV. Furthermore,

credibility value and interactivity value have

been identified as factors that predict the

consumers’ attitude towards online

advertisements [15], [16], [17], [18], [19].

Based on this limitation of published studies

on the assessment of SNSAV, the present

paper aims to extend the existing literature on

SNSAs by introducing interactivity and

credibility values as additional dimensions of

SNSAV assessment (in addition to the

previously measured dimensions:

informativeness, irritation and entertainment

values). Based on the above discussion, the

present study answers two main questions:

What are the main dimensions of assessing

SNSAV? How do these dimensions, in

conjunction with each other, predict

consumers’ perceptions of SNSAV?

This paper is structured as follows: Following

the introduction is a redundancy of the

theoretical concepts that led to the research

hypotheses. This is followed by a

methodology section that contains

descriptions of the research sample, variables

and the dimensionality and reliability tests.

Finally, after the discussion of the empirical

findings, there is a discussion about the

theoretical and empirical implications of the

study.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Online Ads Value (OAV)

Online advertisements have a critical effect on

consumers’ purchasing behaviour. According

to the hierarchy-of-effects approach, online

advertisements function as a cognitive factor

in making the consumer aware of a

product/service, and then as an affective

factor by attracting and persuading the

consumers and, finally, as a behavioural

factor by moving the consumer towards the

purchasing decision [20]. This approach

proves the importance of online

advertisements as a factor that predicts

consumers’ purchasing intention and enables

a deeper and more current understanding of

how online consumers perceive ONV.

[6] is one of the first bodies of research that

have contributed to the assessment of OAV. It

focuses on the effects of online consumers’

perceived value of online advertisements

(OAs). According to that study, the

distinction between OAV and attitudes

towards OAs gives validity to consumers’

responses by measuring the contribution of

entertainment, informativeness and irritation

values. [15] validates the results of that study

by extending it to include credibility and

consumer demographics in assessing OAV.

Two years later, interactivity and consumer

motives have been identified as additional

dimensions that contribute to attitudes

towards online advertisements [21].

2.2 Social Network Ads Value (SNSAV)

[12] attempted to assess the value of

advertisements on SNSs and TV. The

researchers used [6] model with its three main

variables: irritation value, entertainment value

and informativeness of advertisements (ads).

According to that research, the information

and entertainment values of SNSAs played

crucial roles in the assessment of SNSAs,

while irritation value had no significant effect

on the assessment of SNSAs. [13] used the

same model to assess SNSAs, as perceived by

Indian students. The results of that study


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confirmed that the informativeness of SNSAs

and entertainment value are positively

correlated to SNSAV, but the irritation value

of SNSAs is negatively correlated to it.

More studies have contributed to SNSAV

while they are assessing consumers’ attitudes

towards SNSAs. [22] introduced credibility to

the information value, entertainment value

and irritation value of SNSAs as the main

variables of assessing consumers’ attitudes

towards SNSAs. According to the perceptions

of the South African youth in that study,

informativeness, entertainment, irritation and

credibility values of SNSAs are the main

variables that predict consumers’ attitudes

towards SNSAs.

In the second study, while exploring the

factors that predict consumers’ attitudes

towards SNSAs, [23] indicated that the

entertainment value and informativeness of

SNSAs predict consumers’ perception

towards SNSAV from the points of view of

postgraduate management students in the

USA. Finally, while investigating Pakistani

consumers’ attitudinal insights into SNSAs,

[24] confirmed that information value and

entertainment value have a significant

correlation to SNSAV. [12] observed from

their analysis that the model of [6] does not

provide a good fit for assessing SNSAV.

However, most of the identified research used

the same model of [6] to assess SNSAV.

Accordingly, this study aims to extend the

credibility and interactivity of SNSAs as

variables in addition to informativeness,

entertainment and irritation values while

determining consumers’ assessment of

SNSAV.

