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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
NoTITLE Page No
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES iii
LIST OF FIGURES iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background of the study 1
1.2 Need for the study 10
1.3 Scope of the study
1.4 objectives of the study
1.5 Chapter summary
2 THEORETICAL FRAME WORK & REVIEW OF
LITERATURE 14
2.1 Theoretical frame work
2.2 Literature Review
2.2.1 Marketing
2.2.2 Social Media
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2.2.3 Social Media and advertising
2.2.4 Facebook and its features
2.2.5 Facebook revenue generation
2.2.6 Types of advertisements in Facebook
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Sampling
3.3 Data collection
3.4 Instruments used
3.5 Tools used
4 DATA ANALYSIS AND INFERENCE 30
4.1 Biographical data of the sample
4.1.1 Gender, age and education groups in the sample
4.1.2 Hours spent on internet
4.2 Social network behavior and understanding of the
advertisements in Social networks
4.2.1 Number of social networking sites belong to
4.2.2 Period started using Facebook
4.2.3 Frequency of use of social networking sites
4.2.4 Number of friends in Facebook
4.2.5 Extend of awareness
4.2.6 Change in perception companies that advertisements in
4.2.7 Places where Facebook advertisements are noticed more
by the
4.2.8 Purpose of using Facebook
4.2.9 Ranks given to social media/networking sites by
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respondents
4.3 Demographic information regarding Social Network behavior
and advertisements
4.4 Attitude analysis
4.4.1 Reliability of the data
4.4.2 Belief factors of social network advertising
4.4.3 Internet users attitude towards social network advertising
4.4.4 Predictions of internet users’ attitude towards social network advertisements
5 FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY 69
6 CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION 74
REFERENCES xi
APPENDICES xiv
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LIST OF TABLES
Table No TABLE TITLE Page No
4.1Frequencies and percentages of age, gender groups
4.2Frequencies and percentages of hours spent on internet
4.3Frequencies and percentages of number of SNS belonged to
4.4Frequencies and percentages of period started using SNS
4.5Frequencies and percentages of usage frequency of SNS
4.6Frequencies and percentages of the number of friends in
4.7Frequencies and percentages of the extent of awareness about the
social networking sites
4.8Frequencies and percentages of the change in perception about
the companies that advertise in Facebook
4.9Places where Facebook ads of the companies are looked more by
the respondents
4.10Prioritizing the purpose of using Facebook
4.11 Ranks of the social media and social networking sites
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No FIGURE TITLE Page No
4.1 Gender demographics regarding Social network membership
4.2Age demographics regarding Social network membership
4.3Internet usage hours regarding Social network membership
4.4Education regarding awareness of the Social network
membership
4.5Gender demographics regarding Facebook ads
4.6 Gender regarding perception about the company after seeing Facebook ads
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The way people communicate with each other in this century has changed a lot. ‘Social
media’, is that popular mode of social communication. The trend in advertising is also
changing. Media, now a-days are more cluttered and advertisers are willing to overcome its
disadvantage. So social networks advertisements are emerging and seem to be a powerful
solution for advertisers targeting the same.
The research is aimed to find out the social network preferred mostly, followed by the
attitude of the young Ernakulum consumers towards the Facebook ads along with the factors
affecting the attitude. It also examines the behavior of youths on social networks and to find
the preferred location of ads in Facebook so to suggest to the practitioners.
The research is based upon primary data and it can be considered as a questionnaire based
cross sectional study. Based on Convenience sampling a total of 72 respondents only if they
are being a part of at least one social network were selected for the study. Statistical package
for social studies, G*Power 3, excel sheet were used and reliability tests, t tests, regression
analysis, Friedman rank test were conducted along with basic percentage analysis.
It is found that the attitude towards the social network advertisements is Positive and the
belief factors credibility, entertainment and informative-ness are positively and irritation is
negatively related to attitude as similar to the studies referred but the most significant factor
while considering the attitude is Informative-ness unlike the referred studies conducted
earlier. It is found that Facebook followed by Twitter and the social media ‘You tube’ are
ranked most. The Location for ads in Facebook preferred is the side bar of other peoples
profile followed by Facebook applications
The overall attitude is positive and since they consider informative-ness to be the most
significant factor it is therefore apt for companies to highlight the information aspect of ads.
Since through Facebook it is possible to select the target audience more closely it is
suggested for practitioners to positively use Facebook as an advertising tool than any other
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social network without irritating the users as they may change the attitude if its level exceeds
other positive factor’s levels.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
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1.1 Background of the study
Many people, in the past years who have access to Internet, use it to send and receive
mails only and it is no longer the same purpose. Later, chatting was one of the popular
activities on the Internet where people can talk to anyone across the world and now, its social
sharing and networking.
Social networking sites has facilitated and enhanced the way people communicate
with each other online. Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, LinkedIn, Friendster, Geocities are few
of its kind. The number of people using these social networking sites is increased and
currently in one of such social networking sites, Facebook, there are 800 million active users
as on September 2011. Modern day advertisements like digital bill boards and advertising in
the above said sites, has been under complete traffic today. Social networks worldwide are
estimated to bring in $3.3 billion in advertising dollars by the year 2010 according to updated
estimates by e-marketer.
