中国城区青少年对广告价值的评价:前因和后果

Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Advertising Value from the Perspective of Chinese Adolescents

通过对北京市7所中学366名学生的调查,探讨了青少年对广告价值的评价以及何种因素影响青少年对广告价值的评价,广告价值的评价是否会进一步影响其决策等问题。运用AMOS4.0建立结构方程模型对研究假设进行检验,结果表明:(1)青少年对广告价值的评价直接影响到他们的决策意图;(2)在探讨广告价值的影响因素时发现,对广告的知觉因素(信息性和娱乐性)和青少年对广告以及广告商的社会认知(观看广告的社会动机和对广告劝服技巧的认识)对广告价值的影响作用也十分显著,信息性、娱乐性与社会动机都对广告价值产生积极影响,而对广告劝服技巧的认识则对广告价值产生显著的负面影响。

Advertising value is defined as a subjective evaluation of the relative worth or utility of advertising to consumers. This study investigated how Chinese adolescents assess advertising value, and the subsequent effect of this assessment on their purchase intentions. Based on empirical observations and the existing literature, we used advertising informativeness, entertainment, social motivation, and advertising persuasion tactics as the four antecedents of advertising value, with purchase intention as the consequence of advertising value. We chose to study adolescents as they accounted for 28.1% （equivalent to about 350 million people） of the Chinese population in 2004. Further, given the country＇s one - child policy, their influence on their parents＇ purchase decisions on family - related products is fairly substantial. We collected data from 412 adolescents who were studying in seven high schools in Beijing. Due to some incomplete responses, the final usable sample amounted to 366 students. The measures for the constructs were adapted from the existing literature, and were translated into Chinese and then back - translated into English to ensure accuracy and equivalence. All the items indicated acceptable levels of reliability and validity. We used structural equation modeling （AMOS 4.0） to test our framework, and the results indicated an acceptable level of fit. The results supported our hypotheses. Specifically, our findings were as follows： （1） Advertising informativeness, entertainment, and social motivation were all positively related to advertising value. In other words, advertising that is informative and entertaining is likely to lead to positive advertising value. Similarly, advertising that enhances social motivation is positively related to advertising value. （2） Advertising persuasion tactics were negatively related to advertising value. In other words, when Chinese adolescents believe that the advertisers have used advertising to manipulate their behavior, it will negatively affect their perceived advertising value. （3） Advertising value had a positive effect on purchase intention. Chinese adolescents who are positively influenced by advertising value are likely to have stronger purchase intentions. Our study has several theoretical implications. First, to the best of our knowledge, our study represents the first empirical examination of advertising value in China, as previous studies were conducted in Western countries. Second, while previous works on advertising value investigated advertising informativeness and entertainment as antecedents of advertising value, in our study, we also incorporated social motivation and advertising persuasion tactics as two other important antecedents. The practical implications of our results are as follows. Advertisers targeting Chinese adolescents should engage in advertising that is informative, entertaining, and socially motivated. Further, advertisers should avoid being overly persuasive, as this is likely to turn off Chinese adolescents, leading to lower advertising value and purchase intentions.