3 THEORY AND HYPOTHESES

In keeping with the identified literature, the

topic of SNSAV has been investigated based

on three main dimensions: the

informativeness, irritation value and

entertainment value of ads. Other research

investigated the credibility and interactivity

values of ads as the factors used to assess

attitudes towards OAV. Based on this, the

conceptual framework of this study has the

following variables:

3.1 Informativeness of SNSAs

E-commerce provides a significant advantage

for consumers as it enables them to seek the

information they desire and to ignore the

information they do not need [25]. Further

developments in e-commerce are significantly

affecting the information-seeking behaviour

of online consumers [26]. This proves the

importance of the informativeness of

advertisements as one of the driving factors

used in the assessment of OAV in general.

The informativeness of online advertisements

represents the ability to effectively provide

relevant information in the advertising

context, as perceived by online consumers

[27]. In this regard, researchers reveal the

importance of informativeness by ascertaining

consumers’ perceptions towards information

value while they are assessing OAV [6], [15],

[21], [28], [29].

Furthermore, the informativeness of SNSAs

has been identified as being positively

correlated to consumers’ perceptions towards

SNSAs [13], [22], [23], [24]. In this study, the

informativeness of SNSAs is tested in

conjunction with credibility and interactivity

using the following hypothesis to identify

how it predicts the consumers’ assessment of

SNSAV:

H01: Informativeness of SNSAs has a positive

effect on SNSAV, as perceived by SNS users.

SNAV

Informativeness

Entertainment

IrriationCredibility

Interactivity

Figure 1. The conceptual framework of assessing

SNSAV


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3.2 Entertainment Value of SNSAs

The entertainment value of online

advertisements represents the degree of

pleasure and involvement during the

interaction with a specific advertisement [30].

Advertisers believe that entertainment

increases the effectiveness of an

advertisement’s message and generates a

positive attitude towards the brand [12], [31],

[32]. Moreover, entertainment-oriented

advertisements aim to keep consumers

occupied in a manner which is designed to

encourage repeat visits [33].

Generally, OAV is dependent on the level of

entertainment of online advertisements [6].

This is particularly noticeable with SNSAs,

where entertainment value has been identified

as an important factor in assessing SNSAV

and attitudes towards SNSAs [12], [13], [34].

Moreover, SNS users seek enjoyment,

relaxation and to pass time; this relates to the

nature of SNSs as entertaining activity sites

[23]. Based on these facts, in this study, the

effect of the entertainment value of SNSAs on

the consumers’ perception towards SNSAV in

conjunction with credibility and interactivity

values is tested by the following hypothesis:

H02: Entertainment value of SNSAs has a

positive effect on SNSAV, as perceived by

SNS users.

3.3 Irritation Value of SNSAs

Consumers’ irritation value with regard to

online advertisements arises when they

experience discomfort while watching the

advertisement [13] or when they seem to be

less likely to be persuaded by the

advertisement. The consumers’ feelings of

irritation play a crucial role in their

perceptions towards the online advertisements

[35]. This is one of the primary dimensions

that have a negative effect on OAV, as

perceived by online users [6]. The irritation

value of online advertisements includes

descriptors such as confusing, annoying,

irritating and deceptive [12]. Moreover, it

contributes to a loss of privacy in regard to

SNSAs [23].

In some research, the irritation value of

SNSAs has an insignificant correlation to

SNSAV [12], [36]. Other researchers have

identified that irritation value has a high

negative correlation to the consumers’

perceptions towards SNSAV [13]. Based on

this, it is important to include irritation as one

of the main dimensions of assessing SNSAV.

The following hypothesis is used to identify

the correlation between irritation value and

SNSAV, in conjunction with the credibility

and interactivity values of SNSAs, as

perceived by SNS users:

H03: Irritation value of SNSAs has a negative

effect on SNSAV, as perceived by SNS users.

3.4 Credibility Value of SNSAs

Credibility towards advertisement represents

the degree to which consumers perceive

claims made about a brand in a specific

advertisement to be truthful and believable

[16]. According to cyber psychology studies,

credibility is an essential dimension of the

assessment of consumers’ responses towards

a specific online brand community [37], [38].

