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The UK Dissertation
The Internet as Push and Pull Medium for
Marketing: Assessing User Perceptions
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ABSTRACT
There has been extraordinary growth in use of Internet all over the world. Twenty to
fiftypercent of the developedcountry populationwas foundtomakeuseof theinternet.
Enormous potential exists for the use of the Internet for the purchase of goods and
services. A number of novel formats of advertising have developed over the years and
the promotion of improved methods would help online advertisers develop better ways
of advertising their products to the consumers. However, despite this growing number
of online advertising formats the question that arises is: How effective are they? The
main aim of this study was to examine how one advertiser-controlled factor
(advertising format) and two sets of consumer-related factors (demographic variables
and motives for using the Internet) influenced consumers’ perception of Internet
advertising, which in turn influenced belief, attitudes and avoidance
intentions/behaviours with regard to Internet advertising. A quantitative method of
analysis was adopted. The results of the study indicated that the user demographic
profile mainly the education and age has an effect on both the net usage of internet
and internet marketing as well as the buying power online. The attitude and belief
factors considered werefound to be momentous in influencing the insight of users with
regard to marketing through the internet while avoidance factor was found to have no
influence. When the push and pull strategies of marketing were found to have equal
influence on user perception of marketing.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................5
1.1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................5
1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: .........................................................................................6
1.3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .........................................................................8
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTION PROPOSITION AND HYPOTHESES FORMULATION: .......9
1.5. RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................10
1.6. ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH REPORT: ....................................................................11
1.7. CONCLUSION: .......................................................................................................................12
CHAPTER THREE: ........................................................................................................................34
R ESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................34
3.1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................34
3.2 R ESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ...........................................................................................................36
3.3 R ESEARCH APPROACH ..............................................................................................................37
3.4 R ESEARCH S TRATEGY .........................................................................................................39
3.5. DATA COLLECTION METHOD: ..........................................................................................40
3.6. SURVEY INSTRUMENT USED: ..........................................................................................40
3.7. RESEARCH LOCATION AND SAMPLE SIZE: .................................................................41
CHAPTER FOUR: ..........................................................................................................................44
Findings and discussion: ...............................................................................................................44
4.1. Introduction: .............................................................................................................................44
4.2. Socio-demographic parameters: ..........................................................................................44
4.2.1. Preliminary analysis of questionnaires: ...........................................................................44
4.2.2. Socio-demographic parameters: .......................................................................................45
4.2.3. User demographics and user perception of internet marketing: ..................................47
4.3. Analysis of validity: .................................................................................................................51
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Table 3: Reliability and validity .....................................................................................................51
4.4. Understanding belief, attitude and avoidance of user perception towards internet
marketing: ........................................................................................................................................52
4.4.1. Belief towards internet marketing: ....................................................................................52
4.4.2. Attitude towards internet marketing: .................................................................................55
4.4.3. Avoidance of internet marketing: ......................................................................................58
4.5. Push versus Pull factor: Better tool of internet marketing: ...............................................59
4.6. Conclusion: ..............................................................................................................................61
CHAPTER FIVE: ............................................................................................................................61
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................61
5.1. Introduction: .............................................................................................................................61
5.2. Implications of the study: .......................................................................................................62
5.3. Limitations of the study: .........................................................................................................64
5.3. Recommendations for the future: .........................................................................................65
5.4. Conclusion: ..............................................................................................................................65
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CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1.1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The internet has been referred to as the fifth medium of communication, given this
illustrious status alongside newspaper, journals and magazines, television and the
radio (Cutler, 1990, p. 25). It has been consideredasa veryeffectiveandeasymedium
of communication which helps in rapid transfer of information between individuals,
businesses and a very effective medium of contacting consumers for marketers
(Townsend, 2001). Internet has also been looked upon as the most popular medium
of interaction where there is the development of a one on one environment (Anderson,
2000).
Over the years a number of websites like Youtube.com and social networking
sites like Facebook and MySpace have some of the maximum hits over the internet.
They have created specific trends which have resulted in the use of social spaces for
advertising (Kozinets, 1999). Solomon (1983) has indicated that when there is the
presence of specific workplaces it canbe seen that there is a social meaningattributed
to a product and the user perception of the manner in which a product is presented
contributes to the sales of the product.
Therefore this increasing tendency to adopt online social spaces indicates that
there is a lot more activity happening online and marketers make use of this trend to
influence consumer behaviour using advertisements. There have been studies which
have studied the attitudinal factors influencing user behaviour online. Sin and Tse
(2002) studied the behaviour of internet users from Hong Kong. Similarly Schlosser,
Shavitt and Kanfer (1999) studied user attitude of participants from the United States.
However thesestudiesdonot deal withthe belief factor of theusers andtheperception
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of internet advertising from a push or pull marketing point of view. This dissertation
thus hopes to fill in the gaps of user perception of internet advertising.
1.2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:
There has been extraordinary growth in the use of Internet all over the world. Twenty
to fifty percent of the developed country population was found to make use of the
internet (Neilson 2001). In the United States alone it is viewed that by the year 2000
there was a total of 136 million people who had access to the internet (Nielson, 2000)
and the yearly growth rate remains high.
The purchase of goods and services is found to be provided with a wonderful
base in the form of the Internet. It is viewed that shopping market opened up widely in
the form of the internet. But there have been questionnaires and surveys provided to
people which have indicated that people are reluctant to buy online due to a number
of reasons including lack of trust (Gay et al., 2007). Every single retailer right from a
store for electronics to a large and well established supply chain have attempted to
make their presence made in the virtual world. However even the most well oiled and
established machinery have been found to run into problems in this virtual world. The
most important question to be posed involves measures to enable proper investment
online to increase the profit of the company (Epstein 2004).
There are different reasons as to why retailer would profit if they move to
internet marketing. It has been noted that the establishment of online markets is a step
towards betterment for companies promoting reduction on cost of determining
information as well as transactions. Internet marketing has helped in improving
efficiency of operations. This has enabled a decrease in the overall time undertaken
for enabling payment as well as credit processing to occur. These small sized firms
can thus reduce overhead costs and other expenses if they consider moving the
internet sector (Rosen 2000). However, Rosen has also noted that the success of any
marketer online is dependent on how well their product is received by the consumers.
He indicates that advertising of the product in a particular way as promoted above
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would make cause a positive effect on the users and would be considered as the best
method of promoting a product.
Despite this enormous growth in advertising online it is to be viewed that there
is a large amount of clutter. The study by Katz (2002) indicates that there is excessive
clutter of advertisements online and had predicted that by the year 2007 there would
be at least eight hundred impressions of advertisements pushed on the users every
single day.
The winner of Nobel Prize in 1978 Herbert Simon had noted that,
"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its
recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and need to
allocatethat attention efficiently amongthe overabundance of informationsources that
might consume it." (p.25)
Therefore, there is a need to attract the attention of the consumer to bring about the
success of any business. Users online give very little attention to the advertisements
they view. Therefore, there is a need for the retailer to make their way through the
excessive advertisements available online and present their product to the users. In
order to promote their product ahead of the clutter, there is a need to devise novel
measures of advertising.
A number of novel formats of advertising have developed over the years, and
the promotion of improved methods would help online advertisers develop better ways
of advertising their products to the consumers. However, despite this growing number
of online advertising formats, the question that arises is: How effective are they?
Understanding the needs and perceptions of the users towards internet marketing will
promote the development of new strategies and thereby increase the efficiency of
online marketing methods.
