Examining the role of antecedents and attitudes towards online advertising among Maltese consumers

Abstract

This study examines Maltese consumers' (aged 18-34) attitude towards online advertising (ATOA) in general and its relationship to a set of antecedents by applying the model proposed by Brackett and Carr (2001). The research goes a step further by examining the attitudes towards banner ads, Online video ads, pop-up ads and search ads. The key findings indicate that information (Hl), entertainment (H2) and credibility (H3) are positive predictors of ATOA while irritation (H4) is a negative predictor of ATOA. While Maltese consumers perceive online advertising to be informative, they do not perceive online advertising to be particularly entertaining, credible and irritating. In general, the results show that the attitude of Maltese consumers towards online advertising is slightly positive. In addition, the research indicates that the attitude towards video ads, banner ads and search ads is neutral to slightly positive, while the attitude towards pop-ups ads is quite negative.