Title: The effect of culture on attitude towards online advertising and online brands: applying Hofstede's cultural factors to internet marketing

Authors: Naser Valaei; Sajad Rezaei; Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail; Yoke Moi Oh

Addresses: Sunway University Business School, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia ' Taylor's Business School, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia ' UTM International Business School (UTM IBS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Taylor's Business School, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: In formulating advertising and marketing strategies, marketers usually ignore cultural values at their peril. Little is known about the effects of national culture on individuals' attitude towards online advertising and brands. The purpose of this study is to examine Hofstede's cultural factors including individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity and femininity, and long-term orientation on Attitude towards Online Advertisements (ATOA) and Attitude towards Online Brands (ATOB). Structural equation modelling was employed using partial least squares path modelling analysis to empirically test the proposed research model using 258 valid online questionnaires for evaluation of measurement and structural model for reflective constructs. The results indicate that individualism and long-term orientation are predictors of ATOA and ATOB. In addition, uncertainty avoidance does not have a positive relationship with ATOA and ATOB. The hypothesis on masculinity and ATOA is rejected, while there is no association between power distance and ATOB. Contribution of the study, limitations and further directions are proposed for future studies.

Keywords: internet marketing; cultural effect; online advertising; online brands; Hofstede; cultural factors theory; culture; cultural values; national culture; individualism; uncertainty avoidance; power distance; masculinity; femininity; long-term orientation; structural equation modelling; SEM; partial least squares; PLS; path modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2016.081346

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2016 Vol.10 No.4, pp.270 - 301

Accepted: 10 Jun 2016
Published online: 05 Jan 2017 *

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