The attitude of young Maltese adults towards Instagram pop-up adverts

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the different attitudes the Maltese public has with regards to Instagram pop-up adverts. Various aspects of what might influence the users’ attitudes were also of interest to this study, for instance, age, gender, general attitude to the platform, qualities one looks for an advert, and Instagram influencers. This study was carried out since nowadays, social media is present constantly in a person's life, and it has an impact on ones’ opinion and how he/she behaves. Social media has also changed how businesses interact with each other and their customers. Instagram has recently become rather popular with the Maltese public and businesses have taken notice. Thus, they started advertising on the platform, with mostly their advert showing up as pop-ups when scrolling through the home page or viewing daily stories. Only one method of data collection was utilized for this research; an online survey. The survey has shown that most people are aware of the pop-up adverts, and even if they are irritating and intruding some time, the adverts still have influence in purchasing decisions or introduce a new brand. Moreover, people get interested in adverts if it has the necessary qualities such as information or credibility. The research also concludes that businesses should avoid sponsored adverts because of the public notice that they seemed to be forced and eventually, they would not trust their opinion. Nonetheless, Instagram has become an effective social media platform for business to share their advert because a big part of the market can be reached.