According to [15], credibility is directly

related to the consumers’ perceptions of

OAV. Based on this, many researchers

consider advertisement credibility to be a

principal dimension when assessing

consumers’ perceptions towards OAV and

their attitudes towards online advertisements

[16], [17], [19], [29].

The credibility of advertisements has no effect

on consumers’ perceptions towards Facebook

advertisements, according to the perceptions

of Malaysian university students [14], while

other researchers found that the credibility of

online advertisements has a strong effect on

consumers’ perceptions towards ONV [29],

[36]. In keeping with these findings, in this

study, the credibility value of SNSAs is

considered one of the main dimensions of the

assessment of SNSAV by testing the

following hypothesis:


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H04: Credibility value of SNSAs has a


SNS users.

3.5 Interactivity Value of SNSAs

Researchers have defined interactivity from

various perspectives as the extent to which

users can participate in modifying the

messages they receive through advertisements

[39] or as a means for the individuals to

effectively communicate with each other [40].

Interactivity shifts the ways in which online

users perceive online advertisements [41] and

increases the opportunities to use SNSs to

generate viral marketing [42]. Moreover, the

capacity of SNSs to manifest a new form of

social regulation in the relationship between

producers and consumers forms an open

market in which a large number of buyers and

sellers participate and interact [4]; this can

highlight the crucial role of the interactivity of

SNSAs in the assessment of SNSAV.

According to [15], the interactivity of online

advertisements predicts the consumers’

perceptions towards OAV. This is confirmed

by [14], as that study identified the

interactivity of SNSAs as a variable that

predicts consumers’ attitudes towards SNSAs.

Based on these facts, the interactivity value of

SNSAs is considered in this research to be

one of the main dimensions for assessing

SNSAV by testing the following hypothesis:

H05: Interactivity value of SNSAs has a


SNS users.

4 RESEARCH METHODS

In keeping with the purpose of the research, a

quantitative approach is regarded as being the

most appropriate. It is guided by the

functional or positivist paradigm [43]. To

achieve construct validity of the collected

data, the questionnaire is constructed based on

the conceptual framework of assessing

SNSAV, as perceived by SNS users, to

measure what is supposed to be tested as

recommended by [44].

Moreover, the present authors carried out a

pilot study by distributing the questionnaire to

ten different students to solicit their feedback.

Based on their feedback, the questionnaire

was refined. According to [45], pilot testing

should take place before using a questionnaire

to collect data. This enables the researcher to

refine the questionnaire so that respondents

will have no problem answering the

questions. This enabled the researchers to

assess the questions’ validity and the

reliability of the collected data.

The study data were collected by distributing

the questionnaire to relevant Facebook users

at Halmstad University. Although this sample

is not representative of the Swedish

consumer, students at a Swedish university

were chosen as the research sample for two

main reasons. It is the first time that young

Swedish consumers’ perceptions towards

SNSAs have been researched; the previous

studies regarding SNSAV considered

university students in the United States,

Pakistan and South Africa as the research

samples. Moreover, university students

represent the most active users of SNSs: 72%

of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29

who are online use SNSs, making them the

most frequent SNS users [12].

The questionnaires were distributed using

three different sampling techniques, as shown

in Table 1. The main target of the research

was the university students who have been

using Facebook for at least two years. Of the

214 questionnaires that were collected, 13

were ignored either because the respondents

did not have Facebook accounts or because

they did not complete the survey.

The following table represents the completed

surveys that were collected and classified

according to the sampling techniques that

were used:


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Table 1. Collected surveys classified according to the sampling techniques used

Sampling Technique Description Distribution Channel Collected surveys

1. Convenience Face-to-face distribution Halmstad University 129

2. Self-selection Surveymonkey.com Facebook 33

E-mail invitation 8

Web-link 14

3. Snowball Through friends and colleagues Halmstad 17

Total completed surveys collected 201

4.1 Measures

The respondents provided answers regarding

their perceptions towards the variables for

assessing SNSAV according to a 5-point

Likert scale as follows: Strongly Disagree =

1, Disagree = 2, Neutral = 3, Agree = 4 and

Strongly Agree = 5. The sources of the items

of the six main dimensions of the conceptual

framework of the research were based on their

utility in previous research as follows:

Informativeness of SNSAs: Items were

borrowed and modified from scales

developed by [12], [23].