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1.3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this study is to be conducted from the consumers’ perspective and
examine how one advertiser-controlled factor (advertising format) and two sets of
consumer-related factors (demographic variables and motives for using the Internet)
influenced consumers’ beliefs about (perceptions of) Internet advertising, which in turn
influenced attitudes and avoidance intentions/behaviours with regard to Internet
advertising.
Therefore, the objective of the study is to enable the identification of the attitude as
well as factors of belief of the users of the internet as an effective means of marketing.
This objective of the study can be met by determining the perception of the user
towards internet advertising. The study, therefore, may enable prediction of the user
attitude towards internet marketing by using belief and avoidance factors focusing on
the ever-present marketing strategy of “push and pull factors”.
Globalization may be a vogue made possible by the growth of the internet and its
ability to penetrate a number of countries including emerging economies. The internet,
therefore, plays a very important role in drawing the world closer. However, it can also
be said that the internet also provides room for establishing individuality. This study
being conducted in UK & India which is one of the world’s largest emerging economy
may serve as a platform for similar studies conducted in the Indian subcontinent and
Asia in general.
The objectives of the study can be listed as follows:
1. To examined the effectiveness of online advertising from the consumer's
perspective and explored how advertiser-controlled and consumer-related
factors would influence the consumer's choice and use of Internet advertising.
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2. To evaluate how one advertiser-controlled factor (advertising format) and two
sets of consumer-related factors (demographics and motives for using the
Internet) would influence an integrated set of interrelated variables, including
beliefs about, attitudes toward, intentions to avoid, and actual avoidance of
Internet advertising.
3. To focus on paid placement and disregarded paid inclusion
4. To examine how advertising format could make a difference in Internet users’
perceptions, attitudes, avoidance intentions and behaviors with regard to
Internet advertising.
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTION PROPOSITION AND HYPOTHESES
FORMULATION:
The following research questions can be formulated in to determine answers to the
above-posedquestions of research. These questions mainlyfocus ontheinvestigating
internet users’ perception about marketing through the internet by determination of
user attitude, user belief and user avoidance factors. The questions also help in
determining which type of advertising format is the most effective in promoting a
product online.
Research Questions:
Do the demographic variables of the user influence their perception of internet
advertising?
What are the factors influencing user attitude, user belief and user avoidance
towards internet advertising?
Which is the most effective marketing strategy over the internet – the push or
pull factor?
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From the above research questions, the following hypotheses are postulated towards
determination of consumer-oriented factors:
H1: User demographic profile influences user perception of internet advertising.
H2: The perception towards advertising of the user is influenced by the presence of
attitude factors.
belief factors.
avoidance factors.
The examination of these research questions and hypotheses helps both internet
marketers focus on internet advertising from a consumer-centric manner. These
research questions also help in the focusing internet advertising in an accuratefashion
to encompass all the needs of the consumers.
1.5. RESEARCH DESIGN
A plan or step by step approach in order to arrive at the answers posed towards the
question is precisely what is dealt with when a research design is considered. It is
important to note that this design enables arriving at the solution to a problem but at
the same time ensures that the validity and objectivity of the research are maintained.
The research design should also go through a measure of conditions to satisfy a
proper research report. This would enable the establishment of a relevance of the
study of research for the purpose of study (Miles and Huberman, 1994).
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This shows that two important issues are covered in this design of research. The first
issue is to identify and develop specific protocols in order to ensure there is no
interruption in the manner in which study is conducted. The second issue is that there
is a very logistic arrangement of datain order to ensure that there are proper validation
and objectification of research.
Therefore, the conceptualization of this kind of plan of operation would enable the
development of a design of the survey and a schedule to be prepared to hand out the
questionnaire. The types of research question validation would provide more
acceptable answers towards the answering of the research question. The field study
was conducted in Derby, Burton on Trent (UK) and New Delhi, India and the majority
of research population chosen was university students in different colleges. The
reason behind choosing the students to form colleges are much more familiar with
modern technology and would be more approachable for answers to our questions.
The research was carried out requesting students of university of Derby, Burton
College (UK) & Kamla Nagar college New Delhi (India) to fill a questionnaire. Similar
questionnaires were also distributed to the general public at the entry and exit points
of Westfieldshopping centre derby providing them with prepaid envelopes so that they
could fill out and return at their own convenience.
1.6. ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH REPORT:
The present research report is organized in to five major chapters.
In Chapter one, the concise background of the analytical problem and the need for
new strategies of internet advertising is discussed. There is also a basic discussion
of the background behind the growth of internet marketing practices in play, and the
statement of the problem is given. In addition, the chapter also sets the aims and
objectives, outlines research questions which are discussed through the course of the
dissertation presentation.
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Chapter two reviews the literature by presenting data in three sections. The first
section deals with the theories of user perception inclusive of attitude, belief, and
avoidance factors. The second section deals with internet advertising and its impact
on user perception. The final section deals with different types of internet media
advertising considered as a push or pulls medium towards consumers.
In chapter three the research methodology is discussed. It gives the justification of the
research methods adopted and sample population and size discussion. There is also
a discussion of ethics involved.
Chapter four gives the results of the study and also helps provide answers to the
questions posed in chapter one.
Chapter five of the report is the final chapter, and it gives the executive summary of
the study, implications and further recommendation for future study.
Chapter six of the report contains the bibliography section that is used in the study.
1.7. CONCLUSION:
As explained in this chapter, the study shall now focus on the user perception factors
on internet marketing. The next chapter presents the literature reviewed for this study.
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Chapter Two: Literature Review
2.1. Introduction:
Literature review has been defined by Hart (1998) as:
“The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic,
which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular
standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic
and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in
the relation to the research being proposed”
In this chapter, the researcher will discuss the findings derived from extensive
secondary research that has been undertaken. The findings are primarily gathered
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from journals, textbooks, websites and academic literature. The literature review has
been classified under three different sections.
Section I: Theories of user perception – Attitude, belief, and avoidance.
Section II: Internet advertising and its impact on user perception
Section III: Different types of internet media advertising considered as a push
or pull medium towards consumers.
The literature review provides a solid basis for further discussion of the research
problem and the set objectives.
Section I: Theories of user perception – Attitude, belief, and avoidance.
2.1. Conceptualising perception
The discovery of an interesting phenomenon is considered as the starting point of a
study ensuring that it requires further examination. The topic under examination in
this dissertation is the perception of any user towards the internet as a tool for
marketing. The concept of perception should be and often is approached from a
multidisciplinary view. This particular concept over the years has been studied from
the point of view of psychology, philosophy, social psychology, biology including
neurosciences, anthropology, and artificial intelligence. However, this study of the
concept of perception has been limited to the point of view of social psychometrics.
It is based on behavioural research of consumer on topics related to perception.
2.1.1 Perception from psychological and social psychological perspectives
The fundamental analysis of perception and its roots can be traced back to social
psychology. When one considers perception in terms of cognitive psychology, it is
important to note that this concept is based on fundamental analysis of the
experience of the individual. The actor undergoing the “perception” consciously and
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unconsciously learns, recognizes, ponders and commits to memory the issues in his
environment (Atkinson et al. 2000).
Anderson (1995) has provided a definition of perception from a cognitive point of
view, according to him “The term perception refers to the means by which
information acquired from the environment via the sense organs is transformed into
experiences of objects, events, sounds, tastes, etc.” Therefore, the inclusion of
thoughts and behaviour of any individual is subjected to processing of specific
sensory information resultant of a directly detected stimulus (Stuart- Hamilton, 1996).
