2. The Effects of Social Media Advertising
in China
The book aims to evaluate social media users’ attitude towards social media
advertising in mainland China.
By conducting a large-
scale national survey in China (N =4,172), the
author systematically and comprehensively examines factors that influence
social media users’ attitude towards social media advertising. Integrating
the perspectives of sociology, psychology, communication and advertising,
the author discusses the influencing factors from the standpoints of con-
sumers, social media platforms, and culture, and the mechanisms among
them. Moreover, this book demonstrates the heterogeneity among mainland
Chinese consumers, as well as their similarities and differences from American
consumers.
The book appeals to scholars and postgraduate students in the fields
of marketing and advertising, and those advertising practitioners who are
interested in Chinese market.
Changchun Xuan received his Doctor of Arts in Advertising from School
of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University and is currently an
assistant professor there. His research interests focus on the effects of new
media advertising and cross-
cultural communication.
3.
4. The Effects of Social Media
Advertising in China
Theory, Practices and Implications
Changchun Xuan
6. Contents
List of Figures vi
List of Tables vii
Foreword 1 –Qingchu Yu viii
Foreword 2 –Shengdong Lin x
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
2 Research Method 24
3 The Effects of Demographic Factors on Attitudes Toward
Advertising 36
4 Effects of Social Media Usage on Attitudes Toward SNA 49
5 The Influence of Consumer Psychological Traits on
Attitudes Toward Advertising: The Example of Loneliness 69
6 Influences of SNSs and SNA Factors on Customers’
Attitudes 81
7 Possible Effects of Cultural Differences on Advertising
Attitudes: The Example of Intrusiveness 95
8 Conclusion and Discussion 103
References 111
Index 130
7. Figures
1.1 Research framework 23
2.1 Age structure of the sample 26
2.2 Gender distribution 27
2.3 Distribution of education 28
2.4 Income distribution 28
3.1 Attitudes toward advertising among different age groups 42
3.2 Attitudes of different income groups toward advertising 43
3.3 Attitudes of educational groups toward advertising 44
4.1 The duration of social media adoption of different gender 55
4.2 The duration of social media adoption of different age groups 56
4.3 The duration of social media adoption of different
education levels 57
4.4 The duration of social media adoption of different
income groups 58
4.5 The duration of social media adoption of different city tiers 58
4.6 Effects of gender on weekly social media use time 59
4.7 Effects of age on weekly social media use time 60
4.8 Effects of education levels on weekly social media use time 60
4.9 The impact of income on weekly social media use time 61
4.10 Effects of city tiers on weekly social media use time 62
4.11 The inverted “U” curve model: The effects of social media
usage on attitudes toward SNA 64
5.1 Amounts of time spent using social media by different
loneliness groups 74
5.2 The impacts of loneliness on attitudes toward SNA 78
6.1 Path estimates for the full sample 89
8. Tables
2.1 Distribution of sample capacity across the country 29
2.2 Variable correlation and data summary 34
3.1 Fitting curves of the influence of age on attitudes toward SNA 42
3.2 Fitting curve of the effects of income on attitudes toward SNA 43
3.3 Fitting curve of the influence of educational background on
attitudes toward social media advertising 45
4.1 Standardized social media usage time values and their
correspondence 62
4.2 Effects of time of use on attitudes toward advertising 63
4.3 Standardized social media adoption time values and their
correspondence 64
4.4 Effects of adoption time on attitudes toward advertising 65
5.1 Fitting curves of the effect of loneliness on duration of social
media usage 74
5.2 Effects of loneliness on attitudes toward social networking
advertising 76
5.3 Fitting curves for the effects of loneliness on attitudes
toward SNA 77
5.4 Fitting curves for the effect of loneliness on attitudes
toward SNA 78
6.1 Moderating effects of city tiers: Path estimates 91
6.2 Moderating effects of generations: Path estimates 92
7.1 Cultural tightness in 31 provinces 100
9. Foreword 1
Qingchu Yu
I am delighted to hear that Dr. Changchun Xuan’s book is about to be
published by Routledge. A brief review of history shows that higher educa-
tion of advertising in mainland China began at Xiamen University. In 1983,
the School of Journalism and Communication in Xiamen University was the
first to establish a major in advertising, thereafter pioneering advertising edu-
cation in China. So it happens that this book will be published in 2022, a gift
for the fortieth anniversary of advertising education in China. Dr. Xuan is a
Ph.D. in Advertising graduate trained by Xiamen University and stayed on to
teach when I was the dean. Although he is young, he has made some remark-
able academic achievements.
In recent years, the development of advertising in China has made consid-
erable progress, and advertising has also become one of the fastest growing
disciplines in China. At such a historical moment, it is a good opportunity for
us to take stock of and reflect on the development of advertising in China. In
terms of publications, we have translated a large number of foreign (mainly
American) advertising works. These academic works have contributed greatly
to the promotion of advertising education and academic research in China.
However, we must also be soberly aware that China’s advertising communi-
cation environment, policies and regulations, as well as teaching and research
have certain peculiarities. The question of whether foreign research findings
are fully applicable to China is in fact a matter for urgent consideration and
response as for the majority of scholars.
According to my observation, not many domestic advertising scholars can
publish academic works abroad, and this attempt by Dr. Xuan is encouraging.
In this book, he focused on the basic issue of social media advertising effects,
and conducted a large-
scale national survey in mainland China. Combining
knowledge from sociology, psychology, communication, advertising and other
disciplines, the book explored the factors that affect social media advertising
attitudes from three dimensions of consumer (demographic characteristics,
social media use behavior, psychological traits) through five sub-
studies, and
systematically analyzed the underlying mechanisms.
The book is of great theoretical and practical significance in the
following aspects. First, based on the reality of mainland China, this study
10. Foreword 1 ix
clarified the internal heterogeneity of Chinese consumers, and the similar-
ities and differences between Chinese consumers and American consumers.
Second, different from previous studies dealing with the “specific” adver-
tising attitudes, this study focused on the “general” social media advertising
attitudes, thus has broader applicability and stronger theoretical significance.
Third, by introducing theoretical perspectives from other disciplines, this
study proposed a series of new variables and constructed a relatively com-
plete social media advertising attitude model, which filled the gap of previous
research. Next, the U-
shaped models of social media advertising attitude
found in this study highlighted that, apart from the dominating linear model
provided by western academia, there may be a “turning point” in social media
advertising attitudes, which provided a new perspective for future research.
Last but not least, advertising managers can use these findings to understand
how social media users perceive the social media advertisement when making
advertising decisions.
Hope this book can inspire you somehow and hope Dr. Xuan can continu-
ously have enlightening research for us in the future.
Qingchu Yu
Dean of the School of Journalism
and Communication
Xiamen University
Xiamen, China
February 2022
11. Foreword 2
Shengdong Lin
Social networking sites (SNS), commonly known as social media, are online
platforms that allow users to create public profiles, and communicate and
share information with others. Social networking advertising (SNA) is a form
of advertising that utilizes SNS as a delivery platform. SNA differs in delivery
methods, in which some use pushing strategy while others try to pull.
SNSs in China have their unique characteristics. Due to the Great Firewall,
Mainland Chinese use Weibo as a micro-
blogging substituting Twitter and
use QZone, Renren and Kaixin as social media instead of Facebook and
LinkedIn. China also has its own “versions” for instant messaging service
such as WeChat (an equivalent of Whatsapp and Snapchat), media-
sharing
service such as Youku and Tudou (equivalents of Youtube), and fast-
growing
e-
commerce sites such as Taobao and JD (equivalents of Amazon and eBay).
Moreover, there are also short video apps, like Douyin and Kuaishou, which
have been spread to other countries. These hundreds of SNSs in main-
land China have given rise to an independent kingdom in the cyberspace, a
separated internetwork with billions of users, which are much more than the
population of the United States.
The social media in China are large in scale with an increasing number
of people going mobile. According to China Internet Network Information
Center, by June 2021, the number of China’s Internet users had reached
1011 million and most of them used social media. SNSs are supposed to play
an important role in promoting brands or driving sales. Yet, in the digital age,
consumers are more sensitive to the invasiveness and privacy than ever. Sina
Weibo had more than 500 million users at its height but lost 80 percent of
them by 2014. One of the reasons is the propensity of unsolicited advertising
and over-
commercialization. SNSs have to manage their advertising carefully
to avoid the same error.
Chinese SNS users are very heterogeneous. In urban cities like Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou, SNSs are widespread and frequently used by
residents. However, in rural areas, the economic, political and social impacts
of SNSs are much smaller. Besides, the several distinct and momentous events
in the second half of the twentieth century has shaped different generational
cohorts with various modes of decision making and buying behavior. Factors
12. Foreword 2 xi
of regional and generational cohorts are thus important when exploring
Chinese market. As more and more Western companies enter China market,
they need to understand more about differences between markets and how
to effectively introduce advertising appeals into an independent SNS realm
like China.
Dr. Changchun Xuan and I, with Dr. Rui Chen and Professor Hong Cheng,
launched a national survey about mainland Chinese consumers’ attitudes
towards SNS advertising five years ago. The project is supported by a grant
from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No.71372076).
A nation-
wide sample of 4,172 respondents were collected by an online
survey company. It is a sufficiently large and varied sample. Dr. Xuan used
part of the data and finished his Ph.D. dissertation. He did a great job. It
was recognized as the Excellent Ph.D. graduation thesis of Fujian Province
in 2021. This book is based on his excellent dissertation. It enables readers to
understand the attitudes of mainland Chinese consumers towards SNS adver-
tising in details, and put into practice immediately.
Shengdong Lin, Ph.D.