Furthermore due to globalization, every company form everywhere around the world
wants to become global player. So they are pushed to a state where they need to strengthen
their competitiveness by differentiating themselves from the competition. They found that
traditional means of marketing their products and services are not properly responded. They
carefully observed the peoples’ behavior and changed their dynamics of marketing.
Foreseeing the changes before their competitors do is what essential.
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1.2 Need for the study
Attitudes of the people towards the advertised idea, in general for any form of
advertisement, were expected to influence the success of any particular advertising. For many
years, researchers have been measuring the attitudes of adult consumers, student samples and
even children for judging and enhancing their advertised idea by conducting research from all
around the world.
Social networks are one of the most significant and current online tool of
communication, linking people all around the world. In spite of the knowing this fact
marketers are rushing towards this space with their messages, making it as a place for
advertising. The property of being inexpensive is also one of the most important factors that
make them as an attractive advertising media. The advertisers target the younger generation
in a social networking site advertisement since the social networks have a better reach to this
age group as of now. It should also be taken into consideration for better future planning that
the number of professionals using it is also gradually increasing. So this research considers
the younger age group for studying the attitude towards social network advertisements along
with their behavioral pattern study to understand it much better.
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1.3 Scope of the study
The popularity of social media is growing in India and it is therefore relevant for
marketers to consider it, especially for the enterprises wanting to promote their product. This
subject is a concern currently, Although many research is conducted world-wide for
understanding the consumers attitude, This research is one of this kinds aimed in
understanding about the behavior of the people on the social networks and attitude of them
towards the social network- based advertisements among the young population of the city of
Ernakulam, India, as no much similar study on this is made previously. All this is to view
how companies use this tool positively.
Also the among the various number of social media platforms like blogs, discussion
forums from Yahoo, Google, video-sharing site You tube, Picture-Sharing site Flickr etc.,
and networking sites like Orkut, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and so on, Facebook
has gained huge popularity than any other site (studies on social networking sites) and it has
been observed that in the sampling frame considered for the study also that more people are
the users of Facebook. So the attitude on the Facebook advertisements is chosen for the
study.
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1.4 Objectives of the study
1. To determine the attitude of the youths towards the Facebook advertisements
2. To understand the factors affecting the attitude towards Social network
advertisements
3. To understand the behavior of youth in Social Networking sites
4. To find out the preference towards social networking sites
5. To find out the preferred location for ads in Facebook
6. To offers suggestions to the practitioner
The major variables that are considered in the study are
Credibility
Entertainment
Irritation
Informative-ness
Attitude towards social network advertising
Relevant demographic factors
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1.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 1 deals with the introduction to the topic taken for the study; the need for this
study and also the scope for the study are also discussed here. The objectives of the research
are also stated in this chapter.
Chapter 2 deals with the literature review collected for this study. It includes all those
studies conducted earlier in each and every component of the topic. It includes studies
conducted for marketing, social media, social media and advertising, Facebook and its
features, Facebook revenue generation and also about the types of advertisements in
Facebook.
Chapter 3 describes in detail about the research methodology. It includes in the
research design, sampling method, size of sample, sample frame, Data collection,
respondents, the instrument used for the study; tools used for statistical analysis are also
specified.
Chapter 4 includes the analysis details for the study; it includes the basic demographic
analysis, attitude analysis, respondent’s behavior on the social networks, understanding of the
advertisements in social networks, reliability tests of the data and the demographic
information regarding social network behavior an advertisements.
Chapter 5 includes the findings of the study, implications of the study to practitioners
and the summary and conclusions of the study are also included. Chapter 6 includes the
bibliography of the references considered for the study.
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CHAPTER 2
THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE
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2.1 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
Different models have been formulated by different researchers and academicians for
studying the attitude of consumers towards advertising. Tsang in 2004 gave the model for
determining consumer attitudes towards mobile marketing. Schlosser, A.E., Shavitt, and
Kanfer in 1999 with their study on attitude towards Internet advertising also have given a
similar model. Ducoffe in 1996 developed model of advertising containing three factors that
can affect consumers’ attitude towards advertising. This model was later used by Brackett
and Carr in 2001 for examining consumers’ attitude towards web advertising. It added two
other factors of credibility and demographic factors. This model is used in many studies for
determining the attitude of youth towards internet and mobile advertising. Therefore the
model by Brackett and Carr can be adopted by considering the factors involved to determine
the attitude of youth towards social network advertising.
Credibility, informative-ness and entertainment were found to be positively affecting
the attitude towards advertising whereas irritation was found to be negatively affecting the
attitude was found from various studies conducted before. Age and gender were studied in
many studies in order to examine attitude of consumers towards advertisements depending on
age and gender.
The Factors affecting the attitude towards advertising includes Entertainment,
Informative-ness, Irritation and Credibility.
The following research hypotheses are formulated based upon the considered research works:
H1: Irritation of the SN advertisements is negatively related to the attitude towards SN
advertising
H2: Credibility of SN advertisement is positively related with attitude towards the SN
advertising
H3: Entertainment factor of SN advertising is positively related with the attitude towards SN
advertising
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H4: The informative-ness of SN advertisement is positively related to the attitude towards
SN advertising
2.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.2.1 Marketing
“The role of marketing has not changed; it still defines target markets, communicates
with prospective customers, builds loyalty, etc. It is only the techniques that have changed;
and so the questions are the same as before, but the answers are different”. Also the objective
of marketing according to most companies’ is
1. To build and leverage relationships between the organization and its customers
(current and prospective), as well as its employees, partners, shareholders,
government, the media, analysts, etc.