Perception may be obtained from any of the five senses, but it is important to note
that visual perception is one of the most important measures which is most
investigated (Atkinson et al. 2000; Anderson, 1995) as well as one which has
maximum effect on the individual (Gold, 2004).
According to Hatfield (2004), it is important to note that the concept of perception is
studied as a source of information along with looking at the phenomenon related to
the mental awareness of individual pertaining to and restricted by the thoughts of
every individual. However, Hatfield also shows that biological research in terms of
neurobiology look at perception as an action which is carried out by millions of nerve
cells. Most of the scientists of biology explain perception as something which is
formed as a result of a direct stimulus which is then organized by the importance of
experience. This is to indicate that the overall psychological experience leaves an
impression rather than simple actions.
There is the analysis of mental processes which helps in the advancement of
cognitive perspectives. The humanistic and phenomenological view extends a look
into the opposition and reduction of behavioural processes (Atkinson et al. 2000).
To understand individual perception, it is important that every human being is treated
uniquely and interpret the influence of external events as well as personal
achievements (Hatfield 2004). The perception of a user in a particular marketing
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environment can be assessed by the adoption of comprehensive and expressive
ways to enable conceptualization of perception. The contribution of social sciences
towards understanding perception is to ensure that social dimensions are
emphasized and study the psychological process from a sociological point of view
(Atkinson et al., 2000).
2.1.3. User-centered approach in internet marketing:
Researchers in Web advertising have employed a user-centered approach to
investigating issues related to effectiveness. Most recently, Macias (2003) defined
interactivity as having “dimensions of range (number of possibilities for action at any
given time"), machine interactions ("features which allowed the individual to interact
with the Website"), connectedness ("hypertext links") and reciprocal/recursive
communication ("email, chat rooms, comment forms")” and measured consumer's
perceived interactivity as aWeb site's interactivity”. A positiveinfluence on consumer's
comprehension of and attitudes toward Web advertising has been observed by her.
However, she did not provide further discussion on how these two measures the
interactivity defined by researchers and the one perceived by consumers are different.
Perception of the message of an individual effectiveness does not always coincide
with the objective effectiveness of messages as defined by marketers or researchers
was maintained by Friestad and Wright (1994). An individual's use and perception of
the Web as a tool would result in different online behaviours was shown in the studies
on demographic and psychological profiles of users and shoppers on the Web further
suggest that differences in (Stellin 2001).
Notwithstanding the lack of consensus as to what constitutes design in Web
advertising, practitioners make recommendations on the use of color, shape, and
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typography while delineating users' psychological responses to these elements
(Bacheldor 2000).
2.2. Section II: Internet advertising and its impact on consumer attitude:
2.2.1. Defining Internet advertising:
Robert Kuttner’s quote in Business Week (1998),
“The Internet is a nearly perfect market because information is instantaneous and
buyers can compare the offerings of sellers worldwide. The result is fierce price
competition, dwindling product differentiation, and vanishing brand loyalty which
changes the face of those attributes associated with the conventional retail market.”
The above quote clearly demonstrates the fact that there are a number of challenges
which have presented it as a result of using the internet as a medium for marketing.
In order to understand the paradigms of internet marketing there have been
modifications of the existing theories of marketing (Hoffman and Novak, 1996). This
has been done in order to build an understanding of the implications of using the
internet as a medium for reaching different consumers (Hoffman, Novak, and
Chatterjee, 1995).
A number of different surveys have been carried on over the years in order
understand measures of using the internet as a commercial possibility the earliest of
them including GVU 1999, Gupta 1995. These surveys have studied the implications
of using the internet as a medium for advertising and the perception of a consumer
towards understanding the conceptualization of internet marketing and advertising
Ducoffe (1996) has indicated that internet advertising is claimed by consumers to
contain different forms of commercial content including advertisements of electronic
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forms similar to traditional methods of advertising. These include billboards, banner
advertisements to other formats like corporate websites. Berthon, Pill, and Watson
(1996) have indicated that while defining the commercial effectiveness of using the
Internet as a medium of advertising needs to be looked at from both the consumer
as well as company’s point of view. Therefore, it is important to discuss internet
advertising because there are going to be specific differences when it comes to
studying the idiosyncratic variations in the perceptions of users while determining the
idea of what exactly constitutes “Internet Advertising.”
There are two distinct meanings when it comes to modern marketing practices
especially when it comes to relating electronic marketing to the views of the
consumers:
1. The range of different specialist marketing functions. This is carried out by
many retail organizations. These functions include market research, brand
promotion, product management, public relations and customer service
(Berthon et al., 1998).
2. A newly developed concept that can be used as the guiding philosophy for all
functions and activities with regard to the promotion of marketing in an
organization. This philosophy includes business strategies guided by an
organization’s market and competitor focus which indirectly reflects on the
marketing practice of the organization (Berthon et al., 1998).
The aim and objective of this research are to carry out an assessment of perception
of the user towards the different factors of internet marketing acting either as a push
or pull medium. Therefore, these factors of internet marketing can be discussed
under the different methods of internet advertising. Therefore, in this dissertation
internet advertising is considered as a broad term which covers any marketable
subject on the internet, designed by different industries in order to provide
information about a given product or service to the prospective consumers.
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Therefore, internet marketing or advertising would include different formats like
emails, interactive games, videos, audio or posters. They can provide information
about any depth including details of products, links to the official website or simply
the brand logo (Schlosser 2003) .
2.2.2. Background of internet advertising:
The advertising of products online has growth tremendously by changing patterns of
advertising. The first research on the impact of the internet on advertising was
carried out by Jupiter Communications in 1997. They reported that there was
revenue of three hundred million USD in 1996 with a projected overall income of up
to seven billion dollars by the year 2002. There was increased expenditure on
internet advertising with an estimated one hundred and fifty million dollars in just the
first quarter of 1997 (Cyberatlas 1997). A survey by Grant Thornton (1997) indicated
that Internet was a medium of advertising which was to stay, and most businessmen
believe that it would generate more income in the future. Therefore, internet
advertising is still to be considered as a very important phenomenon in the future
success of any retail market.
2.2.3. User attitude towards advertising:
Attitude is considered to be something which has been learnt by any individual, and
it cannot be considered to be something present instinctively. It cannot be
considered as a previously present behaviour, but can be proposed as a developed
behaviour. Thus attitude is caused due to the development of attachment to a
particular object and can establish a particular link between an individual and an
entity (Blythe 1997). There has a long history about definition and study of attitude. A
number of theories of persuasion have been focussed on the attitude as a measuring
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factor. A direct influence on the behaviour of the individual is ruled by the attitude
according to the different scientists. It is also seen that the attitude of the consumer
is found to affect the effective nature of advertising, and this concept is validated by
research (Stiff and Mongeau 2003).
The Consumer-related factors are important when evaluating how persuasive the
advertising is [Stiff and Mongeau 2003]. When an advertisement is well liked it can
be linked to the type of attitude presented by an individual. The appreciation of an
advertisement promotes a positive attitude in the mindset of the viewers (Fill 2006).
A number of authors including Mittal (1994) have published some of the earliest
studies on the attitude of public towards advertising. The main aim of advertising is
to reach a large number of audiences with simple information about the product. This
information helps in the user assimilation of details of the product including, the
name of the product, its function, the requirement of product and the improvement of
the product over other similar substances present in the market (Fill 2006).