Professor, Renmin University of China
Beijing, China
February, 2022
13. Acknowledgements
Many thanks go to Routledge Press for the trust and support to publish this
book. The book focuses on the effectiveness of social media advertising,
which was my research interest during my Ph.D. study. After finishing this
manuscript, I could not help thinking of that period of time. In my loving
campus, there are blue coast, flaming phoenix flowers, and singing of cicadas
always accompanying me. During six years of my master and Ph.D. study,
I experienced hard times but never gave up, and I experienced disappointment
but always remained optimistic. I’m so grateful to see this manuscript from
idea to publication.
Most importantly, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Prof.
Shengdong Lin in the School of Journalism, Renmin University of China,
for giving me the opportunity and leading me step by step into the academic
world. Thank you so much, not only for giving this book the most patient and
careful revision, but also for giving me a starting point of my academic life.
Your rigorous research attitude, and your enthusiasm for students, set the best
model for me as a researcher and a professor.
I would like to express my deep love to School of Journalism and
Communication, Xiamen University, China. Thanks not only for sponsoring
this research, but also for giving me six years of peaceful and wonderful study
time and a perfect platform to start my academic career.
I am grateful to Prof. Hong Cheng, the Dean of School of Communication,
Loyola University Chicago; to Prof. Peiai Chen, Prof. Xingmin Huang and all
my teachers in School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University,
for giving me valuable guidance and suggestions during my Ph.D. study.
Many thanks go to my friends. They are Rui Chen, the associate professor
of School of Management, Xiamen University; Hanyun Huang, the associate
professor of School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University;
Sha Li, the instructor of School of Journalism and Communication,
Huaqiao University; Xuan Du, the Ph.D. candidate of College of Media and
International Culture, Zhejiang University; Junhao Wu, the postgraduate stu-
dent of School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University; and
Xiayu Zhou, the postdoctoral fellow of China Foreign Languages Publishing
14. Acknowledgements xiii
Administration. They have all contributed to this book. I hope I can have
more academic sparks with my friends in the future.
Last but not least, special thanks go to my family. My parents’ endless
love gave me the confidence and persistence to pursue this endeavor. They
brought me up, and have planted the seeds of knowledge in my heart since my
childhood. They are not intellectuals, but have strong and natural beliefs in
knowledge. My mother always encourages me to enrich myself and become a
knowledgeable, educated and responsible man to society. Her words are very
simple, but have a profound influence on my life. This book is the best gift to
my mother for her 55th birthday.
newgenprepdf
15.
16. DOI: 10.4324/9781003310594-1
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
In the era of Web 2.0, the media environment in China has undergone drastic
changes. In particular, the rapid popularization and development of mobile
Internet devices, such as smartphones, have led to an increasing number of
social networking sites (SNS). SNSs are online platforms that allow users to
communicate and generate public information. These platforms have different
rules for establishing connections. Although most use two-
way connections,
some sites allow only one-
way connections, such as brand pages (Taylor,
Lewin, David, 2011). Social networking advertising (SNA) is spread
through social networking media. Some advertisements employ a “push”
strategy, while others employ a “pull” strategy.
In mainland China, the Great Firewall, which is based on the Great Wall
and Golden Shield technology, is used to block information that violates
national legislation and domestic conditions and has also contributed to the
prosperity of domestic self-
operated SNSs. Mainland users use Weibo instead
of Twitter, and they use Qzone and Kaixin.com instead of Facebook and
LinkedIn. China also has its own versions of instant messaging services, such
as WeChat, which is similar to WhatsApp and Snapchat, as well as its own
media content-
sharing services, such as Youku and iQiyi, which are similar
to YouTube. There are also fast-
growing e-
commerce sites, such as Taobao
and JD, which are similar to Amazon and eBay. Hundreds of SNSs in main-
land China comprise a relatively independent kingdom in the global Internet
space, with hundreds of millions of users, which far exceeds the total popula-
tion of the US, forming a unique culture of SNSs (Stout, 2015).
In China, an increasing number of people access the Internet through their
cell phones. In December 2018, the number of Internet users in China had
reached 817 million (Internet Society of China, 2019). Many recent studies
have shown that social networking media have become important channels
for advertising and e-
shopping in China (PwC, 2016). Social network involve-
ment and purchase behaviors are closely related to Chinese consumers’
ratings and recommendations by their friends on SNSs, which have been
shown to be the most important factors influencing their shopping decisions
17. 2 Introduction
(Lau, Chi, Gong, 2015). However, many SNSs continue to lose users. In
China, Sina Weibo, which once had more than 500 million users, lost 80% by
2014. A major reason was “the ubiquitous advertising and a tendency of over-
commercialization” (Wang, 2014). Therefore, SNSs must be careful in dealing
with SNA to avoid the same mistakes.
In 2013, the Harvard Business Review published a series of articles on
the topic of “The Death of Traditional Advertising” to discuss future
developments and changes in advertising communication. As SNSs have
become increasingly popular, SNA has become a considerable force in the
advertising landscape, attracting an increasing number of advertisers because
of advantages, such as personalized service and content that triggers users’
engagement. Following the success of Facebook and Twitter in SNA, China
has begun to engage in SNA extensively, and the trial of the advertising flow
in Moments on WeChat in 2015 led to its discussion in the entire society
(Wu Shi, 2015). In recent years, domestic SNA has developed rapidly, and
its market has expanded. In 2018, the market size of SNA in China was 40
billion yuan (E-View, 2018). According to Tang Daosheng, Vice President of
Tencent, “the era of SNA has arrived.”
However, although the great popularity of SNSs has brought vitality and
hope to the advertising industry, it has also troubled consumers. How can
consumers’ attitudes toward SNA be scientifically and rationally assessed?
What factors influence consumers’ attitudes toward SNA? What is the spe-
cific mechanism? These questions must be explored and studied by scholars
of Chinese advertising. Compared with Western studies, researchers have
found that research on consumers’ attitudes toward SNA in China has lagged
behind significantly. Moreover, the cultural differences between China and the
West make it impossible for Western research findings to be generalized to the
Chinese context.
Studies in Western countries have shown that consumers’ attitudes toward
SNA may be diametrically opposite in different countries and in different cul-
tural contexts. For example, based on age, young people in the US were found
to hold the most negative attitudes toward advertising, while in the UK,
young people held more positive attitudes toward advertising compared with
the elderly (Zanot, 1984). Pollay et al. (1990) found that Chinese consumers
showed more positive attitudes toward advertising than Western consumers
in a survey of 123 consumers in three major cities in China (Pollay, David,
Wang, 1990). These findings imply that it is necessary to further explore
advertising attitudes based on examinations of consumers in their own coun-
tries. Therefore, the present study conducted a survey and analysis of Chinese
consumers’ attitudes toward SNA.
Since the 1990s, studies have been conducted to examine Chinese con-
sumers’ attitudes toward advertising, most of which have focused on trad-
itional media, especially television (TV) advertising. The findings of these
previous studies were inconsistent. Some studies found that Chinese con-
sumers were averse to TV advertising (Zhao Shen, 1995). Others have found
18. Introduction 3
that Chinese consumers favored advertising (Zhou, Zhang, Vertinsky,
2002). It must be noted that Chinese consumers are not undifferentiated,
and it is reasonable to speculate that consumers with different demographic
characteristics may hold very different attitudes toward advertising.
In the age of social media, Chinese SNS users have undoubtedly become
heterogeneous. While in some highly developed metropolitan cities, such
as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, almost all residents use SNSs fre-
quently, in some rural areas, the economic, political, and social impacts of
SNSs are much less. The rate of the popularization of the Internet in rural
China was only 38.4%, and most rural users used the Internet for watching
videos or chatting with friends (CNNIC, 2019). Consumers of different
ages prefer different shopping environments and exhibit different purchase
decisions and behaviors (Chen, 2017). These previous findings suggest that
Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward SNA are the result of a complex com-
bination of factors. To reveal as comprehensively and accurately as possible
the influence of each variable on consumers’ attitudes toward SNA and their
specific mechanisms, this study examines several factors, such as consumers’
demographic characteristics, social media usage behavior, psychological
characteristics, the characteristics of SNSs, SNA-
related characteristics, and
cultural differences.
1.2 Literature Review
1.2.1 Social Networking Sites and SNA
Since the 1990s, the emergence of the World Wide Web and the development
of the Internet have connected the globe and brought us into the informa-
tion age. The ways in which people access information and the amount of
information available continue to grow at a tremendous rate, during which
social media plays an important role. Because traditional media provide only
content, readers, viewers, and listeners cannot participate in its creation or
development (Ward, 2010). Networking social media based on Web 2.0 facili-
tate communication, allowing individual and collaborative participation in
the creation, distribution, and adaptation of content and its application.
SNSs have thus been defined as “Internet applications that allow the pro-
duction and exchange of user-
generated content (UGC) based on Web 2.0
technologies” (Kaplan Haenlein, 2010), including collaborative projects,
blogs, and tweets, content communities, social networks, virtual game worlds,
and virtual social worlds (McGregor Siegel, 2013). According to Jenkins
(2006), social media have emerged as a convergence culture that changes
relationships between technology, industry, market, art genres, and audiences
through media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence.
Qualman (2012) pointed out that social media have led to an age of instant
communication and transparency, in which people can use social media
to “filter” the information they require. The possibilities of social media
19. 4 Introduction
have brought new potential to various fields and attracted the attention of
researchers. Social media have become the fourth major research subject since
the Internet, mobile phones, and ICT (Zheng et al., 2016). Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube are the main social media platforms to which researchers pay
attention (Snelson, 2016). Van and Coursaris (2014) found that nearly half
of all social media research dealt with several topics, including education and
learning, culture, and community, health care, politics, and public policy, as
well as user demographics. The advertising and marketing field is also deeply
aware of the opportunities and challenges that social media bring to both
industry and academia (Hensel Deis, 2010).