Entertainment value: Items were borrowed

and modified from scales developed by

[12], [23], [30].

Irritation value: Items were borrowed and

modified from scales developed by [12],

[23].

Credibility value: Items were borrowed


[14], [18], [21].

Interactivity value: Items were borrowed


[21].

SNSAV: Items were borrowed and

modified from scales developed by [12].

The principal component analysis (PCA)

method of factor extraction with varimax

rotation was used to remove the items which

loaded heavily on more than one construct

factor. The remaining items were averaged to

obtain each variable score. Moreover, the

internal consistency reliabilities coefficients

of each group of the remaining items were

tested using Cronbach’s Alpha statistical

method. A summary of these tests, as well as

descriptive analyses for the six variables used,

are found in Table 2.

Table 2. Dimensionality test, reliability test and descriptive statistics

Rotated Component Matrixa

Means SD

Valu

e

Info

rma-

tiven

ess

En

terta-

inm

ent

Irritation

Cred

ibi-

lity

Interact-

ivity

VAL01- Is Useful 0.687 2.368 0.902

VAL02- Is Valuable 0.681 2.418 0.886

INF01- Offers valuable information 0.601 2.791 0.978

INF02- Offers timely information 0.804 3.055 0.960

INF03- Offers updated information 0.839 3.299 1.054

ENT01- Entertains me 0.771 2.478 1.063

ENT02- Is enjoyable for me 0.824 2.413 1.031

ENT03- Excites me 0.873 2.164 0.926

ENT04- Pleases me 0.700 2.134 0.870

CRE01- Is trustworthy 0.875 2.353 0.900

CRE02- Is credible 0.805 2.408 0.907

CRE03- Is believable 0.866 2.481 0.939

INT01- Has a cognitive value 0.633 2.388 0.878

INT02- Facilitates two-way

communication

0.689 2.682 1.095

INT03- Offers a vivid communication

experience

0.733 2.667 0.971


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IRR01- Deceives me 0.800 3.055 0.991

IRR02- Confuses me 0.833 2.901 1.010

IRR03- Irritates me 0.763 3.368 1.129

IRR04- Annoys me 0.780 3.264 1.151

α – Chronbach’s Alpha 0.83 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.90 0.81

Average of customers’ assessments of

the dimensions

2.39 3.05 2.30 3.15 2.42 2.58

5 DATA ANALYSIS

5.1 Regression Analysis

Based on the stepwise regression analysis for

testing the five main dimensions of assessing

SNSAV, the model without the irritation

value of SNSs provided the best fit for

assessing SNSAV, as its coefficient of

determination of a linear regression (R2) was

0.481 at significant change p < 0.001, while

the fifth model with the irritation value was

not significant as it had a high probability

distributions value, p = 0.527. This result was

supported by the adjusted R2 value, as the

four-dimension model without irritation gave

the highest adjusted value of 47%. Even the

R2 change by adding the irritation value was

small at 0.001.

According to this result, the coefficients of

the four-dimension model have been tested to

identify the effect of those four main

predictors (informativeness, entertainment,

credibility and interactivity) on assessing

SNSAV, as in Table 3.