The different studies on the attitude of the public towards advertising have been
classified differently based on the sample type, size as well as the type of survey
instrument that was used to collect the information. There have been varying results
when the advertising attitude of the individuals was studied. The earliest survey on
the effectiveness and likeability of advertisements has provided positive results. This
result also showed that participants found advertisements informative (Li et al. 2004).
They also found that a majority of respondents preferred advertised products over
unadvertised products, although most also felt that advertising increased the cost of
things they buy. Persuasive communication research has shown that attitude is an
important aspect of consumer research since the sixty years. It is characterized that
advertising attitude is a predisposition which is often learnt. This disposition can be
either favourable or unfavourable when advertising is considered as a general
attitude (Liu 2001).
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There has been the development of specific belief items which have been found to
influence advertising in terms of both economics as well as social studies. These set
of belief items can be classified as positive as well as negative [Belch and Belch
2001] . There is a direct influence on the perception of a brand by the likeable
nature of the advertisement [Bruner and Kumar 2007]. There is found to be
distinctive variation in the attitude of the consumer towards the different forms of
advertising media (Belch and Belch 2001). They have shown that the reach of an
advertisement online to its consumers is found to be dependent on the attitude of the
viewers preferably positive. It is found to have an influence on recall of a particular
brand as well as the generation of interest towards the brand. The factors which are
found to influence the consumer likeability of an ad is directly related to the attitude
of the user [Bruner and Kumar 2007]. The study by Shergill and Chen (2005) has
been on the attitude of consumers towards online marketing especially in the cities of
New Zealand. Other studies include ‘Exploring the effectiveness of taxis as an
advertising medium’ [Veloutsou and O’Donnell 2005] and ‘Attitude toward Location-
Based Advertising’[Bruner and Kumar 2007].
The comparison of traditional advertising with internet advertising has been carried
out, and this has resulted in the growth a new model of advertising called as new
media advertising [Sissors and Baron 2002]. In order to understand the differences
in the perception of the user towards internet based advertising, it is important to
perceive the basic differences in consumer attitude towards traditional and internet
based advertising. This difference would enable building of brand, identification of
personality of a brand as well as development of purpose directionality. Therefore,
the best use of the internet as a medium of marketing may be targeted towards goal-
oriented consumers. This provides quite a great potential for a mixed directional
internet based advertising [Wang et al. 2002].
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2.2.4. Dimensions of internet advertising as an instrument in determination of
user belief and requirement:
Beliefs with regard to advertising as an instrument involve the manner in which
advertising’s characteristics, personal benefits or costs of advertising, etc. is viewed.
James and Kover (2002) concluded that although the studies on outlook toward
advertising have differed a great deal in sample selection and data collection
methods, they have focused on many of the same attributes of judgment, such as
informativeness, entertainment value, trustworthiness, and offensiveness.
There is an alteration of the perception of the consumer when it comes to marketing
through the internet especially when it is compared to marketing through
conventional measures. The main difference could be attributed to the use of the
internet as an effective digital medium. The use of the internet to promote the retail
market is often attributed to the use of television digitally, use of satellites as well as
the use of mobile phones. This, therefore, helps in building information exchange
between the buyer and the seller (Ghosh, 1998).
There have been 6 “I”s promoted in the e-marketing sector by McDonald and Wilson
(1999). The importance of six important factors is that they deal with the real time
issues of internet marketing. These six factors thus influence the direct marketing of
the product to the user. The factors included are the personalization of the product,
taking down direct response from the buyers and conducting thorough research on
the different aspects of marketing through the internet. There is restructuring as well
as the integration of the communication channels in order to promote discussion of
strategic issues in the internet marketing sector. These facets ought to be
considered independently in order to develop newer plans of marketing (McDonald
and Wilson 1999). The five factors influencing this decision include:
2.2.4.1. Interactivity:
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The level in which interactivity of the internet influences the perception of the
consumer is the first I of internet marketing (Deighton, 1996).
The characteristics of the internet in terms of interactivity of any digital medium
include,
Initiation of contact with the consumer
Sharing of information with the consumer
Provision of a high-intensity medium in order to attract full attention of the
users when a particular website is used.
Gathering the response of the consumer towards a particular product. This
enables the development of a database in order to deal with future issues.
Taking into consideration the individual needs of a consumer. This is done
often by personalization.
(Deighton, 1996).
2.2.4.2. Intelligence
The collection of material towards research in terms of marketing is found to be quite
cheap when carried out through the internet. It is seen that the most common
measure of online research to understand consumer perception is conducting
surveys. The internet can be used as an effective medium of creating feedback in a
two-way manner. There can be effective communication between the consumers
and the buyers (Chaffey 2002). A large amount of information pertinent to marketing
is also found to available over the internet. The number of users accessing the
website, the number of users preferring to browse through a product and other such
issues can be recorded in terms of a log file. Therefore the behaviour of the users in
terms of their likes and dislikes can be easily arrived at. This also enables the
response of a retailer to the consumers in real time (Chaffey 2001).
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2.2.4.3. Individualization
A very important and well-appreciated aspect of marketing through the internet
includes interactive marketing feature of individualization. The requirements, the
likes, the dislikes of individuals as well as demographic profiles can be noted down
effectively and provide a sense of individuality. The requirement of the individuals
can be tailored by the marketer, and this can be recorded for future use. This
process of honing in on the specific interests of individuals is a concept of
personalization (Lichtenthal and Eliaz 2003).
Dependent on the product of interest expressed by the individual and a collective
range of products accessed by the same individual the consumer use can be
profiled. It is also important to note that this would ensure the seller to understand
the “buying block” (Lichtenthal and Eliaz 2003). This block would ensure that the
consequent visit of the individual would be influenced and made more pertinent. The
next time the user visits he would be given information on product sales or new
products in his area of interest. This has promoted a concept in marketing called as
mass customization (Varadarajan and Yadav, 2009).
2.2.4.4. Integration:
Integration of communication has been made possible due to the internet. It is
important to note that the Internet can be used as a response tool directly enabling
the individuals to access a real store where the product is available along with the
virtual information provided (Seybold 1999). A number of websites have a facility of
call back where the seller gets back to the users, or they have a direct chat function.
This enables the consumers to reach the marketer and provide pertinent information
like name, contact number as well as their query. This query is then answered.
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It has been noted by Seybold (1999) that the information available on the internet to
the consumers should be integrated to the information available to the consumer
directly. This includes personally identifiable information of the consumer. The
internet also has been considered as the best medium to deal with the issues of the
consumer and provide excellent consumer service. The provision of information like
frequently asked question would be a wealth of information provision (Seybold
1999).
2.2.4.5. Independence of location:
Arguably the most important influence of the electronic media in terms of improving
marketing of a product is the globalization of the market. It is important to note that
there have been different opportunities provided to even small sellers to make their
wares available to people all over the world. This is something which was not
possible earlier (Chaffey 2001). There is no need for sales personnel or for a local
sales shop. There has been restructuring of the concept of intermediation in terms of
geographical location of goods
that may arise (Chaffey 2001).
2.2.5. Consumer Attitude towards Internet advertising:
It is important to notice that consumers’ attitudes towards advertising and the
potential impact of it towards consumer behaviour upon decision-making shall not be
underestimated. It is generally believed that those who hold positive attitudes on the
advertising would be more likely to be persuaded for a behavioural response (Brown
and Stayman 1992). However, studies have also discovered that consumers (of the
United States and the West Germany) attitudes towards advertising could be
complex and might encompass a variety of social and economics related factors.