Jeremiah et al. (2009) divided the development of social media into five
eras: the era of social relations, the era of social functions, the era of social
colonization, the era of social content, and the era of social commerce. While
relevant practices are being conducted in industry, scholars are engaged in
research, analyzing the characteristics of SNSs, discussing the reasons for the
success of social media as a new advertising and marketing platform, and
exploring its potential. Previous research has focused on the following: First,
the construction of virtual brand communities. For example, Hensel and
Deis (2010) found that in the age of attention economy, social media have
challenged traditional advertising and marketing models. How to attract
customers’ attention and communicate with users to improve brand image
and increase the number of fans should become the focus of enterprises.
McKee (2010) proposed the Social Media Trinity Model, which places the
brand at the center and the network, dialogue, and community at the three
sides of a triangle. According to McKee (2010), enterprises operate brand
communities through various SNSs. The second is the consumers’ motivation
and decision-
making process. Mangold and Faulds (2009) demonstrated
that social media play a significant role in all stages of consumers’ decision-
making process as well as in the formation of their ideas and attitudes (2009).
Luke (2009) showed that companies use social media platforms to quickly
reach opinion leaders and their targeted groups through KOLs. The third is
the uses and gratification theory, which was applied in Bourdieu’s social cap-
ital theory. The latter theory regards social networks and communities owned
by social media users as resources for enterprises to increase their brand
exposure so that users can produce, share, and persuade (e.g., eWOM) users
in their social networks (Zinnbauer Honer, 2011; Paquette, 2013). In add-
ition, companies have used UGC to involve users in the innovation process
(Hodge, 2010). The fourth is viral marketing, the key to which lies in whether
users can consciously follow the content sent by the enterprise to reach more
relevant groups (Chu, 2011).
Many researchers have studied the factors that promote user forwarding.
For example, based on the conceptual framework of fundamental interper-
sonal relations orientation (FIRO) proposed by Schutz, Ho and Dempsey
(2010), we examined the effects of attribution need, independence, altruism,
personal growth, curiosity, and other factors on forwarding behavior. Plume
20. Introduction 5
and Slade (2018) explored the advertising forwarding behavior of enterprises
from the perspective of UGT. These studies have provided valuable insights
into the success of advertising and marketing on SNSs. They also revealed
possible directions for future development. However, most previous studies
have focused on the analysis of the characteristics of media platforms and
ignored an important means of marketing implementation—
advertising.
Hirschman and Thompson (1997) considered that to solve problems in the
field of marketing and advertising, it is necessary to understand the relation-
ship between consumers and media, and the relationship between consumers
and advertising.
Whether in the form of a social network or blog, SNSs accommodate many
advertisements.Advertisementsthatrelyonsocialmediaplatformsarereferred
to as social networking advertisements (SNA) (Yuanxin Noichangkid,
2011). Unfortunately, there has been less research on social media in the adver-
tising field than in the field of marketing and communications (Khang, Ki,
Ye, 2012). The theoretical basis of previous studies is also weak (Alalwan
et al., 2017). Most studies have combined SNA with online and interactive
advertising, and the number of studies on SNA is limited (Bond et al., 2010;
Idemudia, 2014; Aslam Karjaluoto, 2017). These studies have focused on
the role of SNA in increasing brand equity, improving brand attitude, and
promoting purchase intention and purchase behavior (Dehghani Turner,
2015; He Qu, 2018; Duffett, 2015; Mir, 2012). Other studies have directly
examined the relationship between SNA and the long-or short-
term sales of
corporate goods (Brettel et al., 2015; Mackey Liang, 2013). In addition to
marketing campaigns, academic research on public health and medicine has
focused on the potential roles of SNA, such as recruiting smoking cessation
groups (Frandsen, Walters, Ferguson, 2014), academic research subjects
(Kapp, Peters, Oliver, 2013), and medical subjects (Subasinghe et al.,
2016; Nash et al., 2017; Topolovec-
Vranic Natarajan, 2016). The literature
on social networking media tends to be “results oriented,” attaching great
importance to the practical benefits of SNA for advertisers. However, only a
few studies have been conducted on the relationship between consumers and
SNA. Advertising attitude as a critical factor to understand the relationship
between consumers and the effects of advertising should be brought to the
attention of researchers (Wang Sun, 2010).
“Attitude” refers to a stable positive or negative acquired tendency toward
a certain object or a certain kind of object (Assael, 1984; Schwarz, 2007).
Attitudes toward advertising have been considered to play a vital role in
traditional media advertising research but have received little attention in
SNA research (Ferreira Barbosa, 2017). Logan et al. (2012) investigated
differences in female college students’ attitudes toward SNA and TV
advertisements. Ferreira and Barbosa (2017) compared users’ attitudes
toward different forms of SNA on Facebook and found that users had more
positive attitudes toward news stream ads than toward pop-
ups and banners.
Some previous studies have focused on specific aspects of attitudes toward
21. 6 Introduction
SNA or have applied it as a mediating variable to examine the influence of
SNA characteristics, users’ social media activities, and other factors on adver-
tising attitudes. For example, Lee and Hong (2016) used consumers’ empathy
displays, a dimension of users’ attitudes toward social media advertisements,
as a mediating variable. They demonstrated the effects of the degree of infor-
mation and creativity of social media advertisements on consumers’ empathy
displays and purchase intentions. In two studies, Chu and Celebi (2015)
showed that joining Facebook groups and other social media use behaviors
had a positive impact on users’ attitudes toward SNA, whereas users with
positive advertising attitudes were more inclined toward brand promotion
information-
push behaviors. However, Can and Kaya (2016) found that
social media use, perceived difficulty, and psychological dependence did not
affect people’s attitudes toward SNA, which contradicted Chu and Celebi’s
findings. In general, these previous studies emphasized the generation of posi-
tive advertising attitudes. However, survey results have shown that there are
more people with negative attitudes toward advertising on online platforms
than on other media platforms. Banister et al. (2013) showed that although
college students were active users of social media, they had negative attitudes
toward advertisements and were less likely to click on them if their content
did not match their needs. Other factors, such as privacy concerns, have also
been shown to negatively influence users’ attitudes toward SNA (Yaakop
et al., 2012; Roberts, 2010). Therefore, the current understanding of attitudes
toward SNA is far from sufficient. To increase understanding of the effects of
SNA, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive and in-
depth study of adver-
tising attitudes. In addition, because international academic research has
often been based on SNA and users in the US, the UK, and other countries in
the West, cultural differences and other factors prevent the generalization of
their results to the Chinese context. For example, Kim (2014) found that in an
individualistic culture, such as that of the US, users who were “liked” by their
friends tended to avoid social media advertisements, while there was no cor-
relation between the two in a collectivist culture, such as that of South Korea.
A specific study on consumers’ attitudes toward SNA based on the domestic
situation in China is required.
Compared with Western countries, in China, the Internet and social media
were introduced late, but their usage has rapidly increased. Although Chinese
research on social media was delayed, it has since proliferated. According
to Ye’s (2018) statistics on social media in the SSCI and AHCI databases,
American scholars started research on social media in 2007, while Asian
scholars in China, Japan, and South Korea began research on social media
in 2011. After 2016, the number of Asian studies began to increase exponen-
tially, among which Chinese scholars had the advantage. They have focused
on WeChat, Weibo, QQ, and other social media platforms, and their research
topics have included urban management, communication marketing, data
mining, and content analysis (Ye, 2018). Chinese scholars paid attention to
social media earlier than those in the west. In 2009, the number of Internet
22. Introduction 7
users in China was the highest worldwide, and Weibo was officially launched
in the same year. Since then, the amount of social media-
related research has
continuously increased. In 2011, the emergence of WeChat introduced a new
mode of communication, and opinion leaders as a research topic began to
be investigated. Since 2014, with the popularization of 4G, social media have
developed rapidly in China. College students have become the main users of
social media, and user behavior analyses and precision marketing have found
a new direction for social media-
related research (Chen Chen, 2017).
The present review of social media research in the field of advertising
and marketing revealed that early studies were critical, focusing on compara-
tive analyses of social media platforms and traditional media platforms to
better understand the possible impact of this new media platform. In their
research, Li and Cao (2013) found that social media differed from traditional
media in terms of communication channels, methods, content, audiences,
and influence cycles. They recommended directions for the development
of social media marketing strategies in enterprises, social media platforms,
and governments. Han (2014) summarized the value and characteristics of
social media marketing by studying the current situation of social media
marketing in China and pointing out the advantages of social media in pro-
moting brand images and sales, as well as the disadvantages of social media,
such as the difficulty of controlling and detecting them. Researchers also
examined social media platforms, such as WeChat and Weibo, after their user
bases grew. For example, Hou Jia (2016) analyzed the cases of Coca-
Cola
and Dragonair and summarized the roles of WeChat, Weibo, and Renren
in product and brand promotion, customer “stickiness” enhancement, crisis
management, and other aspects. Numerous studies have been conducted on
these platforms, but the results are highly repetitive. These detailed analyses
and summaries revealed not only attractive possibilities for social media
platforms in the field of marketing, but also the shortcomings of overgen-
eralization and highly similar conclusions. In these studies, advertising has
not been considered an important means of achieving goals. For example,
Yang (2014) focused on the development history of SNA and divided it into
an initial stage represented by BBS and instant messaging tools, a dormant
stage represented by blogs, content-
sharing media, and SNS, and an explo-
sive stage represented by Weibo and WeChat. Li’s (2013) research on the per-
formance strategy of SNA found that, compared with traditional Internet
advertising, the core advantage of SNA is its user and platform value, and
SNA should focus on creating better user experiences. Some scholars have
considered that traditional advertising was the product of the industrial
age and that SNA is the product of the information age. Since the focus
has shifted from the product to the consumer, SNA no longer focuses on
advertising exposure only but relies more on precision transmission platform
features. Scholars even predicted that as SNA increased, “traditional adver-
tising will die” (Guo, 2015). Although traditional advertising may not yet be
dead, the rise of SNA is indisputable.