2. To establish and extend brand value, to strengthen and protect corporate reputation,
and boost demand through marketing managers
3. To improve return on investment by having a limited marketing budget and needing
to reach more people more efficiently in the highly competitive global economy.
Also the two challenges that marketer face is stated as follows
1. Demand from senior management to justify spending by being clearer about
marketing investments and the return on those investments.
2. Connecting and delivering the message to customers and possible customers is
increasingly difficult as they are becoming less and less reachable and less open to
marketing messages (Weber, 2009).
Marketing in social media is through Word-of-mouth marketing or buzz marketing
which rely on the consumer to initiate the conversation and that is how awareness is created.
Also the role of marketers is that they can encourage these conversations by providing
authentic experiences and creating talk-worthy events and it is controlled by the individual,
not by the advertiser or public relations agency.
It is also added that the Word-of-mouth marketing is “business-to-customer-to-
customer” marketing which means that a marketer gives an idea worth taking about to the
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customers and then the customer repeats it to another friend of him who again tells another
friend, etc. and the promotion is created at last (Sernovitz, 2006).
2.2.2 Social Media
Social media is the best medium to communicate with customers and spread messages
by word-of-mouth because people are receptive to messages and information.
“Social media provides the way people share ideas, content, thoughts, and
relationships online. Social media differ from so called ‘mainstream media’ in that anyone
can create, comment on, and add to social media content. Social media can take the form of
text, audio, video, images, and communities.” (David Merman Scott)
In other words, social media can be define as the participatory online media for social
interaction which includes internet forums, blogs ( an online journals with many short
articles), online communities, social networks, group creation, message boards, vlogs (video
blogs), podcasts (a non-streamed webcast which is a series of digital media files)
Students/people researched reacts differently towards the social networking sites and
they are not overwhelming lean in a particular direction but different Individual users
perceive the social networking sites differently as said by the Users and gratification theory
by Katz et. Al (Katherine K Roberts, 2010).
2.2.3 Social Media and advertising
According to the uses and gratifications theory, an audience based theory which
hypothesizes that different consumers use the same media messages for different purposes,
depending on their individual needs and goals is based on certain assumptions that the
audience is active, the media choice lies with the audience member, all mediums compete
with other sources of need/goal fulfillment, mass media goals can be found in the message of
the source, and cultural value judgments should be not be taken into consideration as the
audience explores their own opinions (Katz et al., 1974).
The emergence of the social networking sites has made marketing personal, precise
and social. It is also possible for the marketers to micro-target customers using community
members’ profile information and to promote word-of-mouth marketing to the existing
customer base (Shih, 2009).
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“Facebook advertising doesn’t feel like advertising because it comes from your
friends” (Tim Kendall, the director of monetizing at Facebook). Facebook is an effective
platform for marketing because networking and communication are taking place. This allows
companies to be connected into conversations of the members by simply appearing on the site
(Lear Month, 2009).
Facebook has not only transformed the research and the purchase consideration stage
but it also provides the shoppers with a platform to advocate for the products/services they
love (Swedowsky, 2009). Facebook ads are extremely relevant to users because they are so
highly targeted (Gangadharbatla, 2008).
An experiment has done to test the effectiveness of Facebook’s advertisers’ micro-
targeting method. He creating his own Facebook advertisement targeted to his girlfriend by
mentioning the specific demographic and found that it was possible to place the ad directly
on her Facebook website. This test is an evident that how the advertisers’ can utilize
Facebook with its Nano-targeting of the market which is a unique features not seen in any
traditional advertising method (Lessin, 2008).
It is highlighted that Zynga, a social-network gaming company dominates the site
with its gaming applications like City Ville which has over 126 million active users. They
spend $50 million on Facebook advertising annually and likely to increase on further
development. They also see virtual products with a credit card to advance further in the game.
These provided Zynga with Facebook-user generated revenues and so they are developing on
the site and advertising more (O’Neill, 2009).
The advertisers have the option to create a free fan page on the Facebook where
companies and individuals can invite users to become a “fan” of a product, service, person,
company, brand, etc. Fan page is similar to a profile page with the option to add status
updates, photos, announcements, etc. (Klaassen, 2009). According to Facebook’s 2009
statistics, over 10 million users become fans of pages on a daily basis, which provides grow-
ing possibilities to reach consumers without any financial risk. Facebook has another feature
expanded called ‘gift shop’ which includes real gifts along with the virtual ones. This gives
the chance for the users to buy birthday gifts here.
2.2.4 Facebook and its features:
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Facebook is the world’s largest social network. It is not just like any other sites
providing casual networking with friends but they add new feature and develop it on a
consistent basis making it damn popular. In a variety of ways Facebook can be used and each
of the different features allows creativity and experimentation in advertising. Some of its
features are “News Feed” which highlights the recent activities from the users, every account
also has a personal profile page, a “wall” to write public messages to the users, Facebook
generated applications like photos, events, groups, videos, notes and links are very popular to
mention and it also gives an message box to write private messages to other users. They also
have additional optional features called platform applications like games (FarmVille,
MafiaWars etc.,), fan pages and gifts to connect in new ways.
Companies can utilize Facebook’s features to reach their audiences in different ways.