Table 3. Coefficients of the four main predictors of assessing SNSAV

Coefficientsa

Model

Unstandardised

Coefficients

Standardised

Coefficients t Sig. Collinearity Statistics

B Std. Error Beta Tolerance VIF

4

(Constant) 0.277 0.174 1.594 0.113

Informativeness (INF) 0.133 0.063 0.139 2.092 0.038 0.598 1.672

Entertainment (ENT) 0.251 0.065 0.261 3.853 0.000 0.577 1.732

Credibility (CRE) 0.141 0.059 0.146 2.387 0.018 0.708 1.412

Interactivity (INT) 0.309 0.071 0.313 4.344 0.000 0.510 1.962

a. Dependent Variable: Value

From the standard coefficient beta in Table 3,

the four variables, after deleting the irritation

value of SNSAs, had a positive significant

coefficient with SNSAV. The most

coefficient predictor of SNSAV was the

interactivity value, as its beta value equaled

0.313; at the second level, it was the

entertainment value with a beta value of

0.261; at the third level, it was the credibility

value at 0.146; and, finally, the information

value at 0.139.

Moreover, the tolerance statistics of the

predictors ranged between 0.510 and 0.708.

According to [46], the tolerance statistics

should be more than 0.2 to avoid high

multicollinearity. In addition, the variance

inflation factor (VIF) of the predictors ranged

between 1.412 and 1.962; it should be less

than 10 to avoid any collinearity problem

[47].

Based on model 4, the line regression of the

research model of assessing the consumers’

perception of SNSAV is in best fit, when x=0

at constant level 0.262, to have the following

construct equation (1):

SNSAV = 0.277 + 0.133 INF + 0.251 ENT + 0.141 CRE + 0.309 INT (1)


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_determination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coefficient_of_determination

5.2 Hypotheses text

Figure 2. Factors of assessing SNSAV

According to the standardised coefficient

from Table 3, the informativeness of SNSAs,

as perceived by the survey respondents, had

the lowest positive coefficient on SNSAV in

conjunction with the other three variables, as

13.9 % of the variations on SNSAV were

counted by variations of the informativeness

of SNSAs. However, this significant

coefficient result can reject the null

hypothesis, H0: Infomativeness of SNSAs

does not affect SNSAV, as perceived by SNS

users. This can support the first hypothesis:


effect on SNSAV, as perceived by SNS

users. (Supported)

The entertainment value of SNSAs, as shown

in Table 3, had the second-highest positive

coefficient to SNSAV, as 26.1% of the

variations on SNSAV were accounted for by

the variations of the entertainment value, as

perceived by SNS users. This result rejects

the null hypothesis, H0: Entertainment value

of SNSAs does not affect SNSAV, as

perceived by SNS users. This can support the

second hypothesis:


positive effect on SNSAV, as perceived

by SNS users. (Supported)

From Table 3, the irritation value of SNSAs

in conjunction with the informativeness of

SNSAs, as well as their entertainment,

interactivity and credibility values is not

significant to the consumer assessment of

SNSAV, as it gave a significant change: 0.001

at p = 0.527. This result may lead to a

rejection of the third hypothesis:



users. (Rejected)

From Table 3, the credibility value of SNSAs

had a coefficient of 0.127 on consumers’

perceptions towards SNSAV. This result gave

a regression value of 14.6%, at which

variations on SNSAV were counted by

variations on credibility value, as perceived

by SNS users. This result rejected the null

hypothesis, H0: The credibility value of

SNSAs does not positively affect SNSAV, as


fourth hypothesis:



by SNS users. (Supported)

Finally, the beta value of the interactivity of

SNSAs had the highest coefficient of 0.365

on assessing SNSAV. This result had a

regression value of 31.3%, at which the

variations on SNSAV were counted by the

variations on the interactivity value, as

perceived by SNS users. This result rejected

the null hypothesis, H0: The interactivity value

of SNSAs does not affect the SNSAV, as


fourth hypothesis:

SNSs ADs Value

(2.39)

Entertainment (2.30)

Informativeness (3.05)

Irritation (3.15)

Interactivity (2.58)

Credibility (2.42) 0.146 H04

0.313 H05

-0.036 H03


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H05: Interactivity value of SNA has a positive


users. (Supported)

6 DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION

To develop knowledge and gain a better

understanding of the dimensions that affect

consumers’ assessments towards SNSAV, in

this study, the credibility and interactivity of

SNSAs were introduced as additional

variables to those that were tested previously

[12], [13], [14]. This helped to create a new

model with four main dimensions that

predicted the consumers’ assessment towards

SNSAV: informativeness, entertainment,

credibility and interactivity values. However,

based on the stepwise regression analysis, the

irritation value of SNSAs had no significant

effect on the consumer assessment of

SNSAV. However, the following discussion

reflects the main findings of this paper.

