An empirical examination of public attitudes towards advertising in a transitional economy

Abstract

This paper examines public attitudes towards advertising within the context of transition in central and eastern Europe. Drawing on a consumer survey conducted in three cities within Romania, the study conceptualises Pollay and Mittal's (1993) model of beliefs and attitudes towards advertising. This study introduces a novel differentiation between image and the social integration role of advertising, extending in this way the concept of the personal uses of advertising. It highlights variations in public opinion towards advertising between socio-cultural areas in Romania. Attitudes towards the institution of advertising, attitude-instrument, product information and hedonic/pleasure have a positive effect on general attitude to advertising as expected. Consumers who perceive an informational and entertaining value of advertising, those holding positive attitudes towards advertising as an institution in a free market economy and the instruments used to further it, are more likely to hold positive general attitudes towards advertising. The role of advertising exhibits a positive effect on general attitude. Image has a surprisingly negative effect on general attitude towards advertising, which contrasts with expectations based upon developed countries. Finally, the managerial implications are discussed.

Atitudes dos jovens portugueses face à publicidade contemporânea: uma análise das caraterísticas e dos efeitos do fenómeno publicitário

“…Porém, em alguns casos, essas dimensões surgem fundidas num só fator, como por exemplo, "materialismo/corrupção de valores" (Martin-Santana e Beerli-Palacio, 2008) ou identificadas com designações diferentes das originais, tais como "intrusão" (Nan, 2006) ou "alienação" (Marinov et al, 2008). Finalmente, alguns autores optaram por utilizar apenas uma parte do modelo, circunscrevendo, por exemplo, o estudo às dimensões individuais (Petrovici e Paliwoda, 2007).…”

“…O modelo de Pollay e Mittal, enquanto ferramenta de análise sobre a perspetiva dos consumidores com relação à comunicação publicitária, foi já utilizado em investigações anteriores, em outros contextos geográficos (Yang, 2000;Petrovici e Paliwoda, 2007;Marinov, Petrovici e Marinova, 2008). Contudo, não foram identificados estudos que tivessem aplicado esse modelo no território português.…”

Türkiye’de Reklama Yönelik Genel Tutumun Değerlendirilmesi

“…These variables were already included as demographic determinants in previous research on the attitudes toward advertising (Shavitt et al 1998, Dutta-Bergman 2006, Petrovici and Paliwoda 2007.…”

“…Considerable research has emphasized the construct of attitude toward advertising in general and developed models to examine its underlying antecedents (Bauer and Greyser, 1968;Sandage and Leckenby, 1980;Lutz, 1985;Muehling, 1987;Andrews, 1989;Pollay and Mittal, 1993;Shavit et al, 1998;Mehta, 2000;Beard, 2003;Dutta-Bergman, 2006;Petrovici and Paliwoda, 2007).…”

“…Although previous research took into account different public attitudes including adult consumers (Zanot, 1981;Mittal, 1994;Shavitt et.al., 1998;Millan and Mittal, 2010) and student samples (Haller, 1974;Larkin, 1977;Andrews, 1989;Pollay and Mittal, 1994;Beard, 2003;Jin and Lutz, 2013) and revealed various aspects of the subject at hand, majority of the data was limited to the population in the North American-European mainstream. To close this gap, recent studies also emphasized crosscultural variations (Durvasula et al, 1993;Andrews et al, 1994;Zinkhan and Balazs, 1998;Bush et al, 1999;Ashill and Yavas, 2005;Petrovici and Paliwoda, 2007). In that respect, the erosion of the American public opinion toward advertising may not hold relevance for other geographic regions.…”