Since creating an account in Facebook is free of cost, Facebook has to generate its revenue
through a venue such as advertising.
2.2.5 Facebook Revenue generation
“Facebook is to generate over $2 billion in revenue from display advertising in 2011.
It is quite clear from their working models that free user accounts and easy marketing options
for the marketers, advertisements are the foremost revenue yielder to the company. It is on
track to become the top online display-ad selling company in the U.S passing Yahoo. It is
likely to take over 17.7% share of this market with so much money being invested in
Facebook ads” according to a study by e-Marketer in 2011.
2.2.6 Types of advertisements in Facebook
There are 10 different types of Facebook ads available to marketers today.
Page Ads - These are unique ads in that users can ‘Like’ a page directly from the ad.
When a user ‘Likes’ the page, it’s listed beneath the ad for their friends to see.
Website Ads - Clicking the ad takes you to the advertiser’s landing page or website.
Website ads will look like Page ads without the Like button. It is like web
advertisements.
Event Ads - To promote a sale, product promotion, trade show, or any event. Event
ads are integrated with Facebook Events and include an “RSVP” call to action. When
the RSVP is clicked, the event details are displayed, including the number of
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Facebook users and friends attending.
It will generate a newsfeed story within the user’s profile for all of their friends to see.
Sponsored Stories let marketers take social content and turn it into a marketing
message. With sponsored stories an advertiser pays to have user interactions with
their brand (Likes, Check-ins) show up on your friends’ pages while appearing in
other paid promotions on the website.
Video Ads allow advertisers to integrate video into an ad. The video can be played
online, where people can share comments and Like the video. A newsfeed story will
be generated for their friends to see.
Application ads allow Facebook application developers to drive more engagement
for their app by directing people to the app when they click on the ad.
Comment ads - With this ad a brand will make a statement or pose a question, and a
comment box is available so the user can enter a response. When users respond to the
question, the exchange shows up as a part of their newsfeed, thereby moving the
conversation through the individuals’ social network.
Polling ads lets advertisers start conversations by conducting polls. People who
respond can see how others voted and how each of their friends voted in the poll. The
poll generates a story on the advertiser’s page, and can appear in newsfeed of the
users who liked the brand and in their friends’ newsfeeds.
Gift ads - Used to drive visitors to pages within and outside of Facebook. It allows
users to send a gift to a friend within Facebook, along with a custom message.
Messages are public and can appear on the user’s page, as well as in their friends’
newsfeeds.
Hybrid engagement ads combine different ad types, such as a video ad with a
polling ad, or a video ad with an event ad.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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3.1 Research Design
The research is basically focused on the understanding of the usage pattern of youth
towards social networks and their attitude towards the social network advertisements. This
research is a quantitative research and it is normally conducted with a questionnaire and it has
emphasis on testing and verification. The quantitative data is based on meaning derived from
numbers and analysis is performed through the use of diagram and statistics. It is completely
contrast to the qualitative data which completely emphasizes on understanding and
conceptualization.
The research is based upon primary data as the secondary data alone could not help to
achieve the research objectives. Therefore this study can be considered as a questionnaire
based cross sectional study.
3.2 Sampling
Samples are selected based on accessibility and availability of the respondents in the
researchers’ convenience and it is ensured that the participants selected consisted of both
male and female. So convenience sampling is used for selecting the respondents.
72 respondents were selected for the study and the sampling frame consists of
consumers drawn from the family, friends and contacts of the researcher. The respondents
were selected only if they are being a part of at least one social network and so the
respondents were gathered through social networking sites especially Facebook. So in short
the target population for the study is the youth who are in at least one social network and they
are from Ernakulam and the surrounding area.
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The number of samples needed for the study is determined using the g3 software and
it is listed below;
The input parameters requested includes,
Tail(s) – two (entered value)
Effect size ІρІ – 0.5
α err prob - 0.01
Power (1-β err prob) – 0.99
And the output generated includes the total sample of 76, Df – 74 and δ (non-centrality
parameter) value is 5. So the sample size selected includes 75 and actual taken for study
includes 72 as suggested by G*Power 3. The sample composition is detailed in the data
analysis section below.
3.3 Data collection
The data collected for the study includes both the primary data and the secondary
data. The secondary data collected includes the studies made on the same topic from various
countries, about the Facebook advertisements types and other articles related to social
network and its members’ attitude and behavior towards its advertisements. The primary data
collected includes; Questionnaire segmented first to know their behavioral pattern on the
social networking sites, second had questions to obtain their attitude and the demographic
information about the respondents in the third segment.
So the data collection method is a structured survey includes the framing of the survey
tool (questionnaire) before starting the data collection and then distributed to the respondents
via electronic media (through Facebook) and the data are entered to the excel file and then
kept for data analysis. Other question apart from the questionnaire is not asked from the
respondents. The questionnaire is originally distributed to 150+ people and only 75 turned up
on time and taken for analysis and out of which 3 were rejected because of incomplete
response.
