The Attitude Of Consumer Towards Advertisement On Social Networking Sites

Jaya Nagrani,
Assistant Professor
Pune, Maharashtra
Email id.jayanagrani1915@gmail.com

Abstract
Social networking sites such as My Space, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have become more than
just a means of communicating with long lost friends or relatives. Retailers, manufacturers, and
advertisers realize that using social networking sites is the best way to reach consumers, since more
than 55% of teens and young adults use these sites now days. According to a report by E Stats on
Social Media Users Demographics in India, Social Media adoption among Internet Users in India
is around 84% today. It includes users mainly accessing Social networking sites like Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Internet has changed the rules of marketing, and most organizations seek opportunity to advertise on
social media. It is extremely important for both advertisers and the websites themselves to keep track
of consumers acceptance, as consumers can feel overwhelmed by social network marketing and this
could be counterproductive. Companies have to find a certain balance in order not to scare them
away. The study contributes to our understanding of consumer attitude towards SNS advertising.

Keywords Social Networking Sites, SNS, Consumer Attitude, Acceptance, Marketing

Objectives
1. To understand the concept of Social Networking Sites
2. To study the utility of Social Networking Sites to Organisations
3. To know the consumers attitude towards advertising on Social Networking Sites

Research Methodology
The study is basically exploratory in nature and depends on primary and secondary data. Primary
data was collected by an online survey prepared on Google Forms and data was collected from 50
respondents. The sampling technique adopted was simple random sampling and data was collected
from age group 15-40.Secondary data are collected from various website, journals and articles from
news papers.

Limitations of the Study

This study was confined to the data collected online

The sample size taken i.e. 50 respondants was not enough

The age group of the sample was between 15 yrs to 40yrs only.

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Concept of Social Networking Sites
A social networking site {also social networking service, SNS} is an online platform that is used by
people to build social relations with other people who share similar personal or career interests,
activities, backgrounds or real-life connections. It allows individuals to create a public or semi-public
profile and articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection. SNS users share ideas,
digital photos and videos, posts, and inform others about online or real world activities and events
with people in their network.

While the popularity of social networking consistently rises, new trends in social networking sites
are emerging. "Real-time web" and "location-based" allows users to contribute contents, which is
then broadcasted to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140-character
limit.

Social Network Utility For Organisations

Advertising on social networking sites (SNS) has similarities to other digital advertising mediums;
however, there are also differences that should be emphasized. One of the major differences is the
message delivery style. The messages are delivered in a more subtle way in Facebook compared to
for instance web-ads. In web advertising, static banners or dynamic banners are quickly
distinguishable from the native content of the web page as advertisements.
Online social networks provide opportunities for advertising, word-of-mouth and influential
endorsement, ranging from direct advertisements (ads, e.g. banners, videos), fan pages and business
profiles to discussions through comments or mini-forums. Social networks are a good option for
advertisers because of the advanced targeting options, reliable conversion tracking. Here are
such advanced targeting options:

Interest targeting: Reach specific audiences by looking at their self-reported interests,

activities, skills, pages/users they have engaged with, etc. Interest targeting is often related to
keyword targeting, so some platforms will allow you to enter both. Interests can be as general
as an industry (e.g. automotive industry) or as specific as a product (e.g.
convertibles). Offered by: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (under Skill), Pinterest.

Behavioural/Connection targeting: With behavioural targeting, you can reach people based
on purchase behaviours or intents and/or device usage. With connection targeting, you can
reach people who have a specific kind of connection to your page, app, group, or event. Both
types of targeting take past behaviour into account to help you determine intent. Offered by:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Custom targeting: Reach audiences by uploading a list of email addresses, phone numbers,
users IDs, or usernames. Facebook calls its custom targeting Custom Audiences, while
Twitter calls its own Tailored Audiences. Theyre largely based on the same concept: if you
have a known group of people youd like to target, you can simply upload them and target
them directly (provided that the social network can match the data youre uploading with real
profiles). Offered by: Facebook, Twitter.

