The Influence of Advertisement on Media Users: Empirical Evidence from Three Generational Differences in Malaysia

Abstract

This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of users' preferences on media contents and channels toward the sustainability of mass media as a business model. The aim of the study is to find out whether or not users prefer to access information via the Internet; to examine whether users prefer to use traditional, new, or social media; and to determine the relative influence of advertisement on traditional, new, or social media. This study is based on the primary data that were gathered from questionnaires distributed to 109 people in Klang Valley, Malaysia, which consist of three generations: Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z. The study showed that the majority of people still prefer to use traditional media channels. It also was found that advertisements in traditional media highly influence Gen X but not other generations. However, advertisements in new media influence all generations. In terms of obtaining information, Gen X prefers to obtain information from traditional media, while Gen Y and Gen Z prefer to obtain information from social media. All generations have similar behavior in which they are inclined to spend most of their time using social media compared with other forms of media. INTRODUCTION Mass media refers to diversified media technologies that are used to capture the attention of audiences using mass communication. There are many types of mass communication devices other than radio and newspaper. The advance of technology over time contributes to the rise of new types of communication. According to Ojajarvi and Valtonen (2012), traditional mass media consists of newspaper, radio, and television. New mass media is a different form of media. An example to new mass media is the Internet. The newspaper industry, particularly in Western countries and the United States specifically, has lost its bite to the Internet. The circumstances became worst after users stopped their newspaper subscriptions. This is due to current economic constraints that made many business firms cut their spending by the way of stopping unnecessary large amounts of