Korean Consumer Perspectives Toward Soicl Media Advertising and Intention to Join Brand Pages

Abstract

Social media offer consumers a new social space to freely discuss their liking for certain brands and their experiences with products and services in which advertisers have limited control over the content and dissemination of brand information. This study examines the effects of social media advertising and the relational variables that might affect intentions to join brand pages among young Korean consumers. The theoretical underpinning of this study is the combination of Uses and Gratifications theory and Theory of Reasoned Action. The following hypotheses are developed. H1a: Hedonic values of social media advertising are positively related to attitudes toward social media advertising.H1b: Utilitarian values of social media advertising are positively related to attitudes toward social media advertising.H2: Attitudes toward social media advertising will positively affect intentions to join a brand page.H3a: Hedonic values of social media advertising are positively related to intention to join brand page.H3b: Utilitarian values of social media advertising are positively related to intention to join brand page.H4: Need to belong is positively related to social influence.H5: Social influence positively affects intentions to join brand pages. Data were collected from a Korean University using convenience sampling techniques. The sampling frame is appropriate since college students are heavy users of social media and they embrace social media platforms as their communication channel with friends and peers. The samples consisted of 249 college students with 54 % females and 46 % males. The overall validity of the measurement model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA results indicate an acceptable fit for the data with χ2 = 425.17, df = 194, p-value =.000, CFI=.94, RMSEA =.07, and TLI=.93. Further, construct validity is also established. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was run to examine the overall theoretical model specification and the hypotheses. The SEM results indicate a satisfactory fit of data with χ2 = 502.23, df = 201, p-value=.000, CFI =.92, RMSEA=.078, and TLI =.91. The SEM structural path results reveal that all hypotheses are supported except H2 and H3a. This study provides a conceptual framework to explain consumers’ intentions to become fans of brand pages among Korean young consumers. The initial evidence reveals that utilitarian values and social influence variables are significant predictors of the consumers’ intentions to become fans of brand pages. As the U&G theory suggests, both the informational (utilitarian) and pleasurable (hedonic) aspects of accessing social media advertising enhance users’ positive attitudes toward the media. Consumers’ positive attitudes toward social media advertising, however, are not strongly related to intention to join brand pages. However, utilitarian values of social media advertising are strongly related to intention to join brand pages. The findings also suggest that young Korean consumers’ intentions to join brand pages are positively related to the social influence exerted on them by their important referents. The social influence effects can be explained by its positive relationship with belongingness. The influence comes from social media friends’ invitations to join brand pages. The study results also suggest that social influence seems to be a much stronger predictor of intentions to join than utilitarian values of social media advertising. The standardized coefficient of the path through social influence (β=.32) is higher than that through utilitarian values (β=.20). Social influence is a strong predictor of intention to join. Therefore marketers can implement group oriented activities to get brand-page fans inviting their social media friends to join. Also, giving loyal fans a space to share their brand experiences with their social media friends is more likely to elicit positive attitudes toward brand pages from them. The success of an online community is based on interactions and open dialogs. The findings also illustrate the relative importance of advertising values in affecting consumers’ perceptions of brand pages. Social media advertising fulfills consumers’ information need more than entertainment need. One interesting question arises from this study is whether or not the findings are unique to collectivist Korean consumers. Future research might look into the influence of cultural values on accepting brands’ pages on social media.