Consumers’ attitude towards social media advertising and their behavioural response: The moderating role of corporate reputation

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between consumers’ attitude toward social media advertising and their behavioural response and the moderating effect of corporate reputation in this relationship. Social media advertising is gradually gaining grounds among practitioners and researchers. Design/methodology/approach – Survey design was used and the respondents totaled 441. They were selected using convenience sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect the data and analyzed using hierarchical regression. Findings – Findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between consumers’ attitude toward social media advertising and their behavioural responses. Again, it was noted that corporate reputation moderates this relationship. Research limitations/implications – This study relied on convenience sampling and a cross-sectional survey design, which makes it difficult to generalize the findings and account for changes that occurred in the attitude of consumers. Originality/value – This study contributes to the understanding of the moderating role of corporate reputation in consumers’ attitude toward social media advertising. © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.