These factors include consumer manipulation and the role of advertising in an
economy (Brown and Stayman 1992).
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With the emergence of the Internet and Internet advertising wherein Internet
advertising encompasses a number of advertising formats, including pop-up ads,
pop-under ads, email, forum and newsgroup ads, banner ads, interstitials,
superstitious, podcast, webisodes, etc. has brought marketers and researchers a
new horizon. They started to explore the factors affecting the success of the Internet
advertising (Oliveira, 2001). The Internet the main function of providing information
for consumers. It has been suggested by authors like Schlosser, Shavitt and Kanfer
(1999) there are two different aspects including cognitive and affective issues. The
affective issues include shock and entertainment values as well as cognitive issues
in terms of informational elements. The factors of Internet advertising shall not be
sufficient in understanding and explaining the complexity of Internet users’ attitudes
towards online advertising.
It was further argued by Schlosser and Kanfer (1999) that the underlying factors of
the attitude of a consumer in terms of understanding the advertising measures online
was found to be quite different from the traditional advertising pattern. There has
been the negative attitude of consumers towards forms of advertisements online
including spam emails and pop advertisements as indicated by Mehta and Sivadas
(1995). A study by Ducoffe (1996) on the attitude of New York consumer showed
both positive and negative attitude towards Internet advertising. A lot of participants
of the survey indicated that there was both interactiveness as well as entertainment.
The result gained in the above studies may be due to the novelty of the Internet and
the relatively self-disciplined industry practice at that time. The research by Pollay
and Mittal’s (1993) has been indicative of belief of the users of the internet as well as
their attitude towards marketing online. Their research has been multi-dimensional
and has examined the best measures of comparison of user belief and attitude.
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Section III: Push and pull factors of internet marketing:
2.3.1. Push versus pull approach:
There is the considerable influence of advertising on consumer attitude in terms of
exposure, attention as well as reaction to specific advertisements online ( Alwitt and
Prabhakar, 1992). This is often found to influence certain pathways in the brain
including cognitive as well as affective processes (Lutz, 1985).
A best-promoted model of internet marketing would be the push and pull method.
This method has been guaranteed to be the best market-oriented model. The
advertising measures are an effective pull medium. The push measure in terms of
price was also promoted. However, Peter (2003) has determined that this type of
push-pull model has been one-sided in nature in terms of hidden costs to avail the
seller a much higher profit. However, he has also indicated that the younger
generation is more aware of these types of traps and pitfalls and chose those
internet websites which are genuine. The greater influx information available to the
consumer has also promoted effective push of information to the prospective client.
Those factors which are extremely critical of this type of measures of marketing
include the skeptic attitude of the consumer, the pressure of modern lifestyle, the
growing change in trends in every single retail sector. This makes reaching the
consumer online more and more difficult (John 2003).
The push-pull categorization is a way to describe people's interaction with their
media experience, including advertising exposure. Depending on the extent of the
consumer’s control over advertising exposure, advertising, and advertising media
may be placed either near the push end or the pull end or somewhere in between.
The basic difference in terms of traditional and internet advertising includes the
control of exposure to the advertisement available. It is important to note that there is
an uphill battle of who has the upper hand the consumer or the company. In
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traditional advertisements, it’s easy to understand that the consumer has negligible
influence. The company decides on the type of advertisement, and there is
interruption as well as interception of the consumer attention to other subjects
(Ephron 1997). There have been numerous forms of advertising promoted online.
However, in this measure, it is important to note that the consumer has the upper
hand. The consumer gets to decide which measure of advertising is the most
effective. The company may provide an advertisement and ask for the attention of
the consumer however it is impossible for them to push the content of the
advertisement of the consumers (Ephron 1997).
Pull advertising gives individuals more control over what information they access, for
how long and how many times, and in what order. It is often designed to help the
individual who already has certain goals in mind to find relevant information about
suppliers of desired products or services. The advertising information is pulled by the
individual. Such a classification is a matter of convenience and access by the
individuals (Ephron 1997).
The Internet as a mass medium performs many different functions and integrates the
characteristics of many traditional media. Ephron (1997) commented that depending
on its specific functions, the Internet can be regarded as analogous to different
traditional advertising media. It resembles a magazine as it has pages. Banners
resemble outdoor signs. Search engines are like Yellow Pages. Because the Web
enables a transaction, it resembles direct-response advertising. Web sites selling
goods are like catalogs. Although whether these analogies are accurate or not is
open to debate, it is the consensus that the Internet is a multifaceted advertising
medium. Therefore, the Internet cannot be simply grouped into either the push or pull
group. It is at the same time a push-and-pull advertising medium, with some formats
of Internet advertising being more push oriented while some being more pull
oriented.
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2.3.2. New media advertising: Push and pull approach:
There have been five different formats of advertisements which have been
identified by
Rodgers and Thorson (2000) online. These include the following:
1. Banner ads
2. Pop-up advertisements
3. Listings of search – paid
4. Commercial websites
5. Advergames
There can be a number of formats which develop over the years. The following
section discusses these formats in terms of pull or push approach.
2.3.3. Pull approaches:
2.3.3.1. Banner ads:
Those advertisements which are made available on an HTML page in terms of
graphic images are classified as banner advertisements (Interactive Advertising
Bureau, 2002). These advertisements are found to appear anywhere in the web
page including the top, side or bottom and are usually rectangular in shape attracting
the attention of the user of a website. These advertisements serve the purpose of
building traffic to a particular website. This is carried out by ensuring that consumers
can click the banner ad. This ad is then hyperlinked to some other Website to obtain
more information. It is seen that this is one of the most common forms of
advertisement online, and they are found to represent a majority of 55% of the total
advertisements provided (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 1999). It also serves to
give at least thirty percent of the income obtained from such new media (Interactive
Advertising Bureau, 2002).
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However, an important point to note is that there is a decrease in the number of
users accessing these websites. In the year 2000 itself, there was a decrease to
0.3% (Nielsen/Netratings, 2000). However authors Briggs & Hollis (1997) like have
noted that it is not right to study if a banner advertisement is effective by judging their
click through rates. They consider these banner ads to be similar to the billboards
used in traditional advertisements. They also indicate that the small amount of
information that is provided on the banner advertisement like the name of the brand
or the slogan of the brand would lead to an increase in brand positioning as well as
brand awareness. These authors conducted a study. They questioned 500
respondents on the effectiveness of banner advertisements and had noted that these
advertisements resulted in increased awareness of brands, strengthening of the
image and perceived loyalty to the brand.
It has also been discovered by certain researchers that some efforts can be made in
order to promote the effectiveness of banner advertisements. Li & Bukovac (1999)
have indicated that the size and colour of the advertisement have the maximum
effect on the consumer. They have also shown that there is a better response to a
banner ad when there is animation involved. This also involves better recollection of
the ad. The study by Brown (2002) shows that most users of internet websites are
drawn to pull down menus rather than simple banner ads. These are effective in
promoting attention, liking and click throughs. This is attributed to the better quality
of information available in these ads.
2.3.3.2. Paid keyword search listing.
The study by London (2000) and Overture (2003) has shown that most of the web
users use a specific search engine. Therefore, a number of advertisers make use of
these search engines in order to promote their product. There is the usage of
specific and clear cut keywords by the advertisers to identify potential buyers.
