Browsing by Author "McCoy, Scott"

Internet advertising continues to show signs of healthy growth despite the current economic downturn, but online advertisements are often considered undesirable by most users. In this study, we focus on the impact these online advertisements have on users in Chile. The study was conducted in a laboratory setting with 80 student subjects. Results are helpful for both researchers and practitioners.

This research aims to determine why people use Social Networks using an adaptation of the UTAUT2 model. The proposed model considers Subjective Norm, Perceived Playfulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and Perceived Usefulness as predictors of the Intention to Use. Five social networks were chosen in order to carry out this research: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn. Findings shows that social networks are more useful to serve his or her purposes when more people close to the individual are using them. Perceived Playfulness proves to be a strong predictor of Intention to Use Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all these social networks are used for leisure purposes. Perceived Usefulness proves to be the most powerful predictor for Intention to Use in LinkedIn, this social network is mainly used for work purposes. Finally, both Perceived Playfulness and Perceived Usefulness are good predictors of Intention to Use Twitter. Implications are discussed.

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has shown in the USA that the Perceived Usefulness (PU) and the Perceived ease-of-use (PEU) determine the intention to use (IU) a specific technology or information system. In this research, the TAM model is validated in Chile, considering the cultural factors of this country, through an application of the model to university students. The results show that the TAM model works in Chile, regardless of the studied technology or the cultural aspects of the country. Finally, new questions arise related to this topic such as the influence of the intensity of use, familiarity with the technology and the individual’s reference group for the technologies aimed to encourage communication among people.

Consumer awareness about environmental problems is important in guiding their purchasing decisions. The aim of this research is to validate the moderating effect of environmental concern in two relationships: between celebrity–brand congruity and attitudes toward the brand and, between celebrity–brand congruity and purchase intentions, specifically when consumers are exposed to green advertising including a celebrity endorser. The data were collected via an online survey with young North American and Chilean people. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses in both samples. The results show that the only endorser characteristic relevant to the model is celebrity–brand congruity and its relationship with environmental concern (β = 0.23 for North Americans and β = 0.35 for Chileans with p < 0.05). In conclusion, the consumers evaluate congruence between celebrity and brand based on their concern about environment, then consider brand ethicality, and later brand credibility, which generates an attitude toward the brand and purchase intention. Therefore, identifying the consumers environmental concern is key to developing an effective advertisement with an appropriate celebrity. This research helps to understand the green-marketing literature in a more detailed way, due to this moderating variable capable of enhancing purchase intentions of consumers.

Previous research has revealed that mere exposure to a website can positively influence a user’s experience with that website. This research extends this line of investigation by looking into the influence of familiarity on ads that appear on a website as well as the website itself. The results revealed familiarity to have a significant impact on ad evaluation directly and website quality indirectly (through ad entertainment and informativeness).