3.4 Instruments used
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The instrument used for the study is a pre-designed questionnaire. It is framed based
on the findings and results of the previous studies which were intended to measure attitude of
the consumers towards advertising in various medium of advertising including general
advertising in TV, mobile advertising etc.,. In order to create interest to the respondents the
information regarding their social network behavior are listed in the first segment. It includes
their membership in number of social networking sites, their period of using it, third question
is listed with 8 different social networks and they are asked to rank their preference, their
purpose of being in social network, the applications which they have used, the number of
friends in their profile, the extent they were aware of ads, to rank the place where they see ads
most, and their perception about the company advertising; few of these questions are taken
from the study on Spin group by Arminen and Leena, May 2010 and the rest of them are
taken from the study by Katherine K. Roberts, 2010. All the last 5 questions are specifically
about Facebook as my study of the attitude limits only to Facebook ads. All the questions in
this section are multiple choices.
The second section consists of 9 questions which include an attitude related one and
others the underlying belief factor which result to a particular attitude as formulated in the
research model and hypothesis of this segment. All the questions in this segment are 5 point
Likert scale questions which ranges from strongly disagree to strongly agree. All these
questions in this segment are taken from the study by Faraz Saadeghvaziri and Seyedreza
Seyedjavadain, 2011.
The third segment consist of demographic related questions which includes the
gender, age, education and the hours spent by the respondents on the internet per day.
3.5 Tools used
The tools used for the analysis of the study include the SPSS (Statistical package for
social studies), g3 software and Microsoft excel sheet. SPSS is used from which all the
percentage analysis of the demographic questions, behavior related questions are calculated.
Also the reliability tests, independent t tests to test the hypothesis, regression analysis,
Friedman rank test were all conducted for analysis the data collected. The g3 software is used
in order to find the number of samples required for the study and excel sheet is used both for
data collection and for generating graphs comparing the demographic details with the
behavioral aspects.
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CHAPTER 4:
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
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4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Biographical data of the sample:
A sample of 72 respondents was obtained. Biographical data of respondents obtained
included the following: gender, age and education. Additional information such as number of
hours spent on internet per day is also obtained.
4.1.1 Gender, age, education groups in the sample
Table 1: Frequencies and percentages of Gender, Age and Education groups
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
Valid
Valid
Female 33 45.8 45.8 45.8
Male 39 54.2 54.2 100.0
Total
18 to 21
22 to 25
26 to 29
Total
Employed
Graduate
Post Graduate
Total
72
14
45
13
72
16
13
43
72
100.0
19.4
62.5
18.1
100.0
22.2
18.1
59.7
100.0
100.0
19.4
62.5
18.1
100.0
22.2
18.1
59.7
100.0
19.4
81.9
100.0
22.2
40.3
100.0
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It can be observed from the above table that the slight majority of the sample consisted of
males making up 54.2% and the female respondents making up the remaining 45.8%. In the
age groups, the majority (62.5%) of the sample consisted of respondents belonging to the 22-
25 year age group, (19.4%) belonging to 18-21 years age group and about (18.1%) of 26-29.
In the education group, the majority of the respondents (59.7%) are post graduates students,
(22.2%) are employed professionals and the remaining (18.1%) are graduate students.
4.1.2 Hours spent on internet per day
Table 2: Frequencies and percentages of hours spent on internet per day
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid < 1 hour 4 5.6 5.6 5.6
> 2 hour 57 79.2 79.2 84.7
1 to 2 h 11 15.3 15.3 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
The majority of the respondents (79.2%) spent more than 2 hours on internet per day,
followed by 15.3% of the respondents who spend 1 to 2 hours per day and 5.6% spend less
than 1 hour a day.
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4.2 Social Network Behavior and understanding of the advertisements in social
networks
4.2.1 Number of social networking sites belonged to
Table 3: Frequency and percentage of the number of social networking sites belonged to
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid More than three 25 34.7 34.7 34.7
One 9 12.5 12.5 47.2
Three 13 18.1 18.1 65.3
Two 25 34.7 34.7 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
It is inferred that34.7% of the sample users are belonged to more than 3 social networking
sites and an equal percentage (34.7%) of the sample belonged to two of the social networking
sites. 18.1% belonged to three sites and a small 12.5% belonged to only one social
networking site.
4.2.2 Period when started using Social networking sites
Table 4: Frequency and percentages of the period when started using social networking sites
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Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid >2 years 49 68.1 68.1 68.1
1 to 2 years 18 25.0 25.0 93.1
less than 1 year 5 6.9 6.9 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
Majority of the respondents 68.1% are using social networking sites for more than 2 years
from now and 25% are using it only before 2 or 1 year and a mere 6.9% of the people just
joined recently.
4.2.3 Frequency of the use of social networking sites
Table 5: Frequencies and percentages of usage frequency of the social networking sites
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Daily once 29 40.3 40.3 40.3
Monthly 2 2.8 2.8 43.1
Several times/day 32 44.4 44.4 87.5
Weekly 9 12.5 12.5 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
44.4% of the respondents use social networking sites several times a day and almost 40.3%
use it at least once in a day. Only 9% of the users use it once in a week and 2.8% once in a
month.
4.2.4 Number of friends in Facebook
Table 6: Frequencies and percentages of the number of friends in Facebook
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Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid 1 to 100 2 2.8 2.8 2.8
101 to 200 11 15.3 15.3 18.1
201 to 300 21 29.2 29.2 47.2
301 to 400 17 23.6 23.6 70.8
401 to 500 4 5.6 5.6 76.4
501+ 17 23.6 23.6 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
29.2% of the respondents have 201 to 300 friends in Facebook, 23.6% of respondents have
301 to 400 and more than 500 friends each. Only 15.3% have 101 to 200 friends and 5.6%
have 401 to 500 friends and only 2.8% have very less friends of 1 to 100 members.