23. 8 Introduction
With the rapid development of social media platforms in China, the forms
of advertising on each platform have been constantly updated. Researchers
have gradually shifted their focus from comparing SNA with traditional
advertising to empirical research on SNA on specific platforms. For example,
Zhao’s (2014) study on WeChat and Weibo led him to speculate that the
reason the conversion rate of social media advertisements was higher than
that of traditional media and portal websites was that situational factors in
social media advertisements offered users a better social experience. Based
on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), Ma (2015) verified that three situ-
ational factors—
namely, the audience’s behavioral attitude, subjective norms,
and behavioral control perception of SNA—
influenced users’ consump-
tion of advertising information. Among various forms of SNA, WeChat’s
circle of friends information flow advertising has attracted much attention
(Airui, 2019). Some scholars have pointed out that the success of this form
of advertising not only benefits from the accuracy of the WeChat platform
but also strictly observes the law that “content is king” (Shi, 2015). However,
some scholars have provided different findings. Xu and Yang (2016) found
that variables related to advertising itself, such as advertising performance
and advertising brand fit, had little influence on user engagement, while
factors related to social media attributes, such as the number of friends and
viewing frequency, had a significant influence on user engagement. Based on
the unified technology acceptance and use theory (UTAUT), Wu and Zhou
(2016) found that performance expectations and social presence enhanced
users’ behavioral intention to use advertisements in friend moments, informa-
tion flow, and community, while effort expectation and community influence
did not have significant effects.
In general, the theoretical basis of domestic research on SNA has been
weak. Only single social media platforms and advertising forms have been
examined in previous studies, and the selection of dependent variables was
haphazard. Similar to foreign studies, these previous studies have usually
been results oriented, and they have focused on the behavior of social media
users while ignoring their attitudes toward advertising. Moreover, behav-
ioral variables have been treated as dependent variables (Qiu Chen, 2018).
Scholars have discussed both the characteristics of social media platforms
and the influence of SNA content on users’ participation behavior and behav-
ioral intention. However, the following questions need to be addressed: What
are people’s attitudes toward SNA, not only individual forms of advertising?
What factors affect these attitudes? What is the mechanism of action?
In 2020, the number of social media users in China reached 1.04 billion,
and this number continues to grow (Hootsuite, 2020). The SNA industry
continues to prosper. In 2019, advertising spending on social media in China
reached $14.09 billion, an increase of 20% from the previous year, which was
the fastest growth among all categories of advertising spending. In contrast,
there is a lack of research on SNA in the academic world, and little is known
about attitudes toward SNA. On one hand, compared with foreign studies,
24. Introduction 9
there is less Chinese academic research on domestic SNA, and it lacks system-
atic and theoretical guidance. However, because of China’s culture and demo-
graphic characteristics, as well as the characteristics of Weibo, WeChat, and
other social media, the results of foreign research on Facebook, Twitter, and
other social media should not be generalized to the Chinese context. Instead,
we should focus on the actual situation of the country to better explain the
current situation and predict the future.
1.2.2 Attitudes toward Social Networking Advertising (SNA)
As advertising is one of the main ways of increasing the profitability of social
media platforms, advertising effects are of utmost concern. Because of its
importance, scholars have evaluated SNA from different perspectives, such as
the communicator (Yang, Dong, Song, 2005), the consumer (Ding, Zhao,
Zhu, 2010), and brand equity (Sun Li, 2015). Among these, the consumer’s
perspective has been the most widely used. The variable of advertising atti-
tude was evaluated from the consumer’s cognitive perspective. This variable is
a prerequisite for the effectiveness of SNA (Chu, Kamal, Kim, 2013) and
an important link between stimulus and behavior (Tan, Ling, Li, 2013).
The word attitude refers to an individual’s perception of external things.
The term attitudes toward SNA refers to consumers’ cognitive, emotional,
and behavioral tendencies in browsing social media and receiving advertising
stimuli. Generally, the investigation of advertising attitudes involves two
levels: general advertising attitudes and specific advertising attitudes. General
advertising attitudes are also called overall attitudes. Research subjects include
various forms of social media, focusing on consumers’overall attitudes toward
SNA. Specific SNA attitudes are held toward a specific type of social media
(e.g., Facebook, Twitter, short videos, WeChat, Weibo, etc.) or a specific form
of SNA (e.g., information flow advertising, native advertising, etc.).
The review of the literature showed that foreign research initially focused
on whether the SNA was accepted and subsequent attitudes toward it; that
is, general advertising attitudes. The key to the effectiveness of SNA lies in
the audience’s advertising attitudes. Only by adopting a positive or accepting
attitude toward the advertisements can desirable communication economic
effects be achieved. Researchers have found that consumers tend to hold
negative attitudes toward SNA or simply ignore them. For example, Taylor,
Lewin and Strutton (2011) found that because the audience’s motivation for
using SNSs was to satisfy social needs, content needs (e.g., information, enter-
tainment, etc.), or structural needs (e.g., killing time, etc.), the appearance
of advertisements negatively affected their purpose and motivation for using
social media, which resulted in negative attitudes toward social advertising.
Through in-
depth interviews, Hadija, Barnes and Hair (2012) found that their
participants did not hate SNA, but they often ignored it. The reason was that
in using SNSs, the salience of other content attracted their attention. However,
some studies have found that when an advertising message was interesting,
25. 10 Introduction
honest, and credible, the audience adopted a positive attitude toward SNA
(Clemons, Barnett, Appadurai, 2007). Moreover, when users had a positive
attitude toward social media sites, their attitudes toward advertising on the
sites tended to be positive (Bruner Kumar, 2000).
However, the results of previous research on the “general” advertising
attitudes of foreign consumers on social media have been controversial, and
a sufficient consensus has not been reached. Therefore, because some social
media platforms are predominant in the advertising field, researchers have
gradually begun to study attitudes toward advertising on specific social media
platforms. Based on the current situation, the number of studies on “specific”
advertising attitudes abroad is considerable. Previous studies on “specific”
advertising attitudes have focused on platforms such as Facebook (Lukka
James, 2014; Dondolo, 2014; Yaakop, Anuar, Omar, 2013; Duffett, 2015),
Twitter (Sook-
Kwon et al., 2014; Brooks Cheshire, 2012), and YouTube
(Yang et al., 2017). Some studies have compared users’ attitudes toward
advertising on different platforms (Logan, 2014), most of which have focused
on Facebook.
Therefore, there is a lack of research on general SMA attitudes in foreign
academic circles, which remains to be further explored by researchers. Many
foreign scholars have already been aware of the need for research on this
topic. For example, Alalwan et al. (2017) found that previous studies did not
pay enough attention to overall attitudes toward SNA. Moreover, previous
research applied only qualitative methods to determine attitudes toward SNA.
Taylor et al. (2011) proposed that research on SMA attitudes should “try not
to specify advertising platforms to obtain a general advertising attitude.”
Although research on SMA attitudes has shown that foreign audiences
generally have held negative attitudes toward SMA, it is worth noting that
social media can improve advertising attitudes in many ways. Previous
studies have shown that audiences’ attitudes toward SMA vary greatly, which
indicates the possibility of improving advertising attitudes. From this point
of view, research on advertising attitudes on specific social media platforms
has focused on the factors that affect SMA attitudes. Foreign scholars began
to explore the factors that affected advertising attitudes earlier, and their the-
oretical foundation was solid. The review of this literature showed that these
studies were guided by theoretical models, such as the UGT, the technology
acceptance model (TAM), the theory of rational behavior (TRA), the theory
of planned behavior (TPB), and other theoretical models.
The consumer’s perspective is derived from demographic characteristics,
social attribute variables, and psychological variables (e.g., beliefs, motiv-
ations, values, etc.) to explore the relationship between factors and attitudes.
In researching demographic factors, such as age, education, and average
monthly consumption, most scholars found a significant impact on attitudes.
Previous studies have shown that elderly and educated people held negative
attitudes toward advertising and that men and women had different motives
for surfing the Internet (Petrovici Paliwoda, 2007). Male advertising
26. Introduction 11
attitudes were influenced by informativeness and entertainment, and women’s
advertising attitudes were influenced by social interaction. Regarding social
attributes, research has found that social identity, group awareness, and group
interest norms significantly affected SMA attitudes (Zeng, Huang, Dou,
2009). At the psychological level, previous studies have shown that different
motivations (e.g., obtaining information, enjoying entertainment, socializing,
etc.) had different effects on SMA. In addition, consumers’ beliefs in adver-
tising (Kamal Chu, 2012) and advertising values (Hamouda, 2018) were
also found to affect advertising attitudes.
From the perspective of media and advertising, scholars have explored
the content and technical factors that affect attitudes toward advertising.
Positive influential factors included the informativeness, entertainment, and
credibility of the advertising content, whereas negative influential factors
included intrusiveness and so on (Jung et al., 2016). From the perspective of
the theory of advertising value, most scholars have drawn similar conclusions
in their research on SMA attitudes in different countries; that is, the inform-
ativeness, entertainment, and credibility of advertising increase public value,
which positively affected advertising attitudes. Intrusiveness was found to
significantly reduce the value of advertising, which negatively affected
attitudes. However, some studies have failed to discover the significant effects
of these factors. For example, in their research on Facebook, Noprisson et al.
(2016) and Dar et al. (2014) did not find a significant effect of information on
advertising attitudes. From the perspective of the media, scholars have been
concerned about the impact of social media and technology on advertising
attitudes in the context of big data technology. For example, from the per-
spective of social media, studies have found that relationships (Lin Kim,
2016) had a significant impact on advertising attitudes. From the perspective
of technical media, the negative impact of privacy concerns on advertising
attitudes was indicated.
