Effectiveness of Advertisements on Electronic Social Networks

Abstract

Nowadays, the impact of advertising on the growth and survival of organizations is undeniable in the present turbulent and competitive environment. With an increase of membership in electronic social networks, advertising on these networks has become the most important and effective marketing activity. Virtual social networks, known to be the most important communication and marketing tools in societies of the world, have increasing significance in attracting audience and presenting an enormous source of potential customers. This makes it more critical to identify factors that affect the acceptance of advertisements in electronic social networks. This study is an applied and non experimental piece of research which is descriptive and correlational in nature by virtue of its functional goal and data collection method. The study is done with 188 electronic social network users. Cronbach's alpha and a composite reliability test are used to evaluate the reliability. Also, the methods of content analysis, structural analysis and diagnostic validity are used to check the validity. Advertising effect indicators are introduced in nine dimensions, the conceptual framework is provided, and the indicators are confirmed through factor analysis. The analytical software programs were SPSS and Smart PLS. According to the findings, entertaining, resenting and awareness of advertising have effects on users’ attitudes toward advertisements; attitudes toward advertisements, in turn, affect advertisements acceptance as the basic factor determining the effectiveness of advertising.

Keywords

• advertising
• advertising model
• electronic social network
• structural equation modeling