4.2.5 Extent of awareness about the Facebook ads
Table 7: Frequencies and percentage of the extent of awareness about the Facebook ads
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Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid I am aware of advertising 100% of the
time I go on Facebook
23 31.9 31.9 31.9
I am aware of advertising 25% of the
time I go on Facebook
15 20.8 20.8 52.8
I am aware of advertising 50% of the
time I go on Facebook
22 30.6 30.6 83.3
I am aware of advertising 75% of the
time I go on Facebook
9 12.5 12.5 95.8
I am not aware of advertising on
3 4.2 4.2 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
31.9% of the people are 100% of the time aware of Facebook ads, 30.6% are only 50% of the
time aware about the ads and 20.8% are only 25% of the time aware. 12.5% are 75% of the
time aware an only 4.2% of the people are not aware of the Facebook ads at all.
4.2.6 Change in perception about companies that advertise in Facebook
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Frequency Percent
Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid No change in my perception about that
company
44 61.1 61.1 61.1
Yes - My views about the company are
changed negatively
3 4.2 4.2 65.3
Yes – My views about the company are
changed positively
25 34.7 34.7 100.0
Total 72 100.0 100.0
Table 8: Frequencies and percentages of the change in perception about the companies
that advertise in Facebook
There is no change in perception about a company that is advertising in Facebook says 61.1%
of the sample. About 34.7% of the respondents’ perception have changed in favor of the
company and only 4.2%‘s perception is turned negative to the company.
4.2.7 Places where Facebook ads noticed more by the respondents
Table 9: Places where Facebook ads noticed more by the respondents
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Mean Rank
In Facebook applications 2.65
On the main home page 2.51
When I write a wall post for a friend’s birthday 2.04
On the side bar of other people’s profile 2.79
Test Statisticsa
N 72
Df 3
Asymp. Sig. .000
It is observed from above that the advertisements are noticed more on the side bar of other
people’s profile followed by advertisements in Facebook applications, on the user’s main
page and lastly in their friends wall.
4.2.8 Purpose of using Facebook
Table 10: Prioritizing the purpose of using Facebook
To maintain existing friends/contacts 1.27 1
To find new friends 2.61 2
For business networking 3.02 3
To find activity partners 4.18 4
Dating 5.74 6
Others 4.58 5
When asked to rate purpose of them being in the Facebook, the following result is obtained.
4.2.9 Ranks given to Social media/networking sites by the respondents
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Table 11: Ranks of the social media and networking sites
Social networks Mean Rank
Orkut 4.44
My space 6.14
Twitter 4.03
LinkedIn 5.00
Facebook 1.29
You tube 2.85
Friendster 7.29
Geocities 8.18
Others- Flickr, Google+ 5.78
Test Statisticsa
N 72
Chi-Square 359.324
Df 8
Asymp.
Sig.
.000
a. Friedman Test
It is observed from the table above that Facebook ranks first followed by You Tube, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Orkut, Flickr, My space, Friendster and Geocities as voted by the respondents.
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4.3 DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION REGARDING SOCIAL NETWORK
BEHAVIOR AND ADVERTISEMENTS
X-axis - Membership in number of social networking sites, Y-axis – frequency (Gender)
Graph 1: Gender demographics regarding social Network membership
The graph above shows that females within the sample showed a much higher tendency to be
members to the Social networking sites than males. There were 9 males who are not a
member of at least one site i.e. males showed a slightly higher tendency towards non-
membership than membership regardless of an approximate equal number of male and female
in the sample
X-axis - Membership in Social networking sites, Y-axis – frequency (age)
Graph 2: Age demographics regarding membership in Social networking sites.
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The graph above indicates that there was a higher frequency of membership in the age group
of 22 to 25 years than any other age group. And membership in number of sites is almost
seems mixed irrespective of the ages.
X-axis - Membership in social networking sites, Y-axis – Frequency (time online)
Graph 3: Internet usage hours regarding membership in social networking sites
From the above graph it is very clear that more the time spent on internet higher the
membership in social networking sites. In other words people use internet more because they
are members of the social networking sites.
X-axis - Awareness about Facebook advertisements, Y-axis – Frequency (Education)
Graph 4: Education regarding awareness of Facebook advertisements
It is observed that the post graduate students are almost aware about the advertisements in
Facebook than the graduates and the employed professionals. Awareness of the same among
the employed and the graduate students are almost same. 36 | P a g e
X-axis - Awareness about Facebook advertisements, Y-axis – Frequency (gender)
Graph 5: Gender regarding awareness of Facebook advertisements
From the graph, it is very obvious that the male in the sample are more aware of the
advertisements in Facebook than the female population regardless of the percentage of the
male and female in the population.
X- axis - Change in perception, Y-axis – Frequency (gender)
Graph 6: Gender regarding perception about the company after seeing their Facebook
ads
There is no change in perception for a majority of the population. However male showed a bit
higher level of chance in perception than their female counterparts
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4.4 ATTITUDE ANALYSIS
4.4.1 Reliability of Data
Table 13: Reliability of data
Number of questions Cronbach’s alpha result
Informative-ness
Irritation
Credibility
Entertainment
2
2
2
2
0.832
0.895
0.778
0.840
It has been observed from the above that the Cronbach’s alpha result for all the items are
higher than the lower limit 0.767 which ensures that the data taken for the study are reliable.