In addition, a few foreign studies have focused on the influence of the
characteristics of media, products, brands, and corporations on SMA
attitudes. There has been little foreign research on products, brands, and
corporations, and more attention has been paid to macro-
level corporate-
level variables. For example, Boateng and Okoe (2015) found that corporate
reputation was a key factor influencing the effect of consumer’s advertising
attitudes on their behaviors.
The results of foreign research have shown that the characteristics of media
and advertising and the consumer’s perspective are key dimensions. Existing
research has been based mainly on TAV, UGT, TAM, and other theoretical
frameworks. Moreover, scholars have focused on the positive value of adver-
tising. The variables of informativeness and entertainment have often been
used in SNA research. Petrovici and Paliwoda (2007) and Logan et al. (2012)
found that information acquisition and hedonic benefits were important
factors that affected attitudes toward SNA and were important sources of
advertising value. However, these previous studies were biased regarding
27. 12 Introduction
“specific” and “general” advertising attitudes; that is, they emphasized “spe-
cific” rather than “general.” Furthermore, only a small number of factors
have been identified in the research on “specific” attitudes toward SNA.
In recent years, with the emergence of new forms of domestic social
media, such as WeChat and Tencent in 2011 and Douyin in 2016, advertising
formats have also evolved, and research on domestic advertising attitudes has
continued to develop. Although the overall amount of research is still not
comparable to that of foreign research, the focus on “specific” SMA attitudes
is problematic. For example, existing research has focused on WeChat infor-
mation flow ads (Zhou, 2016; Zheng, 2016) and Douyin video ads (Li, Xia,
2016; Yang, 2019). Only Ren (2014) has conducted empirical research on the
“general” level of SNA attitudes.
The domestic technological environment has included the continuous
emergence of social media and the continuous revision of advertising formats.
The number of social media platforms, such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin,
and Kuaishou, have constantly increased, and trends of short video ads,
e-commerce ads, and WeChat platform ads continue to multiply. Therefore, for
academia and industry, it is vital to understand consumers’ attitudes toward
SNA. SNA has been divided into several sub-
categories, such as product
placement, information flow ads, and native ads. When these new forms of
advertising emerged, scholars began to pay attention to consumers’ attitudes
toward them. For example, Fan et al. (2011) found that college students had
pessimistic attitudes toward pop-
up and floating advertisements. Zhu’s (2012)
research found that people were disgusted with the product placement ads
that first appeared on social media, perhaps because of their rigidity and the
fact that they had just appeared in people’s fields of vision, thereby inducing
reverse psychological responses. Regarding follow-
up information flow ads
and native ads, people’s attitudes were found to show two levels of polariza-
tion, which were negative on the cognitive level and positive on the emotional
level (Zhu Zhao, 2017).
Research on the factors that affect advertising attitudes has become the
focus in both academia and industry. To optimize advertising and enhance
the effectiveness and economic benefits of advertising, companies, media, and
academia intend to explore the factors that influence advertising attitudes in
order to improve the effectiveness of SNA or to provide new forms for the
development of SNA. Therefore, there has been abundant research in this
field. In communication research, discussions of influential factors have been
based on Laswell’s 5 W model, which explores the influence of communica-
tion according to the four dimensions of disseminator, audience, informa-
tion content, and media. According to the relevant literature, advertising
scholars have followed communication scholars to explore the factors that
influence advertising attitudes. They discussed these factors based on the
four dimensions of media, consumers, advertising attributes, and products,
brands, and enterprises.
28. Introduction 13
Regarding the dimension of media, some researchers have continued to
use traditional media variables to determine whether they are adaptable to
social media. For example, Yang (2019) found, through research on short
videos, that media popularity and media favorability did not have a signifi-
cant impact on advertising attitudes. Moreover, the characteristics of social
media are significantly different from those of traditional media. Therefore,
most scholars have explored the influence of the unique media characteristics
of social media on advertising attitudes, especially interactivity, sociality, and
technology matching. Research has found that social media’s interactivity,
relationships (Xue, 2018), and push accuracy (Yang, 2019) had a significant
positive impact on attitudes.
Regarding the dimension of consumers, research has explored the influ-
ence of different consumer groups on SNA attitudes from the perspectives
of consumer demographics, social attributes, and psychology. Zhou (2005)
and Ren (2014) focused on the demographics of consumers to investigate
whether gender, average monthly consumption, and average monthly income
affected attitudes, but their conclusions differed. Zhou did not find signifi-
cant differences in the attitudes of males and females. However, Ren found
that compared with females, male users had more positive attitudes toward
advertising, perhaps because of the limited number of survey subjects and
large differences between the survey groups. Specifically, Zhou investigated a
sample of Wuhan citizens, and Ren investigated a sample of college students
and office workers. The differences in the results of the study may have been
due to the limitations of the size and heterogeneity of the sample. Zhu (2012)
investigated whether consumers’ initial social media participation motiv-
ation affected their advertising attitudes from a psychological perspective and
found that compared with consumers with relationship needs and entertain-
ment needs, consumers with content needs had more positive attitudes toward
advertising. Zheng (2016) found that consumers’ participation had a positive
effect on their advertising attitudes.
Regarding the dimension of advertising attributes, scholars have explored
the value and non-
value attributes of SNA in advertising content and adver-
tising forms based on TAV, showing that they affected consumers’ adver-
tising attitudes. From the perspective of advertising content, there were both
positive value factors and negative hindrance factors. Positive value factors
included informativeness, entertainment (Liu, 2017), social image, matching
(Liu, 2018), the popularity of advertising language and advertising characters,
the type of story (emotional experience) and other factors. In addition, nega-
tive content factors, such as intrusiveness and target obstacles in advertising
(Dai et al., 2012) had negative effects on advertising attitudes. Advertising
forms were also found to significantly affect advertising attitudes. Consumers
held different attitudes toward different types of SNA. Previous findings
showed that advertising forms, such as non-
advertising texts in combination
with information and high advertising picture quality, significantly promoted
29. 14 Introduction
advertising attitudes, while unclear advertising forms significantly reduced
advertising attitudes.
Regarding the dimensions of product and brand, most previous research
has applied experimental methods to study them. Some scholars have regarded
product-
level variables as adjustment variables in investigating their adjust-
ment mechanisms. For example, Xue’s (2018) research found that brand famil-
iarity regulated the relationship between relationship strength and advertising
attitude. In some studies, it has been applied as an independent variable to
explore the mechanism of advertising attitudes. For example, Wang’s (2016)
experimental study found that consumers’ advertising attitudes were more
positive when brand awareness was higher.
Most previous research on the factors that influence SNA attitudes
has been conducted based on two perspectives on consumers: advertising
characteristics and media attributes. First, social media are “consumer-
centered,” so they are valued by consumers. Scholars have focused mainly on
demographics and psychological motivations. Second, the main assumption
regarding media attributes is that social media, as platforms for advertising,
also affect advertising attitudes. Social media have interactive, social, and
other media characteristics, especially in comparison with traditional media.
The functions of social media have undergone fundamental changes in not
only information transmission but also social interaction. Hence, the research
on the factors influencing media characteristics has focused on the attributes
of social interaction and information transmission, such as community influ-
ence and peer relationships. Finally, because advertising is proactive from the
viewpoint of advertising practitioners, it has received more attention in the
literature. Scholars have focused on distinguishing between beneficial and
harmful advertising attributes based on the framework of calculating adver-
tising losses.
The discussion of influential factors has laid the foundation for research on
the mechanisms of advertising attitudes. Previous research on this mechanism
has focused on its relationship with brand attitudes, purchase intentions, and
other interactive behaviors. Scholars have paid attention to whether adver-
tising attitudes affect attitudes toward brands and purchase intentions, thereby
transforming communication effects into economic effects. In the context
of social media, researchers have paid attention to the relationship between
advertising attitudes and interactive behaviors. Previous findings showed
that, in that context, there was a direct emotional transfer between adver-
tising attitudes and brand attitudes. For example, Wang (2016) found that
advertising attitudes had significantly positive effects on brand attitudes and
purchase intentions. Researchers have also found that advertising attitudes
can act independently of purchase intentions and interactive behaviors. For
example, attitudes toward SNA were found to positively affect consumers’
purchase intentions and interactive behaviors, and they were moderated by
self-expression (Lai, 2018).
30. Introduction 15
In domestic research on attitudes toward SNA, most scholars have used
questionnaire surveys and convenience sampling aimed at college students
or regional populations. Therefore, the sample sizes and survey scopes have
been limited. In addition, some scholars have applied experimental methods
and in-
depth interviews. Experimental methods have been used to examine
the effects of a specific variable, while in-
depth interview methods have
been used in exploratory analyses of a new form of advertising. Moreover,
scholars have focused on influential factors with the intention of providing
recommendations for forms of SMA in the future. Regarding theoretical
frameworks, most research has been based on the UGT, TPB, and TAM.
From these theoretical perspectives, researchers have aimed to determine
aspects of SNA that can provide basic perceived benefits. They have sought
to determine the factors that affect advertising attitudes, and then apply the
factors that promote positive consumer attitudes.
Previous domestic research has followed foreign research ideas and
variables, but corresponding conversions have been conducted on a specific
platform. However, there has been a lack of inquiry into the influence of cul-
tural factors (Okazaki Taylor, 2013). Countries and cultures have different
values, forms of social media, advertisers’ use of social media, and forms of
advertising. There may also be differences in the ways in which consumers
use social media and in their attitudes toward SNA (Nikolaos, Leonidas,
Christina, 2012; Cheng, Lai, Ye, 2014). Early research on advertising
attitudes found that consumers in Western countries had more positive
attitudes toward advertising, while consumers in Eastern countries had more
negative attitudes.
