Online Advertising and Online Shopping Behaviour: Perspectives of Uses and Gratification Theory

Abstract

The use of the web for marketing and promotion consists of a significant part of a firms' budget and most of this spending is wasted. Given that internet users have motivations for surfing the web, the extent online advertising fulfil these goals have been scarcely investigated. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the effect of online advertising on online shopping behaviour among undergraduate students of a South-eastern University in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the effects of online advertising entertainment, information, interactivity, and irritation on online shopping behaviour. Data was collected 394 respondents and the hypotheses tested using multiple regression analysis via SPSS version 17. The result showed that consumers use online advertising to seek entertainment, information, and interaction gratification. Also, the irritation associated with online advertising negatively affects online shopping. It was therefore recommended that advertisers should design adverts that are attractive, fun, and exciting to viewers for it to achieve its intended objective. Also, Advertisers can use content marketing strategy to design and develop informative and entertaining contents.