The first predicted dimension of this study

was the informativeness of SNSAs. The

indicators used to measure the

informativeness of SNSAs had an average

mean of 3.05 from the five-scale score. This

result was the second-highest mean after

irritation. However, according to the effective

size criteria [48], the informativeness of

SNSAs in this study had a medium effect, and

the lowest coefficient on assessing SNSAV as

its coefficient was 0.139. In previous studies,

it had the highest effect on assessing SNSAV

[12], [13].

The second predicted dimension was the

entertainment value of SNSAs. The indicators

used to measure the entertainment value had

an average mean of 2.3 from the five-scale

score, which was less than the middle score.

This shows that the respondents perceived it

as a low factor that needs more progress to

develop. This result can confirm that SNSAs

can entertain and bring enjoyment to SNS

users but not please and dazzle them, as

indicated by [12], [29]. However, according

to the effective size criteria [48], the

entertainment value of SNSAs in this study

had a strong effect on SNSAV as its

coefficient was 0.261. Its coefficient had the

second highest effect on assessing SNSAV, as

perceived by the survey respondents.

The third predicted dimension was the

irritation value of SNSAs. The irritation value

of SNSAs in this study had the highest mean

of 3.15 among other predictors; this was

confirmed by a paired t-test, as the irritation

value had a p value of 000 when compared to

the other four variables. In previous studies,

the irritation value of SNSAs had the highest

mean among the informativeness and

entertainment values; [12] argued that this

situation occurred when the consumers

seemed less likely to be persuaded by the

advertisement. This feeling of irritation may

be the reason behind the lower value of other

categories of SNSAV variables, as perceived

by the research sample. However, in this

study, irritation value had no significant

coefficient effect on consumers’ perceptions

towards SNSAV. This result confirmed the

result of [12], as we identified that irritation

had no significant coefficient with consumers’

assessments towards SNSAs. This contradicts

[13] as irritation value was the highest

negative predictor of consumers’ perceptions

towards SNSAV.

The fourth predicted dimension was the

credibility value of SNSAs. According to the

collected data, the credibility value of SNSAs

had a mean of 2.42 from five points. This may

prove that this research sample may have had

less experience with SNSAs. According to

[19], credibility is positively related to

Internet users’ experience, as well as their

ability to collect information and to interact

with online advertisements. The credibility

value of SNSAs in this study had a

moderately significant effect on SNSAV with

a coefficient of 0.146, which was higher than

the informativeness coefficient. This result

supports the fourth hypothesis and introduces

the credibility of SNSAs as a crucial variable

for assessing SNSAV. Contrary to what was

identified by [14] that credibility did not

predict the consumers’ perceptions towards

SNSAs.


ISBN: 978-1-941968-08-6 ©2015 SDIWC 97

The final predicted dimension in this study

was the interactivity value of SNSAs. From

Table 2, the average mean of the interactivity

indicators was 2.58, which shows that the

questionnaires’ respondents were more

counted to interact with SNSAs than to be

used as a source of entertainment. This result

was also confirmed by the paired t-test

between interactivity and entertainment, as p

value = 0.000. According to Table 3, the

interactivity value of SNSAs had the highest

significant positive effect on consumer

assessment towards SNSAV with a

coefficient of 0.313. This result supported the

fifth hypothesis and presented the interactivity

of SNSAs as an important dimension while

assessing SNSAV.

7 CONCLUSION

The analysis of the empirical data in this

study helped to identify four main dimensions

for assessing SNSAV. These dimensions have

positive effects on consumers’ assessment of

SNSAV. According to their coefficient

strength, these four dimensions are arranged

in descending order as follows: interactivity

value (0.313), entertainment value (0.261),

credibility value (0.146) and informativeness

(0.139). According to the regression analysis,

these four variables together had the best R2

(0.481) at a significant change = 0.000.