4.4.2 Belief factors towards social network advertisements:
Table 14:One-Sample Statistics
N Mean
Std.
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
I use SNS Ad as a reference when I am
purchasing
72 2.68 1.085 .128
I trust ads on SNS 72 2.93 .861 .101
I like to look at most of that I am exposed to 72 2.82 .969 .114
SN based advertisements interests me 72 2.82 1.142 .135
I feel that ads are almost there in every social
network
72 1.97 .934 .110
I receive too much of ads on my SN page 72 2.40 1.083 .128
Ads in SNS provides info I need 72 2.88 .855 .101
I feel nothing unpleasant in receiving ads in
my SNS
72 2.97 1.113 .131
Overall I like SN advertisements 72 2.93 1.025 .121
(1-strongly agree, 2-agree, 3-neutral, 4-disagree, 5-strongly disagree)
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The respondents marked their level of agreement with a five point Likert scale to indicate
their belief and attitude about social network (Facebook) advertising. Results suggested that
respondents believed them as Informative. They agreed that the ads in them provide the
information they needed (Mean=2.88, SD=.855) and they are not unpleasant in receiving ads
in their profile page (Mean=2.97, SD=1.113). Most of them also agreed that these are
entertaining. They liked to look at most of the ads they are expose to (Mean=2.82, SD=0.969)
and it interests them (Mean=2.82, SD=1.142). They also had an agreement with the
credibility of the ad in the social networking sites. When asked whether they use social
network ads as a reference when they are purchasing we got a positive answer i.e., most of
them are agreeing (Mean=2.68, SD=1.085) and they also trust social networking
advertisements (Mean=2.93, SD=0.861).
On the other hand, respondents opinioned about the negative side of the
advertisements too. They agreed that they receive too many advertisements (Mean=2.40,
SD=1.083) and they feel that SN ads are almost they in every place (Mean=1.97, SD=0.934).
This result’s ensures their slight irritation belief about the social networking ads.
4.4.3 Internet users’ attitude towards social network advertisements:
The general attitude towards social networking sites however seems to be positive.
They have given a mean = 2.93 and SD=1.025 when an open question “Overall I like social
networking advertisements’ is put to them.
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4.4.4 Predictors of internet users’ attitudes towards SN advertisements:
Regression analysis was used to determine the social network user’s beliefs about its
advertisements and their attitude towards internet advertising.
Table 15: Multiple Regression of belief factors towards attitude
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients B t
(Constant) I use SNS ads as a reference when I am purchasing -.002 -.011
I trust ads on Social Networking Sites
Credibility
.204
.101
1.049
0.519
I like to look at most of the ads I am exposed to .285 1.56
Social Network based advertisements interests me
Entertainment
-.014
.136
-.091
.735
I feel that ads are almost there in every Social Network .302 1.780
I receive too much of ads on my SN page
Irritation
-.350
-.024
-1.820
-.019
Ads in SNS provides info I need -.270 -1.318
I feel nothing unpleasant in receiving ads in my SNS
Informative-ness
.417
.147
2.656
.669
The multiple regression analysis was carried out to test the hypothesis. From the result from
the above table the positive values of ‘t’ in case of informative-ness and entertainment leads
to prove that they both positively relates to the attitude proving the
H3: Entertainment factor of SN advertising is positively related with the attitude towards SN
advertising and
H4: The informative-ness of SN advertisement is positively related to the attitude towards
SN advertising
The negative value of‘t’ in case of irritation also proves the H1: Irritation of the SN
advertisements is negatively related to the attitude towards SN advertising. However due to
the positive value of ‘t’ in case of credibility we accept the null hypothesis H2: Credibility of
SN advertisement is positively related with attitude towards the SN advertising. Thus from
the above table the hypothesis framed for this study are verified.
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The values of unstandardized beta coefficients for informative-ness show positive relation
and therefore can be considered as the most significant antecedent for user’s attitude towards
social network advertisements. Hence the overall mean value for the attitude and belief
factor is 2.66 which show that the value is lesser than the neutral value of three and hence the
overall attitude of youngster towards Facebook advertising is positive.
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CHAPTER 5:
FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
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5.1 FINDINGS
i) The first objective of the study is ‘To determine the attitude of the youth towards
the Facebook advertisements’ and it is found from the analysis that the young peoples’
attitude towards the Social network advertisements is Positive.
ii) The second objective is to understand the factors affecting the attitude towards the
social network advertisements and it is found that the belief factors credibility, entertainment
and informative-ness are positively related with attitude and irritation is negatively related to
attitude as similar to the studies referred but the most significant factor while considering the
attitude is Informative-ness unlike the referred studies conducted earlier.
iii) The 3rd objective is to understand the behavior of youth in social networking sites
and the following is found. About 68% of the respondents are there in social networks for
more than 2 years, a higher percentage of the people are using these sites several times a day.
At least 50% of the people are aware of the advertisements 100% of the time. The perception
about the companies is neutral.
iv) It is found that the preference towards the social networking sites is as follows;
Facebook, You tube, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn, Flickr, Google+, My Space, Friendster and
Geocities.
v) The preferred location for ads in Facebook is found to be as follows; the
advertisements in the side bar of other peoples profile, the advertisements in Facebook
applications like games, the advertisements on the main home page of the user and the
advertisements noticed when writing a wall post for a friend’s birthday.
vi) The suggestions to the practitioner is included in the next section.