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In these digital communities, customers have the opportunity to communicate whatever they wish
directly to the brand, and to share their opinion and experiences with other users. They contribute to
the marketing by creating content, giving feedbacks and opinions and sharing their interests.

Since now customers have the power to influence the reputation of a company, it is very important to
consider the way they communicate. This can occur in different ways: electronic word of mouth
(eWoM), user generated content (UGC) and general consumers online brand related activities.

Companies can participate on the platforms in different ways: by creating their own page or by
communicating through an already existing community, or by promoting the communication and
interaction with consumers, just like these latter do with their friends and family. Research shows
that when a customer is looking for certain information related to a company or a specific product on
the web, he relies on social networks as much as on the company websites.
Attitude of Consumers
Consumer attitude may be defined as a feeling of favorableness or unfavorableness that an individual
has towards an object. Consumers have certain specific feelings towards some products or brands.
Sometimes these feelings are based on certain beliefs and sometimes they are not.
Factors Affecting Consumer Attitude

Some of the factors that affect consumer attitude towards advertising on SNS are as follows

Informativeness
Providing timely, accurate information that is relevant to its receiver is required to create value and
establish positive attitudes towards ads.

Entertainment
Another major factor affecting the value of advertisements and the attitudes towards them is the
entertainment provided by the advertisement. The amusement that consumers get from ads is
considered as one of the major predecessors of advertising value.

Irritation
The increasing numbers of channels that relay marketing messages to consumers also create some
drawbacks. The high numbers of messages consumers receive every day are sometimes leading to
irritation among consumers. The advertisements may be perceived by consumers as confusing or
distracting, which lead to decreased productivity or a loss of focus.

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Data Analysis
A structured questionnaire of closed ended questions was prepared and data was collected online.
The data was then analysed with the help of tables, charts and graphs, the age group of the sample
varied from 15-40 yrs. The questions asked were relevant to judge the attitude and their
dependability on advertisements.

Some questions asked by the respondents were

1. I visit the adds usually displayed on SNS

46% respondents agreed that they do visit ads displayed on sns while 24 % disagreed
that they visit ads displayed on SNS

Strongly Agree 4

Agree 23

Strongly Disagree 11

Disagree 12

2. Advertisement on SNS is better than other sources

52% respondents disagreed that advertisement on SNS is better than other sources
whereas 32% respondents agreed that advertisement on SNS is better.

30
25 Strongly Agree
20 Agree
15 Strongly Disagree
10 Disagree
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3. I feel the adds displayed on SNS are

When the respondents were asked about their feeling towards 52% felt that the ads
were irritating while only 38% respondents felt they were useful.

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 Useful
38%
52% Entertaining
10% Irritating

4. Likes, Shares by Friends, Fan Pages, User Reviews On SNS are more dependable
than advertisements
When the respondents were asked if they depended more Likes, Shares by Friends,
Fan Pages, and User Reviews on SNS 32% strongly agreed to the fact whereas 20%
strongly disagreed.

Strongly Agree
Agree
Disagree Strongly
Disagree

0 5 10 15 20

Findings And Suggestions

Findings

1. Most consumers do visit ads displayed on SNS

2. Consumers do not feel that advertisement on SNS is better than other sources
and they get irritated
3. Most consumers believe that likes, shares by friends, fan pages, user reviews on
SNS are more dependable than advertisements

Suggestions
1. When it comes to figuring out what to share on social media, quality beats quantity. Quality
content is: Relevant to your audience, Helpful and Entertaining.

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 2. Whether its Facebook Groups, Twitter Chats, Google+ Communities or LinkedIn Groups,
there are plenty of opportunities for you connect with like-minded people and companies
within your niche.

Conclusion
There are many success stories about usages of SNS at the same time some notable failures too. The
factors causing failure are overload of information leading to mistrust and boredom. Marketers need
to understand that technology is not only for but giving power to companies but consumers as well.

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