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Whenever a particular term is entered into a particular search engine, it is noted that
there is checking with the paid listing provider’s database and provides a list of Web
sites related to keywords (Overture, 2003).
Search engine advertising emerged under this background and had demonstrated
robust growth in recent years. Search engine advertising spending more than
doubled in 2001 and again in 2002 (Hyland, 2004). Search engine advertising
accounted for 15% of total online advertising revenues in 2002, and 35% in 2003
(Hyland, 2004). IAB (2006) reported that search engine advertising remains the
format that draws the largest revenue, accounting for 43% of 2005 fourth-quarter
revenues, up from the 40% for the same period in 2004. Ramsey (2004) estimated
that by 2008 search engine advertising would reach over $6.7 billion.
There are mainly two forms of search engine advertising. These include the
placement through payment and inclusion through payment (Bannan, 2003). The
forms of placement through payment include links which are sponsored and listings
which are paid. Other forms include payment for performance or placement. There is
bidding of keywords by advertisers. The one that provides the highest rate for a
certain string of key words gets his advertisement placed highest. And it is often
seen that these areas are demarcated from the remaining areas to provide
information on the product but also ensures that it does not interfere with the
searching function of the user Bannan, 2003).
In the form of paid inclusion, advertisers pay to guarantee that their websites or
pages will be indexed by a search engine’s crawler and therefore included in the
listings. The advertiser’s website will not get a prominent listing or rank boost. The
ranking of the returned search results is still based on relevancy. This option is thus
much less popular with advertisers (Bannan, 2003).
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2.3.4. Push approaches:
2.3.4.1. Pop-up advertisements:
One good example of an Internet advertising format that adopts the push approach
is pop-up advertisements. Those advertisements which appear separately and not
on the browser window are pop-up advertisements. These often appear as a
separate window on top of the previously used window. The user must close or
minimize the window to get it out of sight. A pop-up may appear anytime in the
process of the user's Web viewing: while the homepage of a website is loading while
transitioning between two Web pages, or while leaving a website ( Rodgers and
Thorson 2000).
According to Olsen (2004), pop-up advertisements started to come out in force since
the dot-com bust, when Web publishers were craving for advertising revenue. It was
seen that only two percent of web advertisements were pop up adverts in the year of
2001 (Olsen, 2004). However, before the end of 2002, there was the appearance of
over eleven billion pop up advertisements (Martin & Ryan, 2002). By July 2003, pop-
ups and pop-unders accounted for 8.7% of all online advertisements. According to a
study conducted by Advertising.com in 2003, pop-ups are 13 times more effective at
generating click-throughs than standard banners (Cassavoy, 2004).
The pop-up is a controversial advertising format. Research has shown that pop-ups
are very unpopular with Internet users (Chan, Dodd, & Stevens, 2004). Responding
to the negative public attitude, in August 2002, EarthLink started to give its
customers a software to block these ads. Free toolbars that block pop-ups can be
obtained for free from major search engines. In 2004, Microsoft built in a blocker in
their operating system to ensure that it doesn’t affect their consumers and which can
be switched on anytime the user wants.
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It was also noted by Cho, Lee, and Tharp (2001) that the presence of these
advertisements was looked upon favourably when compared to a banner
advertisement. It was also seen that certain other researchers indicated these to be
extremely disturbing and annoying in nature
(Edwards, Li, & Lee, 2002). Thus both positive and negative aspects have been
attributed to advertising measures online through pop-up ads, and it is to be
observed that the negative aspects seem to be more as many people found it to be
interrupting their schedule (Dillabough, 2002).
2.3.4.2. Advergames:
Another important push factor is the advergames. This industry has been promoted
effectively over the years, and a number of consumers enjoy the games (Interactive
Digital Software Association, 2000). As a game playing online has become a vital
aspect of the recreational life of the users. Therefore, advertisers came up with the
concept of using these games as effective methods of promoting the brand
message.
It is also seen that these tools of advertising are found to have several good aspects
which are beneficial to the consumer. These tools have promoted the concept of
awareness of a brand. A survey of the game players in the MSN gaming zone by
Marriot et al. (2001) revealed that “A survey of game players at MSN Gaming Zone
taken before Toyota’s Adrenaline game went online found that Toyota’s brand
awareness ranked 6th among major car companies. A second survey of game
players, taken 3 months after the game went online, found that Toyota’s brand
awareness had risen to 2 nd.”
Conclusion:
Marketing managers know that consumer perception can be built using a variety of
mediums. However, not everyone is clear about what exactly consumer perception is
all about. A tongue in cheek thing would be that mobile marketing is considered one
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of the best alternatives for building consumer perception of a brand. Gemma
Roach. (2009) found out through statistical methods that a consumer's perceptions of
two of the three innovation attribute tested (relative advantage and compatibility) were
significantly associated with their acceptance (or adoption) of marketing messages
used through internet marketing. The attribute of complexity was not really influenced
by the marketing messages sent through this medium.
CHAPTER THREE:
R ESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The validity and the reliability of research are one of the two main things which are to
be looked at in order to substantiate the credibility of any research study (Saunder et
al., 2003). The rationale behind the different methodologies adopted in order to
analyse the proposed research question is called as the methodology of the study.
The intention of the study, as well as rationale behind the study, is the two vital intents
of any research process (Calder, 1998).
This study was conducted from the consumers’ perspective and examined how one
advertiser-controlled factor and two sets of consumer-related factors influenced
consumers’ beliefs about Internet advertising. To obtain pertinent information and to
arrive at conclusive results empirical analysis has been carried out using quantitative
measures of analysis. The rationale and philosophy of the research methodology is
studied using the onion approach.
There is usage of the ‘onion’ model of research promoted by Saunder et al (2007).
Answers to the research question are provided by a layer by layer approach to the
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proposed question. Uncovering of every layer explains the reason behind the
particular approach and the reason behind the uncovering of the design.
Figure: 1
On next page
Source: Adopted from Research Methods for Business Studied, Saunder, Lewis &
Thornhill, 2003, Chapter 4, p.83
Interpretivism
Deductive approach
Quantitative
analysis
Primary data
collection
Questionnaire
method
Data Collection
Research approach
Research philosophy
Survey instrument
Research strategy
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The layers of the research onion represent the following aspects, as adopted by the
researcher
1. Research philosophy
2. Research Approach
3. Research strategy
4. Data Collection methods used
5. Survey instrument was chosen
3.2 R ESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
The thought process behind the analysis of the study from the researcher’s point of
view is used to decide the investigate viewpoint involved in the analysis. The three
main schools of thought behind determination of a research philosophy include the
following:
1. Positivism
2. Interpretivism
3. Realism
(Saunders et al. 2003).
In order to understand the idealistic point of view, it is important to operate within the
realms of operating research, and this leads to positivism. This type of approach while
extremely effective in a scientific background of study has given mixed results when
approached from a business or marketing point of view. This often seen in the social
world of business due to the complexity of the situation (Remenyi et al., 1998).
Interpretivism is often completely opposite to positivism. According to this research
philosophy, no specific model can be used to study a research question when applied
to a social world. This type of research philosophy is more useful when one considers
the actual reality in a research environment. However, the interpretive method has its
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drawbacks as result comparisons cannot be drawn from an interpretive analysis. A
political or analytical framework cannot be established as any one particular model of
study is approached in this method (McAnulla, 2006).