5.2 IMPLICATIONS
The overall attitude of young Ernakulam consumers is positive towards
advertisements in social networks (Facebook). They consider informative-ness to be the
most significant factor while considering the attitude. It is therefore apt for companies to
advertise in the social networking site especially Facebook to target the youth segment in
Ernakulam. Since informative-ness is most significant to them the advertiser should provide
or highlight the information aspect of their ad to be successful in their ad campaign. Further
most of the people are several time users of social networks so it is recommended to allot 2 to
5 advertisements in a particular location for a particular day so that it can be viewed by large
number of people.
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Since through Facebook it is possible to select the target audience more closely it is
suggested for practitioners to positively use Facebook as an advertising tool without irritating
the users than any other social network.
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CHAPTER 6:
CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION
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6.1 CONCLUSION
Thus the attitude of the young Ernakulam consumers towards social network
advertisements is positive. Since they have more significance to informative-ness the
advertisers has to give importance to it when designing the advertising campaign for targeting
them. Further advertisers can go for Facebook as their first option followed by twitter and
LinkedIn for placing their ads. When choosing Facebook as their digital media vehicle then
apt place is that on the side bar of the other people’s profile followed by placing them on the
Facebook apps. However this place choice is highly subjected to change when people started
observing advertisements specifically. Also it is observed that the perception towards the
company which is advertising in the SN sites is neutral in the 2nd case it also changes
positively for some of them. It is seen that irritation is always accompanied with the other
beliefs the user show positively. So the advertiser do not irritate the user and the social
networking sites also has to keep an eye on the advertising segment and streamline them even
though they generate most revenue for them because it may lead to loss in active number of
members.
6.2 LIMITATION
The data is collected on the basis of convenience sampling so the result can be
optimized by including more youth sample from the city. The scale for measuring the attitude
was adopted from study of ling, Piew and chai which was for general advertising therefore a
new scale which is exclusively developed for analyzing the attitude towards social network
advertisements might provide more appropriate results. From the study although consumers’
fins ads informative they don’t like them clutter and irritate them.
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire for the survey
Section A - Behavior on social networks:
1. How many social networks have you joined/belong to? (like Facebook, Twitter)
a) None b) One c) Two d) Three e) >three
2. How long have you been using social networking sites?
a) < 1 years b) 1 to 2 years c) > 2 years
3. How often do you use Social networking sites?
a) Several times/day b) Daily once c) Weekly d) Monthly e) More rarely
4. Rank your preference
Orkut ___
My space ___
Twitter ___
linkedIn ___
Face book ___
Youtube ___
Others________ ___
5. Rank your purpose of being in Social network
To maintain existing friends/contacts ____
To find new friends ____
For business networking ____
To find activity partners ____
Dating ____
Others ____
6. What Facebook ‘Applications’ have you used?
a) Events, photos, Groups (Facebook generated aps)
b) Games (Farmville, Jetman, Mafia wars, etc.,)
c) Fan pages (Being a “fan’ of a product or service)
d) Quizzes (Social Interview, Quiz Maonster, etc.,)
e) Gifts ( Giftshop items – including virtual and real gifts)
7. How many friends do you have on Facebook?
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a) 1-100 b) 101-200 c) 201-300 d) 301-400 e) 401-500 f) 501+
8. To what extent are you aware of advertising on Facebook right now?
a) I am aware of advertising 100% of the time I go on Facebook
b) I am aware of advertising 75% of the time I go on Facebook
c) I am aware of advertising 50% of the time I go on Facebook
d) I am aware of advertising 25% of the time I go on Facebook
e) I am not aware of advertising on Facebook
9. Where do you see advertising on Facebook?
a) In Facebook ‘Applications”
b) On the main homepage
c) When I write a wall post for a friends’ birthday
d) On the side bar of other peoples’ profile
10. Does Facebook advertising change your perception of the companies that advertise
(Do you see them as smarter, more relevant, etc. or as less ethical, more manipulative,
etc.?
a) Yes – My views about the company are changed positively
b) Yes - My views about the company are changed but negatively
c) No change in my perception about that company
Section B - Attitude towards social network advertising
11. Rate the following statements in a five point scale (SA –strongly Agree, A-Agree, N-
Neutral, D-Disagree, SD –Strongly Disagree)
SA A N D SD
I like to look at most ads that I am exposed to
I use social network advertisements as a reference for my purchase
I feel that advertisements are almost there in every social network
I trust advertisements on social networking sites
Advertisements in social networks provide information I need
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I receive too much ads on my social networking page
Social network based advertisements interests me
Overall I like SN based advertising campaigns
I feel nothing unpleasant in receiving advertisements in my social networking sites
Demographic profile of respondents:
12. Gender a)
a) Male b) Female
13. Age group
a) Less than 18 b) 18 to 21 c) 22 to 25 d) 26 to 29
14. Educational qualification
a) Diploma b) Graduate c) Post graduate d) Employed
15. On an average how many hours per day do you spent on internet?
a) < 1 hour b) 1 to 2 hours c) > 2 hours a day
----------------------------------------------#THANKYOU#----------------------------------------------
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