Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Korgaonkar, Pradeep

Abstract

Much of what we currently know about consumers' reaction to persuasive attempts (advertisements) comes from studying mass media communications which are largely one-way and image-centered. Internet-based advertising is neither given the focus on information and the ability to narrowly target such appeals (sites), as in direct marketing advertising. Given the emergence of Internet promotions, this is a substantial gap in our knowledge. This research seeks to both extend the boundaries of current direct marketing research (with its predominant focus on who will reply) and the domain of existing persuasion theories and models, attempting to gain a greater understanding of why consumers respond as they do to Internet advertising. By adapting the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to the Internet, this research attempts to determine if executional cues play a role in enhancing persuasiveness and the moderating effects of involvement. Additionally, this research draws on the substantial work on attitude towards the ad (A$\sb{\rm ad}$), including attempts to greater understand the antecedents of these attitudes and proposed distinctions between executional and content aspects of Internet ads, to see if this rich framework is useful in predicating outcomes for Internet advertising. This research has significant implications for practitioners as it looks beyond atheoretical testing-based insights of what people respond to, drawing on established theory to provide insights into why consumers respond as they do to Internet based advertising. Testing the adaptability of current persuasion theory to this emerging medium will do much to begin building a solid understanding of how Internet advertising works. Using an interactive computer-based simulation in a 2 (involvement) x 2 (argument strength) x 2 (peripheral cue: present or absent) between subject factorial design with 224 subjects the adaptability of existing persuasion research to the Internet was tested. Findings demonstrate the adaptability of the ELM to Internet advertising, as well as the important antecedent effects of attitudes towards Internet advertising on persuasion. However, the decomposition of A$\sb{\rm ad}$ proved less useful in this new domain. All told, much of what we currently know about persuasion is likely to prove useful in developing promotional campaigns for the Internet.

Extent

151 p.

Comments

College of Business|Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1998.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|College of Business

Identifier

FADT12549

Format

pdf

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