Nearly 48.1% of the variations in SNSAV

were explained by that model.

The findings of this study support the

following hypotheses:



users.



by SNS users.



by SNS users.

H05: Interactivity value of SNSAs has a


by SNS users.

However, the findings do not support the third

hypothesis:



users. (Neglected)

Finally, according to the hypotheses paired t-

test of the empirical findings, the research

sample of Swedish university students may be

characterised as follows:

The Swedish university students are more

irritated by SNSAs as they find those ads

less credible.

The Swedish university students are more

information oriented than to interact, and

less to use SNSAs as an entertainment

factor.

8 IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE

RESEARCH

8.1 Theoretical Implications

The findings of this study support some of the

findings from previous research on assessing

SNSAV; however, some of the previous

findings are not supported. This study

supports the finding that irritation value has

no significant effect on assessing SNSAV

[12]. Conversely, it does not support the view

of [13] that the irritation value of SNSAs has

a significant negative effect on the

consumers’ perceptions towards SNSAV.

With regard to the informativeness of SNSAs,

the previous studies [12], [13] found that it

had the highest positive effect on consumers’

assessments of SNSAV. However, the result

of this study did not support that finding, as

informativeness of SNSAs had the lowest

positive effect in conjunction with credibility

and interactivity values. Moreover, the results

of this study did not support the finding that

the credibility of SNSAs, as perceived by the

university students, does not affect

consumers’ assessments of SNSAV, as

identified by [14].

Finally, this study succeeded in introducing

advertisements’ credibility and interactivity as


ISBN: 978-1-941968-08-6 ©2015 SDIWC 98

crucial variables for assessing SNSAV. It

offered a new construct model for assessing

SNSAV based on four main dimensions:

informativeness, entertainment value,

credibility value and entertainment value. It

also succeeded in confirming the finding of

[12] that, even in conjunction with credibility

and interactivity values, the irritation value of

SNSAs does not predict the assessment of

SNSAs, as perceived by SNS users who are

university students.

8.2 Practical Implications

The research findings provided important

evidence for online advertisers on SNS based

on the research sample of Swedish university

students. These findings have to be taken into

consideration when promoting or seeking to

interact with this market segment. The online

advertisers have to consider the fact that this

market segment is more information oriented

than interaction or entertainment oriented. In

addition, this market segment is highly

irritated by SNSAs as they feel that SNSAs

are not credible.

The advertisers on SNSs need to identify the

reasons behind the negative perceptions

towards SNSAs’ credibility value. They also

need to investigate how to increase the

trustworthiness of SNSAs and how to

decrease their irritation value. At the same

time, SNS systems have to have more

effective procedures to control fake

advertisements and to encourage SNS users to

interact more effectively with SNSAs.

8.3 Future Research

The results of this study and those of previous

studies [12], [13], [14] have some differences.

Although they all assessed the perceptions of

university students, the differences in their

culture and experiences may have affected the

consumer assessment, or it may be that the

proliferation of the advertising system on

SNSs is behind these differences.

Accordingly, more studies need to be

conducted with participants from different

cultural backgrounds and market segments

from time to time to address this proliferation

and to capture any change in the consumers’

assessments of SNSAs.

Additional studies may be geared towards

confirming the correlations between the

identified dimensions of this study and the

attitudes towards SNSAs. Moreover, as most

of the identified studies regarding consumers’

perceptions towards SNSAs utilised

quantitative approaches, more qualitative

studies may be needed to gain a deeper

understanding of how SNS users interact with

SNSAs.

As identified by [49], the credibility value of

online advertisements is positively related to

Internet users’ experience and their ability to

collect information and interact with the

online advertisements. Accordingly, more

research is needed to identify how to improve

the trustworthiness of SNSAs and how to

increase consumers’ interactions with SNSAs.

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Assessing the Value of Social Network Sites' Advertisements