Recent studies on SNA have shown that consumers in different cultures
hold different assumptions about social media, which leads to inconsist-
encies in factors affecting consumers’ advertising attitudes in different
cultures. For example, Muralidharan et al. (2015) found that entertainment
and credibility had the greatest impact on Indians’ attitudes toward adver-
tising, while informativeness and entertainment had the greatest impact on
American’s attitudes toward advertising. In addition, in different cultures, the
mechanisms of advertising attitudes may not be exactly the same. Muk (2007)
found that American consumers’ acceptance of mobile text message ads was
based on their attitudes, while Chinese Taiwanese consumers’ acceptance was
influenced by both regulations and attitudes. Therefore, the influence of cul-
ture on advertising attitudes is worthy of further exploration.
1.3 Research Content and Theoretical Foundation
1.3.1 Research Content
The majority of foreign and domestic studies on attitudes toward SNA have
focused on specific media (e.g., WeChat, short video ads, Facebook, etc.) or
31. 16 Introduction
a specific form of media (e.g., WeChat friend circle ads, and WeChat public
number ads). At the micro level, these studies have certain theoretical and
practical value, but their theoretical contributions are relatively narrow, and
their scope of application is limited.
Moreover, specific attitudes are inevitably influenced by general attitudes.
Therefore, based on a large number of case studies, researchers need to
explore general advertising attitudes, which would not only help academics
and the industry understand consumers’ attitudes toward SNA but also help
guide advertising business managers to better use SNA in marketing and pro-
motion. Hence, the present study examines general attitudes toward SNA at
the macro level.
Regarding specific dimensions, consumer, social media and advertising
have been priorities in both Chinese and foreign studies. By exploring these
two dimensions, this study aims to better our understanding of attitudes
toward SNA. Therefore, this study highlights these two dimensions in the
overall framework. In addition, we introduce the cultural dimension. The lit-
erature review revealed that domestic studies have paid little attention to cul-
tural variables. Moreover, although foreign studies have explored the cultural
dimension, they have mainly conducted country-
to-
country comparisons.
Considering the vast size of China and the large differences in cultural cus-
toms among different regions, it is necessary to pay attention to the possible
effects of cultural differences in different regions on attitudes toward SNA.
Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effects of various factors on attitudes
toward SNA by examining three dimensions: consumers, SNSs, SNA, and
cultural differences.
In terms of the consumer dimension, many studies conducted both nation-
ally and internationally have included demographic and psychographic
characteristics. In terms of demographic characteristics, the sample sizes in
previous survey studies were limited to between 500 and 1,000. Moreover, the
representativeness of these studies was poor, and most used a convenience
sample drawn from college students or the population of a specific province
or city. To draw a scientific and comprehensive portrait of users in different
attitude groups, it is necessary to conduct a nationwide sampling survey. In
terms of psychological characteristics, previous domestic and international
studies have focused on various usage motives but have lacked attention to
important psychological characteristics in the social media era. Therefore,
this study introduces loneliness as an important psychological characteristic
of social media users. In addition, regarding the consumer dimension, this
study introduces social media use behavior, which has been largely ignored in
previous studies. The inclusion of this factor will facilitate a more scientific-
ally rigorous study of the influence of consumer factors.
Both domestic and foreign studies have focused on the dimensions of
social media and advertising. The variables applied in foreign studies have
been examined in domestic studies. A comparison of the results of these
variables revealed that, interestingly, the mechanisms of action of individual
32. Introduction 17
variables differed in the findings of domestic and foreign studies. However,
because the research questions and methods in these previous studies were
different and the samples varied widely, these findings cannot yet be used
to draw research conclusions. They can only enable researchers to hypothe-
size that cultural differences may cause differences in advertising attitudes in
China and abroad. Therefore, this study did not select novel variables in the
dimensions of social media and advertising. Instead, this study applied scien-
tifically established research variables used in foreign studies in the analysis
and then discussed them from a cross-
cultural perspective.
Previous studies on advertising attitudes have rarely included the cul-
tural dimension, especially regarding cultural differences within a country.
Considering that this study was based on Chinese consumers, the actual situ-
ation in China could not be ignored. Moreover, cultural differences within
the country helped us determine differences in Chinese consumers’ attitudes
toward SNA. Therefore, this study introduced the variable of regional cul-
tural differences to explore their effects on advertising attitudes.
1.3.2 Theoretical Foundation
1.3.2.1 Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT)
For both academics and the media industry, social media have become an
important venue for marketing and advertising. On the one hand, advertisers
can send precise marketing messages directly to their target audiences or
interact with them. On the other hand, social media provide platforms where
people can receive, publish, exchange, search, and disseminate information
anytime and anywhere (Whiting Williams, 2013). Scholars have moved
away from emphasizing “what advertising does to the audiences” to exploring
“what the audience does to the advertising.” From the perspective of users, it
has become crucial to study how they use social media and how they approach
SNA (Chung Austria, 2010). In this regard, UGT has greatly benefited our
research (O’Donohoe, 1994).
The introduction of UGT was an important turning point in communi-
cation research. In early communication theories, such as the “bullet theory”
and the “hypodermic needle theory,” audiences were regarded as passive
recipients of media content. However, UGT emphasizes the active nature
of audiences. According to the UGT, audiences can choose and use media
and media content according to their own needs (Williams, Phillips, Lum,
1987). Developed in the 1940s, its usage can be thought of as divided into
traditional and modern stages in the late 1960s (Cai Liu, 2004). In the trad-
itional stage of its development, the focus was on organizing types of satisfac-
tion in terms of use motivation. For example, Lazarsfeld (1940) summarized
the needs met by radio competition programs as follows: competing for self-
esteem, acquiring knowledge, self-
assessment, and playing games. Other
studies identified people’s needs for watching certain television programs as
33. 18 Introduction
follows: obtaining information, escaping reality, emotional release, seeking
companionship, exploring the world, and enhancing values (Rubin, 1994). In
the late 1960s, based on previous studies, scholars began to explore the social
and psychological roots of these media use needs and the patterns of exposure
to different media in order to explain the motivations and outcomes of indi-
vidual behavior at the micro level. For example, Donohew, Palmgreen, and
Rayburn’s (1987) study of cable television viewers found that people’s activity
needs were influenced by a variety of social and psychological factors, and
that different levels of activity needs were met in different ways. Katz et al.
(1974) and others also noted that the satisfaction of needs was influenced by
an individual’s mental state and social role.
An important theory of mass communication, the UGT was also applied
in consumer research in the age of traditional media (Eighmey McCord,
1998). For example, some scholars have pointed out that consumers are not
passive and helpless receivers of advertising (Joyce, 1967) but actively choose
which ads they pay attention to, which McDonald (1980) considered the only
value of advertising. Lannon (1993) found that consumers expected adver-
tising to provide aesthetic, emotional, and intellectual rewards. However,
because of the nature of traditional media, the research on them has not
supported this finding. With the advent of new media technologies, users
have been given more power, and UGT has been applied with renewed vigor.
Whiting and Williams (2013) outlined the following 10 motivations for social
media use: (1) social interaction; (2) searching for information; (3) spending
time; (4) entertainment; (5) relaxation; (6) expressing opinions; (7) communi-
cating availability; (8) convenience availability; (9) information sharing; and
(10) monitoring and learning about others. These personal motivations pro-
vide a basis for understanding the choice of social media types, their usage,
perceptions of the media platform and its content, and the effects of usage
behavior (Rubin, 2002; Larose, Mastro, Eastin, 2001; Bondad-Brown, Rice,
Pearce, 2011; Ang et al., 2015). Perspectives in advertising and marketing
research include the relationship between needs satisfaction and personal
factors, as well as attitudes and usage behavior toward media technology
products (Grace-
Farfaglia et al., 2006; Lim Ting, 2012), the impact of
needs satisfaction on attitudes toward SNA (Dai et al., 2012), and the impact
on willingness to reshare SNA (Coyle et al., 2011; Curras-Perez, Ruiz-Mafe,
Sanz-
Blas, 2014).
In summary, UGT provides a theoretical basis for the present study to
examine attitudes toward advertising from the perspective of consumers,
who in this case are social media users. Because most previous studies have
focused on specific needs satisfaction, this study aimed to focus on measuring
the level of social media use; therefore, the amount of time spent on social
media was applied as a variable. In addition, this study included individual
consumer factors (i.e., demographic and psychological characteristics) from
the perspective of the UGT. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in
social media usage motivations and engagement behaviors between different
34. Introduction 19
user groups, and age and gender were key variables in understanding social
network usage behavior (Taraszow et al., 2010; Odaci Kalkan, 2010; Dhir
et al., 2016). In the present study, the psychological factor of loneliness was
chosen as an important factor (Wen, Li, Zheng, 2017).
1.3.2.2 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
In contrast to UGT, which focuses on consumer characteristics, TAM focuses
on the effects of factors related to the media technology platform (i.e., external
factors) on the attitudes of potential users (Van Kotze, 2008). Developed
by Davis (1989), the TAM is based on the social psychological theories of
reasoned action and planned action. Well established in social psychological
research, these theories focus on explaining why people behave in certain situ-
ations by clarifying the relationships among perception, attitude, will, and
behavior (Kwon Chidambaram, 2000; Barnes Huff, 2003; Pedersen,
2005). The TAM introduced the concepts of perceived usability and perceived
usefulness based on the following: (1) external factors influence potential
users’ perceived usability and perceived usefulness of a new technology;
(2) perceived usability directly influences perceived usefulness; (3) both affect
potential users’ attitudes toward the new technology; (4) perceived usefulness
and attitudes affect intention to use; and (5) intention to use and perceived
usefulness directly affect usage behavior. In many empirical studies conducted
since the development of Internet technology in the last decade, the logic on
which the TAM is based has been validated, and it has become one of the
most important models in the study of IT acceptance and use. Research based
on the TAM initially focused on the two factors of perceived usefulness and
perceived usability, but other factors, such as information richness (Chen,
Gillenson, Sherrell, 2004), entertainment (Luo, 2005), perceived risk, and
trust (Dhami, 2005), have been added over time.