Final research analysis is realism. According to this philosophy existence of reality is
independent of thoughts or beliefs and this reality can often by extended to similar
situations. Therefore, this researchmethod is found to draw parallels fromthe previous
two methods and arrive at an amalgamation of both the processes. However, this
method indicates that there is independence between social forces involved and the
factors influencing individual perception (Saunders et al. , 2003).
This research analysis is focused from a realistic point of view. The findings of this
study, therefore, have a structured framework and present an objective reality. This
reality can be extended to similar social constructs. However, there is no influence on
the results by the belief and attitude of the researcher (Remenyi et al. , 1998).
3.3 R ESEARCH APPROACH
Thereare two different research approaches while looking at determining the research
methodology. A first method is a deductive approach while the other is an inductive
approach.
The testing of different theories to arrive at a solution for the proposed question is
called as the deductive method of analysis. A set of theories behind this particular
research methodis analyzedfrom previous research. This is the best methodto come
up with the hypothesis. This formulation helps in establishing the base for the
hypothesis. Once this is carried out the testing of the hypotheses to arrive at a
conclusion is used (Marcoulides 1998).
In comparison, an inductive research approach starts from the observation of the
provided data to arrive at research hypotheses. This hypothesis then helps in the
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formulation of a theory. Therefore, this method involves the determination of concepts
and theories from previously collected empirical data (Marcoulides, 1998).
These approaches are fundamentally different; one is the top down while other is the
bottom-up analysis. The research approach used here involves a top-down approach,
i.e. it involves a deductive approach for two main reasons.
1. It is beyond the academic scope of the researcher to arrive at conclusive
theories.
2. It is easier to collect empirical data once a set of hypotheses are formulated.
Figure: Deductive Versus Inductive Approach
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Source: adapted from Trochim (2001)
3.4 R ESEARCH S TRATEGY
A generic plan adopted by the researcher in order to answer a question is the best
method of describing a strategy of research. “The research strategies will be a general
plan of how you will go about answering the research question(s) you have set”
(Saunders et al. 2000, p.92). Two different strategies are discussed: quantitative and
qualitative. Empirical analysis of the variables as well determination of properties and
relationships between them can be carried out by using quantitative approach. This
type of analysismakes use of mathematical hypotheses aswell models.Determination
of connections between the empirical observations and the mathematical expectation
of these observations in the form of proposed hypotheses can be carried out (Myers,
2000).
Determinants of a particular variable without making use of mathematical models or
hypotheses can be carried out by using qualitative measures of analysis. Qualitative
analysis helps in presenting the study in an accessible manner and uses specific skills
to present the details of the study in a descriptive manner (Creswell 2003). This
research uses a quantitative measure of research strategy. Objectivity, generalization

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as well as the reliability of the chosen research strategy can be arrived at by using
quantitative tools of data analysis (Creswell 2003). However, when looks at qualitative
tools of analysis are based on analyzing the available content presented in a non-
numerical format. Therefore, it is often generalized that quantitative study is objective
in nature while the qualitative study is subjective in nature.
3.5. DATA COLLECTION METHOD:
The research can be conducted properly only when the methods of data collection
have been established and used correctly. There are two methods of data collection.
These include secondary and primary data as discussed by Jackson (1994).
Secondary data: This is an inconspicuous method of collection of data. This data is
collected completely from academic theories and studies which are published and are
made available to other researchers and scholars. This data is very important
because it helps in building the review of the literature. In this study, the researcher
has used both electronic database and libraries to obtain information from peer-
reviewed journals, books, and websites to understand the topic of study. It also helps
in creating the framework for research.
Primary data: This is used for the quantitative study. It helps is arriving at a solution
to the proposed questions. It also helps in the provision of access to the participants
of the study directly by the author. Therefore, there are no mistakes involved, and this
helps in ensuring that no delay occurs in terms of analysis of data.
3.6. SURVEY INSTRUMENT USED:
The survey instrument was a questionnaire. In the questionnaire simple and rigid
questions which were closed were proposed. This method helps in accessing a large
number of respondents in avery short time (Creswell,2003). An average time of fifteen
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minutes was required for the participants to complete the study. The first section of the
questionnaire presented basic socio-demographic questions. The second part of the
questionnaire determined the attitude of the participants towards the use of Internet
for marketing purposes. The third section studied the attitude and beliefs of the
participants thereby showing the user perception of internet marketing. The final
section of this questionnaire deals with the determination of whether the push or pull
factor is more effective as a tool for marketing.
In some questions, a Likert scale was adopted. The Likert scale was adopted in order
to ensure that a uniform scaling procedure could be adopted. There was a score given
from 5 to 1 with people who agreed completely and strongly given a score of five while
those who completely disagreed were given a score of 1. The other measures in
between include agree, neutral and disagree.
3.7. RESEARCH LOCATION AND SAMPLE SIZE:
The selection of a sample is dependent on the nature of the study, the study of the
universe and size of the sample used. Miles and Huberman (1994) indicated that the
purpose of the study is the most important to determine the sample as well as the size
of the sample.
The field study was conducted in Derby, Burton on Trent (United Kingdom) and in New
Delhi, (India) . The study was conducted with college students. These students were
found to have more exposure, and the younger population is generally more attuned
to using digital technology. and the majority of research population chosen was
university and college students. Also, the key reason behind choosing the university
students was that they get free access to the internet, including free emailing and web
surfing in their colleges. They are also frequently required to search online for
information related to their coursework, and to submit assignments online.
Furthermore, free internet MSN and Skype services are popular university student
communication platforms. Therefore, use of the internet for university students is
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relatively high in comparison to other segments. All of this justifies the need for the
study being conducted on university students. Similar questionnaires were also
distributed to the general public at the entry and exit points of Westfield shopping
centre Derby providing them with prepaid envelopes so that they could fill out and
return at their own convenience.
The validation of the questionnaire was carried out using experts in the field. The
participants in this study belonged to both sexes and different ethnic origins. The
research was carried out at University of Derby Kedleston road, Burton College (UK).
and Kamla Nagar College in New Delhi (India). These colleges were chosen in such
a manner that they represented the entire population of New Delhi. There was the
adoption of a specific measure of sampling. Everyone in ten students was asked to
answer the survey. These students were approached at the main entrances of each
of the universities in November 2010.
An initial verbal filtering question of selected participants was used to ensure no
duplication of responses. A total of 100 completed questionnaires were collected, and
the number of questionnaires collected from each college was weighted based on the
proportion of the student population at each College.
3.8. Ethical issues:
Data collection, data analysis as well as data publication are the different aspects of
research design which have ethical concerns (Burton 2000). The researcher has
therefore considered the ethical implications in every step of the research. Anonymity
has been promised to every participant of the research. Any willing participant of the
research was treated with complete confidentiality. No personally identifiable
information was demanded from the participants like name, phone number, address
or email.
Informed consent :
The practice of informed consent was also diligently pursued. The reason why the
research was conducted and the implications of it were disclosed to every participant
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of the research. Such complete information at the beginning of the research helps in
validating the research instrument.
Dignity:
The participants of the study were treated with at most respect and dignity. It has been
indicated that sometimes participants viewed themselves as objects of the study and
were forced to give answers to the questions. It was made absolutely clear to the
participants that the study was completely voluntary in nature. Any questions raised
by the volunteers were also dealt with immediately.
Ethnicity:
Care was taken not to offend the sensibilities of any one participant. The caste,
ethnicity, creed and other factors were taken into consideration, and the questionnaire
was framed in such a manner that it was completely neutral. The author made sure
that noparticular attention was giventoone person, a groupof people or one particular
organization.
