Role of conventional ads in a digital age: Effects of internet and conventional advertising on brand awareness and brand desire in China

Abstract

In our increasingly digital era, Internet advertising efforts continue to expand with a strong ability to efficiently target, behaviorally profile, and interactively engage consumers. This trend is a challenge to conventional advertising efforts and calls into question what roles they may continue to play. This study delineates that in the digital era, Internet and conventional advertising efforts have differentiating functions in shaping consumer brand perceptions. Collating data from two independent sources, we examined 195 leading consumer brands across 23 product categories in China in 2011 to verify our key postulates. The findings confirmed the salience of both Internet and conventional advertising efforts on generating brand awareness, and uncovered the unique role of conventional advertising efforts in directly creating brand desire. Furthermore, the effect of conventional advertising efforts on brand desire is contingent on the nature of whether the consumer brands are hedonic or utilitarian.