The TAM has also been adopted in related fields to understand the influ-
ence of external factors on people’s attitudes. The field of advertising has
adopted the basic logic of TAM in its application but has adapted the influen-
tial factors to the content of the advertisement and the platform on which it is
delivered. For example, Bamoriya (2012) investigated the effects of perceived
usefulness habits, perceived usability, and perceived trust on attitudes toward
advertising and willingness to accept advertising, finding that this model
explained 81.1% of the results. In addition, Lin and Kim (2016) examined
the relationship between users’ perceived privacy risks, intrusion concerns,
perceived usefulness, and perceived usability of Facebook ads and their effects
on attitudes toward advertising. Their results showed that privacy concerns
negatively affected perceived usability, perceived usefulness, and attitudes
toward advertising but that intrusion concerns affected only perceived use-
fulness and attitudes toward advertising. However, perceived usefulness and
perceived usability conformed to the predictions of the original TAM model
and had a positive effect on advertising attitudes (Lin Kim, 2016).
35. 20 Introduction
Overall, the TAM provides a strong theoretical basis for studying the influ-
ence of social media platforms and factors related to SNA on users’ attitudes
toward SNA. However, the model has been criticized as being too repetitive
because it involves a single influential factor. Therefore, this study adopted
the basic logic of the TAM. However, because it sought to facilitate cross-
cultural comparisons, the theoretical model in classic Western research was
applied to select the variables, including informativeness, intrusiveness, and
entertainment.
1.3.2.2 Theoretical Foundations Related to the Cultural Dimension
Culture affects all aspects of human attitudes and behavior. If advertising
and marketing campaigns are to be effective, it is important to understand the
role that culture plays (Soares, Farhangmehr, Shoham, 2007). In practice,
products may need to be adapted to different cultures, and advertisements
may need to conform to certain cultural perceptions to gain the goodwill of
audiences. However, as a conceptual term, culture is difficult to define (Zhang,
2012; Soares, Farhangmehr, Shoham, 2007). According to statistics, there
are currently around 260 definitions of culture by both domestic and inter-
national scholars (Fu, 2003). As early as 1952, Kroeber and Kluckohn
summarized more than 160 definitions, most of which were based on different
styles of thought and behavior. These definitions can be broadly divided
into two perspectives: one perspective values the reasons for which culture
is formed. Del Gado (1996), for example, considered culture a collection
of learned behavior consisting of thoughts, feelings, and actions. The other
perspective focuses on the influence of culture on people’s perceptions of
behavior. Goodenough (1981), for example, viewed culture as a set of beliefs
and norms held by a group and influenced by individuals who guided people’s
perceptions of things and related actions. Thus, it has been argued that cul-
ture is both the cause and the effect (Zhang, 2008), shaped by geographical,
political, economic, legal, religious, linguistic, educational, technological,
and even industrial contexts in which individuals live. Culture also shapes
individual preferences and perceptions and influences individual decisions
and behaviors. For example, members of different cultures are likely to give
different answers to the same questions. Despite these different perspectives,
there is consensus among scholars that “culture is shared by a group” (Steers,
Meyer, Sanchez-
Runde, 2008), and the choice of definition should be
adapted to the purpose of the study (Honold, 2000). This study focuses on
the effects of cultural factors on the attitudes of social media users toward
advertising, and therefore considers culture according to Spencer-
Oatey’s def-
inition: culture is “a set of attitudes, beliefs, and values held by a group of
people that influence how they view things” (Spencer-Oatey, 2004).
In early academic research, because of the difficulty of separating culture
from other macro-
environmental factors with which it is closely associated, it
became a sort of “silver bullet” or “bin” that was used to explain differences
36. Introduction 21
that could be explained by tangible factors (Buzzell, 1968; Usunier, 1999).
Marketing scholars have often used the concept of culture to explain
differences in market structure, consumer behavior, and marketing effect-
iveness, which has attracted much criticism because of the “ethereal” nature
of culture. This situation has been alleviated by the refinement and applica-
tion of the “cultural dimension” by many scholars. The cultural dimension
refers to variables or factors used to measure different cultures (Fitzgerald,
2004), often with polarities, and they can be quantified using values ranging
from large to small or small to large. Scholars in the fields of psychology,
anthropology, and sociology have identified cultural dimensions, the most
influential of which are Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions. In the 1970s and
1980s, he conducted a large-
scale, worldwide survey. Based on the results, he
identified five dimensions: individualism/
collectivism, power distance, uncer-
tainty avoidance, masculinity/
femininity, and long-
term/
short-
term orienta-
tion. Each dimension was clearly expressed in numerical terms (Hofstede,
1994, 2001, 2004). These five dimensions have served as the norm for scholars
and have been widely used in cross-
cultural research (Choi Geistfeld,
2004). A review of the marketing and advertising literature also revealed
that Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture theory were the most frequently
cited cross-
cultural theory in the field (Kim et al., 2014; Ngai, Tao, Moon,
2015). Hence, research perspectives can include the following: how culture
affects the specific performance of advertising in different countries (Milner
Collins, 1998); how culture affects the acceptance and use of new products
and technologies in different countries (Choi Geistfeld, 2004); and how cul-
ture affects the attitudes and perceptions of advertising audiences in different
countries (An Kim, 2008). The validity of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
in cross-
country comparative cultural studies has been extensively tested.
Therefore, this study includes individual dimensions to analyze the effects of
cultural differences between China and the US on attitudes toward SNA.
Cross-
cultural studies have focused on transnational cultures. A review of
the literature revealed that relevant studies have compared two or more coun-
tries (Al-Juhiam, 2008). However, cultural differences may also exist within
a country, and this dimension has received little attention. On one hand, the
five dimensions widely used in research were originally based on cultural
differences between countries and were unparalleled in explaining cross-
national differences. On the other hand, cultural differences between countries,
which have been assumed to be culturally homogeneous, have been the focus
of cross-
cultural studies. However, the emergence of any culture has a geo-
graphical basis (Cai, 1992). In particular, the neglect of the study of internal
cultural differences is worrying in the case of China, which is a vast country
with a huge territory. In fact, the discussion of internal cultural differences in
China has been widespread since the Spring and Autumn periods (Pan, 1987),
but like the problems encountered in the early days of cross-
cultural studies,
it has been examined only in qualitative discussions rather than empirical
research. In recent years, scholars have paid attention to this issue, but in
37. 22 Introduction
their studies, they have still adopted Hofstede’s cultural dimensions without
regard to the context in which they vary from country to country. To remedy
this lack, this study uses the regional dimension of “cultural closeness” as a
cultural indicator in examining the effects of cultural differences within China
regarding attitudes toward advertising. In addition, this cultural dimension is
based on the tightness of social norms, which have an important influence on
attitudes. Thus, the impact of culture can be determined retrospectively from
socio-
ecological, historical, psychological, and geographical dimensions (Lu,
Chen, Le, 2017).
In summary, this study is based on the integration of the perspectives of
sociology, psychology, communication, and advertising. It analyzes the influ-
ence of various factors on consumers’advertising attitudes from three different
perspectives: consumers, social media, SNA, and cultural dimensions. In
addition, based on China’s reality, it proposes that various moderating and
mediating variables can improve the mechanism of various factors that influ-
ence advertising attitudes, and then constructs a scientific model of attitudes
toward SNA.
The main body of this study consists of five sub-
studies. In Chapter 3,
Study 1 focuses on sketching the user profiles of different advertising atti-
tude groups, beginning with the demographic characteristics of consumers.
Specifically, by analyzing the influence of demographic variables, such as
gender, age, monthly household income, and education, on attitudes toward
SNA, this study determines the group characteristics and group profiles of
different social media attitude groups in a scientific manner.
In Chapter 4, Study 2 focuses on the impact of social media usage behaviors,
particularly the duration of social media usage, on attitudes toward SNA, as
manifested in consumers’ social media usage behavior. The mediating roles
of four variables, namely informativeness, entertainment, intrusiveness, and
privacy concerns, were analyzed at different stages of social media usage
behavior to determine their influence on attitudes toward SNA. Specifically,
the mediating roles of informativeness and entertainment were analyzed at
the stage in which social media usage behavior positively influenced attitudes
toward SNA, while the mediating roles of intrusiveness and privacy concerns
were analyzed at the stage in which social media usage behavior negatively
influenced attitudes toward SNA. Based on the results, a theoretical model
of the influence of social media usage behavior on attitudes toward SNA was
constructed.
In Chapter 5, Study 3 focuses on the influence of consumers’ loneliness
on their attitudes toward SNA based on their psychological characteristics.
In analyzing the influence of loneliness on attitudes toward SNA, this study
further introduces social media use as a moderating variable to analyze
differences in attitudes toward SNA between groups with frequent and infre-
quent social media use. It thus determines the specific mechanisms through
which loneliness influences attitudes toward SNA.
38. Introduction 23
In Chapter 6, Study 4 focuses on social media and attributes associated
with SNA to analyze the influence of eight factors on attitudes toward SNA,
including informativeness, entertainment, quality of life, time structuring,
self-
brand congruence, peer influence, privacy concerns, and intrusiveness,
and further suggests generational and regional moderating mechanisms.
Based on the results, this study constructs a structural equation model of
Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward SNA and compares it with the findings
of Western studies. In this cross-
cultural comparison, the similarities and
differences between Chinese and Western consumers’ attitudes toward SNA
are analyzed, and the characteristics and features of Chinese consumers’
attitudes toward SNA are further identified.
In Chapter 7, Study 5 follows the findings of Study 4 and uses intrusiveness,
which emerged as a difference in the East–
West comparison, as an entry point
to further explore the specific ways in which intrusiveness affects Chinese con-
sumers’ attitudes toward SNA. This study focuses on the cultural dimension
by analyzing the moderating effect of differences in cultural intensities across
different regions within China on the influence of intrusiveness on attitudes
toward SNA.