3.9. Data analysis:
The data collected was the organized by entering it into the Microsoft Excel Software.
The mean, percentage, cumulative percentage and variance were calculated.
3.10. Conclusions:
A quantitative methodology was used to arrive at a specific method of research. This
method has employed a questionnaire survey instrument to collect primary data. The
following chapter gives information on the results of the survey instrument.
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CHAPTER FOUR:
Findings and discussion:
4.1. Introduction:
This chapter gives the results of the quantitative analysis. It is seen that the chapter
has dealt with the user perception of internet marketing in terms of attitude, belief,
and avoidance. It has also strived to understand if push or pull factors can be used
as tools in marketing through the internet. The results are given are in the form of
tables as well as graphs to promote easy discussion.
4.2. Socio-demographic parameters:
4.2.1. Preliminary analysis of questionnaires:
A totalnumber of 250students wereapproachedto fill the questionnaire. The following
figure denotes the total number of questionnaires which were completed fully (88%
complete, 12% incomplete) and retrieved as illustrated in figure 3.
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Figure 3: Preliminary analysis if questionnaires
4.2.2. Socio-demographic parameters:
The sex, age and educational qualification of the students were noted down as socio-
demographic parameters. When the sex of the participants was considered, it is seen
that there was gender equality. There were male (53%) and female participants (47%)
as seen in the following figure 4.
Figure 4: Gender of participants
0
50
100
Retrieved
questionnaires Not Retrieved
questionnaires
Percentage
Number Of Respondents
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The age parameters of the respondents are depicted in the following table 1,
Table 1: Age of respondents
Age
ycneuqerF Percent Cumulative
Percent
15 - 19 62 28.1818
2
28.18182
20 - 24 96 43.6363
6
48.01653
25 – 29 47 21.3636
4
57.72727
30 and above 15 6.818182 100.0
Total 220 100.0
It is observed that most of the participants are between the age group of 20 -24 (43%)
followed by those in age group 15-19 (28.1%) as shown in table 2. This is found to
Male
53%
Female
47%
Gender of participants
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correlate to education parameters of the participants wherein it is observed the most
of the participants were undergraduate students (63%) within the age group of 15-24.
Table 2: Education of participants
Education Level
neuqerF
cy
Percen
t
Cumulative
Percent
PG Postgraduate level 58 26.363
64
26.36
UG Under graduate level 140 63.636
36
90
MP
hil/P
hD
Master of philosophy/
Doctor of philosophy
22 10 100
TOTAL 220 100
4.2.3. User demographics and user perception of internet marketing:
The user perception with relation to user demographic was studied from the point of
view of a number of years of usage of the internet as a place for retail shopping by the
respondents. From the following figure, it is clear that most of the students between
the agegroup of 20- 24 havebeenusingthe internet for thelast 2-3 years. The number
of students using the internet less than 2 years has been high in the 15- 19 category.
The students who have used the internet for 3-4 years and above are mostly 24 and
above as depicted in the figure 5.
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Figure 5: Demographic profile – internet usage
Applying this to the education of the students, most postgraduate students and
undergraduate students (3 or 4 th year) use the internet more when compared to 1 st
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and 2 nd-year students. The students who have been utilized the internet for more than
three years are students pursuing their doctorate or master of philosophy.
When the students were questioned about their buying power, it was seen that most
students above the age of 24 were able to buy products worth £100 or above as seen
in the figure 6. The students between the ages of 15-19 and 19-24 were able to buy
products less than £20 or £20 - £100. This shows that as the students became older,
they had better purchasing power, especially the older doctoral and master of
philosophy candidates who were likely to receive more amount as stipend hence may
have a better source of income.
Figure 6: Demographic profile – Spending power
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The study byMoschis et al. 2004, has also shownthat older consumers are more likely
to shop online as they have greater spending power as well as brand or store loyalty.
The study by Fox (2004) showed that while examining the role of the internet in
promoting services in the health retail industry older consumers were more benefited,
however, this study when attributed to the fashion or the food industry younger
consumers were benefited. Therefore since this study was with regard to general
internet advertising without taking into account, the specific industry may not be able
to provide a clear picture. The study by Madden (2003) has shown that people with
lesser education were less likely to pursue online ventures due to their lowered buying
power. Similarly, the study by Venkatesh and Brown (2001) shows that people with
lesser education often perceive the cost is high when compared to the relative
usefulness of the product.
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The user demographic profile clearly shows categorization in both usage of internet
for the rationale of shopping as well as the spending power in these online markets.
Therefore,
H1: User demographic profile influences user perception of internet marketing.
Is accepted.
4.3. Analysis of validity:
The analysis of validity was carried out using the Cronbach’s alpha test. The
satisfactory parameter for Cronbach’s alpha test is found to be 0.7. The validity
parameters for the different variables was found to belief factors (0.94), attitude factors
(0.97) and avoidance factors (0.97). This, therefore, is found to point out that the
survey conducted had a lot of stability. The values obtained are observed in table 3.
Table 3: Reliability and validity
Variables
Cronbach's
Alpha
Belief 0.948
Attitude 0.988
Avoidance 0.986
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4.4. Understanding belief, attitude and avoidance of user perception
towards internet marketing:
The participants were asked to rate their response on the basis of Likert Scale. Their
responses were ten classified under three different sections.
1. Belief
2. Attitude
3. Avoidance
The mean and standard deviation of the scores of the different responses were
determined and proposed.
4.4.1. Belief towards internet marketing:
The level of agreement of the participants of the study taking care of five points Likert
scales to determines the belief towards internet advertising. The average response
score was considered to be 3.
Among the responses, it was determined that majority of the respondents strongly
agreed withthe ideaof internet marketingbeinga sourceof latest fashion(Mean=4.54,
SD= 1.3). This is in accordance with the observations made by Hines and Bruce
(2004). They have noted that the increase in technological innovations has resulted in
greater access to information via the internet. Internet shopping has become a global
appeal. The internet offers important attributes to the retailers of fashion as well as
luxury brands. They observe that the internet marketing makes international brands
made available to people in any part of the world. It was also observed that most of
the respondents felt that internet marketing gave the latest information about a product
or service (Mean=4.32, SD= 1.03). This is again in accordance with the previously
observed literature. The study by Breitenbach and Doren (1998) has shown that the
current methods of internet marketing serve to provide better access to up to date
information on existing and new products. Their study also showed that this was one

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a factor which helped attract the attention of increasingly sophisticated internet
consumers.
Participants of the study viewed that internet marketing is a vital source of details with
regard to neighborhood sales and discounts (Means= 3.55 , SD= 1.29) and provides
better information for the public (Mean= 3.51, SD= 1.30). However the study by
Kannan and Koppale (2001) has shown that despite dynamic pricing measures for
goods to promote better sales, often spurred on by consumer use of price comparison
in websites, local sales and discount methods of marketing are more applicable to
traditional marketing methods. Consumers are influenced by advertisement on sales
on television and newspapers more than on the internet. The outlook of the
participants of our study was found to be completely different.
Table 4: User Belief towards internet marketing:
Belief
miniMN
um
Maxi
mum
Mea
n
Std.
Devia
tion
Internet marketing is a precious
foundation of information about
neighbourhood sales and
discounts.
220 1 5 3.55 1.294
Internet marketing results in
enhanced products for the
community
220 1 5 3.51 1.302
Internet marketing helps me keep
up-to-date about
products/services available in the
marketplaces.
220 1 5 4.32 1.238
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