Figure 1.1 Research framework.
39. DOI: 10.4324/9781003310594-2
2 Research Method
This chapter introduces and explains the questionnaire survey method
applied in this study. The first section describes the sampling procedure,
data collection, and quality control of the questionnaire. The second section
describes the composition of the study sample in terms of age distribution,
gender distribution, educational background distribution, monthly household
income distribution, city distribution, and permanent province distribution.
The third section introduces the compilation process and measurements of
the variables in this study, including demographic variables, consumer dimen-
sion variables, social media and advertising dimension variables, and social
media use variables. The fourth section describes the results of the validity
analysis, which is an important indicator. It was used in this study to assess
the validity and accuracy of the questionnaire. Validity analysis is also an
important prerequisite for ensuring the validity and reliability of the research
conclusions. Therefore, in this section, the author examines the validity of
this questionnaire in detail using data analysis software. In the fifth section,
the author briefly explains the data analysis software and analytical methods
used in this research.
2.1 Sampling and Data Collection
In this study, a questionnaire was developed to conduct a nationwide
survey on advertising attitudes. The questionnaire survey is a classic
quantitative research method that is especially suitable for large-
scale
communication effect research. It can be used in both exploratory com-
munication research and descriptive and explanatory research. In adver-
tising and marketing studies, questionnaire surveys are widely used to
study consumer attitudes and behaviors. To include social media users
across the country, we entrusted a comprehensive Chinese survey com-
pany to conduct a large-
scale survey. The Wenjuanxing platform provides
functions equivalent to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Wenjuanxing’s data-
base contains detailed information on more than 2.6 million Internet
users, which therefore provided an ample sample database and ensured
40. Research Method 25
sample representativeness, which met the needs of the nationwide survey
conducted in this study.
The scope of this survey included consumers in mainland China. Hong
Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were not included. To approximate the actual
structure of the population, quota sampling, which is widely used in con-
sumer research, was adopted based on three factors: province, gender, and
age. First, regarding regional differences in the social media use behavior of
Chinese consumers, the proportion of social media users is high in the four
first-
tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Therefore,
we allocated about 10% of the sample capacity to Beijing, Shanghai, and
Guangdong and 2.5% of the sample capacity to other provinces. Second, the
sample capacity was allocated equally for men and women. Finally, according
to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center
in 2016, the age of social media users in China is mainly in the range of
18–
40 years old; therefore, 70% of the sample capacity was allocated to social
media users in this age group, while others were allocated 30% of the sample
capacity.
Wenjuanxing collected data according to the sampling frame decided
by the author, which was the number of samples of each level (class)
unit. This survey set a filtering question to exclude non-
social media
users: “Are you familiar with or at least use one social media?” Only
those who answered “Yes” continued to answer the questionnaire survey.
Considering that there may have been a high percentage of respondents
who did not take the online questionnaires seriously, the author added
polygraph questions to test the degree of seriousness: “Where is the cap-
ital of China?” and “Which word in the following options appears in this
sentence?” All respondents who did not choose the option “China” were
regarded as invalid.
To improve the quality of the questionnaire, except for setting poly-
graph questions, this study also used a Likert five-
point scale on which the
respondents rated their computer skills and social media knowledge, which
indicated their ability to provide meaningful answers. The average score for
skills was 3.60; only 2.4% of the respondents had very weak skills, and 0.4%
had weak skills. The average score for social media knowledge was 3.40.
Most respondents were social media users with relevant knowledge. The
results regarding social media use and participation rates showed that most
respondents participated in social networks at a high or moderate level.
A total of 5,837 questionnaires were received in this survey, of
which 1,665 contained incorrectly filled-
in polygraph questions, or the
respondents were weak and very weak in computer skills and social media
knowledge. We regarded these as invalid questionnaires. Therefore, a total
of 4,172 valid questionnaires were obtained. The effective rate was 71.5%,
which met the requirements for analysis, thus confirming the validity of the
survey results.
41. 26 Research Method
2.2 Description of Sample Demographics
2.2.1 Age
Figure 2.1 illustrates the age structure of the sample. A total of 4,172
respondents participated in this survey, the majority of whom were more
than 15 years old. The specific distribution was as follows: 149 respondents
were aged 15–
17 years, accounting for 3.6% of the total sample; 917
respondents were aged 18–
22 years, accounting for 22%; 1,216 respondents
were aged 23–
29 years, accounting for 19.1%; 1,202 respondents were aged
30–
40 years, accounting for 28.8%; 545 respondents were aged 41–
50 years,
accounting for 28.8%; 117 respondents were aged 51–
60 years, accounting
for 2.8%; and 26 respondents were aged above 60 years, accounting for 0.6%
of the sample.
2.2.2 Gender
In the study sample, there were 2,088 males and 2,084 females. Hence, the
gender proportions were almost equal, accounting for 49.95% and 50.05%,
respectively, of the total sample (Figure 2.2).
2.2.3 Education
In this survey, 161 respondents had a junior high school education or below,
accounting for 3.9% of the total sample; 498 respondents had a high school
3.6
22.0
29.1 28.8
13.1
2.8
0.6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
15-17 18-22 23-29 30-40 41-50 51-60 60+
Percent
Figure 2.1
Age structure of the sample.
42. Research Method 27
or technical secondary school education, accounting for 11.9%; 3,117
respondents had a bachelor’s degree or a junior college degree, accounting for
74.7%; and 396 respondents had a master’s degree or above, accounting for
9.5% of the total sample (Figure 2.3).
2.2.4 Monthly Household Income
The distribution of the monthly household income of the survey respondents
was as follows: 193 households earned 0–
1000 yuan, accounting for 4.6% of
the total sample; 509 households earned 1,001–
3,000 yuan, accounting for
12.2%; 731 households earned 3,001–
5,000 yuan, accounting for 17.5%; 753
households earned 5,001–
8,000 yuan, accounting for 18.0%; 623 households
earned 8,001–
10,000 yuan, accounting for 14.9%; 637 households earned
10,001–
15,000 yuan, accounting for 15.3%; 532 households earned 15,001–
30,000 yuan, accounting for 12.8%; 112 households earned 30,001–
50,000
yuan, accounting for 2.7%; 82 households earned above 50,000 yuan,
accounting for 2.0% of the total sample (Figure 2.4).
2.2.5 Usual Place of Residence (by Province)
Based on the distribution of the sample by province, except for the three
economically developed regions of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou,
we deliberately increased the sample capacity. Each accounted for about
10%, while the sample capacity of the other provinces was about 2.5%
(Table 2.1).
50.05
49.95
49.9
49.92
49.94
49.96
49.98
50
50.02
50.04
50.06
male female
Percent
Figure 2.2 Gender distribution.
43. 28 Research Method
3.9
11.9
74.7
9.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Junior high
school and
below
High school
or Secondary
school
Undergraduate
and Junior
college
Master degree
or above
Percent
Figure 2.3
Distribution of education.
4.60
12.20
17.50 18.00
14.90 15.30
12.80
2.70
2.00
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
0-1000
1001-3000
3001-5000
5001-8000
8001-10000
10001-15000
15001-30000
30001-50000
50000+
Percent
Figure 2.4 Income distribution.
44. Research Method 29
2.3 Operational Definition and Variable Measurement
This research focused on “social networking advertising (SNA),” an emerging
form of advertising. Because research in this field is still in its infancy, scholars
have not reached a consensus on the concept and definition of SNA. Broadly,
SNA includes many forms of advertising, such as banner ads, video ads, and
other interactive forms of advertising (e.g., fan pages). Based on the purpose of
this research, which is to investigate general attitudes toward SNA, the author
defined social networking advertising as a general concept that refers to all forms
of advertising on social media, including both explicit types (e.g., banners and
commercial advertising videos) and implicit types (e.g., fan pages or company-
related messages). Therefore, in this study, various forms of SNA were integrated
into one measurement. This operational definition has also been adopted in pre-
vious studies (Celebi, 2015; Jung et al., 2016; Taylor, Lewin, David, 2011).
Twelve important variables were included in this study: informativeness,
entertainment, quality of life, time structuration, self-
brand consistency,
peer influence, intrusiveness, privacy concerns, attitudes toward SNA, social
media usage, loneliness, and demographics. In terms of the order of measure-
ment, loneliness and demographics were assessed at the end of the question-
naire because the measurement of loneliness may have impacted the results
of the measurement of other variables. At the end of the questionnaire, the
respondents were likely to have been impatient. The demographics were
placed at the end because the answers to the questionnaire were mechanically
fixed and therefore were not affected by the mood of the respondents.
Table 2.1
Distribution of sample capacity across the country
Province Sample
capacity
Percentage Province Sample
capacity
Percentage
Anhui 102 2.4% Liaoning 107 2.6%
Beijing 449 10.8% Inner Mongolia 88 2.1%
Fujian 106 2.5% Ningxia 98 2.3%
Gansu 105 2.5% Qinghai 96 2.3%
Guangdong 422 10.1% Shandong 111 2.7%
Guangxi 105 2.5% Shanxi 108 2.6%
Guizhou 98 2.3% Shaanxi 110 2.6%
Hainan 87 2.1% Shanghai 429 10.3%
Hebei 93 2.2% Sichuan 122 2.9%
Henan 116 2.8% Tianjin 106 2.5%
Heilongjiang 93 2.5% Tibet 97 2.3%
Hubei 103 2.5% Xinjiang 98 2.3%
Hunan 101 2.4% Yunnan 111 2.7%
Jilin 102 2.4% Zhejiang 103 2.5%
Jiangsu 111 2.7% Chongqing 99 2.4%
Jiangxi 96 2.3%