The Effects of Online Advertising on Consumer Behavior: Samsung

This dissertation investigates the effects of online advertising on consumer behavior decision-making, focusing on the case of Samsung mobile phones. The research examines the concept of online advertising, its influencing factors (cost-effectiveness, global reach, convenience, and technological availability), and the relationship between online advertising and consumer behavior. Employing a positivism philosophy, deductive approach, descriptive design, and survey strategy, the study surveyed 70 consumers using non-probability sampling. Data analysis involved both descriptive and inferential techniques using SPSS software, revealing strong positive correlations among the factors affecting online advertising and between online advertising and consumer behavior. The findings suggest that online advertising significantly impacts consumer behavior, offering valuable insights for businesses seeking to enhance their marketing strategies and influence consumer decisions in the competitive mobile phone market. The dissertation also identifies challenges and proposes recommendations for optimizing online advertising effectiveness.

Running head: DISSERTATION
The Effects of Online Advertising on Consumer Behavior Decision Making: The Case Study of
Samsung
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ……………………. whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the…………… [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The aim of the research is to investigate the effects of online advertisement on consumer
behavior decision making by considering the case of mobile phone brand Samsung. Marketing
and advertising are the two important attributes that business organizations cannot and must not
compromise because the position is threatened largely. As traditional advertising is getting
obsolete due to the own set of challenges, online advertising is gaining preference across the
globe for the wide range of benefits it has to offer. The company does not have to go from place
to place for advertising the product or service. However, on the contrary, online advertising also
needs to be modified according to the location or destination for making the ads more impactful.
Samsung is a Korean multinational collaboration of several affiliated businesses that is
headquartered in Seoul. The mobile phone business under Samsung gained huge popularity
across the population across the globe. Samsung mobile offered high tech android features for
consumers with different financial stability thereby, making it a favorite among the consumers.
However, the rise of mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi, Asus and Lenovo have given rise to
tough and intense competition for Samsung as well that highlights the need of effective online
advertising for sustaining the position they hold in the mobile phone market.
The research will contribute socially by helping in identifying the potential challenges and issues
those arise while using online advertising. Identifying the challenges will contribute largely for
the business organizations because organizations will be able to use online advertising more
effectively and influence the behavior of the consumers efficiently. Rise of different mobile
brands have increased the level of competition largely thereby, making it difficult for established
and popular brands in influencing consumer behavior positively.

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Positivism philosophy, deductive approach, descriptive design and survey research strategy has
been used followed by selecting 70 consumers using non-probability sampling technique from
the entire consumer population using Samsung mobile phones. Primary data collection process
and quantitative data analysis technique has been used followed by using both descriptive and
inferential analyses using SPSS software.
From the first correlation analysis, it can be seen that all the factors affecting online
advertising are positively and strongly correlated with each other. Cost-effectiveness is strongly
and positively associated with global reach, convenience and technological availability as the
values obtained are .749, .729 and .741 respectively. Similarly, correlation values among global
reach with convenience and technological availability are .811 and .774 respectively. Moreover,
the correlation values among convenience and technological availability is .833 that also
indicates strong yet positive association. From the correlation test 2, it can be seen that consumer
behavior and online advertising are strongly and positively associated, as the value obtained
is .899. From the regression analysis it can be said that the null hypothesis is rejected and the
alternate hypothesis is accepted. This is because the p-value obtained is .000 that is less than
0.05. Hence, from the correlation and regression analysis, it can be said that the aim and
objectives is achieved along with accepting the alternate hypothesis successfully.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..................................................................................................................11
1.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................11
1.1 Problem statement...............................................................................................................12
1.2 Research aim........................................................................................................................13
1.3 Research objectives.............................................................................................................13
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................13
1.5 Research hypotheses............................................................................................................14
1.6 Research rationale................................................................................................................14
1.7 Structure of the dissertation.................................................................................................15
1.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................16
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................17
2.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................17
2.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................17
2.2 Concept of online advertising..............................................................................................18
2.3 Factors affecting online advertising.....................................................................................18
2.3.1 Cost effectiveness.........................................................................................................18
2.3.2 Global reach..................................................................................................................19
2.3.3 Convenience.................................................................................................................20

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2.3.4 Technological availability............................................................................................21
2.4 Benefits of online advertising..............................................................................................21
2.5 Challenges of online advertising.........................................................................................22
2.6 Platforms of online advertising tools...................................................................................23
2.7 Traditional advertising versus online advertising................................................................23
2.8 Concept of consumer behavior............................................................................................24
2.9 Factors affecting consumer behavior...................................................................................25
2.9.1 Age................................................................................................................................25
2.9.2 Culture..........................................................................................................................26
2.9.3 Perception.....................................................................................................................26
2.9.4 Attitude.........................................................................................................................26
2.9.5 Trends...........................................................................................................................27
2.9.6 Personality....................................................................................................................27
2.9.7 Experience....................................................................................................................27
2.9.8 Socio-economic level....................................................................................................28
2.10 Models of consumer behavior...........................................................................................28
2.10.1 The Bettman information processing model...............................................................28
2.10.2 The Engel, Blackwell, Miniard (EMB) model...........................................................30
2.11 Need of positive consumer behavior.................................................................................31
2.12 Challenges in influencing consumer behavior...................................................................32

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2.13 Impact of online advertising on consumer behavior..........................................................32
2.14 Summary............................................................................................................................33
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................34
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................34
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................34
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................35
3.2.1 Providing reasons for using positivism philosophy......................................................35
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................36
3.3.1 Providing reasons for using deductive approach..........................................................36
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................37
3.4.1 Providing reasons for using descriptive design............................................................37
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................37
3.5.1 Providing reasons for using survey strategy.................................................................38
3.6 Sampling technique and sample size...................................................................................38
3.6.1 Providing reasons for using probability sampling technique.......................................39
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................39
3.7.1 Providing reasons for using primary data collection process.......................................40
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................40
3.8.1 Providing reasons for using quantitative data analysis technique................................40
3.9 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................41

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3.10 Accessibility issues............................................................................................................41
3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................42
Chapter 4: Data analysis................................................................................................................43
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................43
4.1 Findings and analysis...........................................................................................................44
4.1.1 Descriptive analysis......................................................................................................44
4.1.2 Inferential analysis........................................................................................................47
4.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................55
Chapter 5: Discussions..................................................................................................................57
5.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................57
5.1 Findings and interpretations................................................................................................57
5.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................63
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendations...............................................................................64
6.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................64
6.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................65
6.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................67
6.3 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................68
References......................................................................................................................................69
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................79
Survey questions........................................................................................................................79

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual framework...................................................................................................16
Figure 2: Bettman information processing model.........................................................................28
Figure 3: Engel, Blackwell, Miniard (EMB) model......................................................................29
Figure 4: Gender specifications.....................................................................................................43
Figure 5: Age specification............................................................................................................44
Figure 6: Monthly income.............................................................................................................45
Figure 7: Following online advertisement.....................................................................................46

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List of Tables
Table 1: Correlation analysis among the factors affecting online advertising..............................48
Table 2: Correlation analysis between online advertising and consumer behavior.......................51
Table 3: Hypotheses testing...........................................................................................................53

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
Marketing and advertising are the two important attributes that business organizations
cannot and must not compromise because the position is threatened largely. As traditional
advertising is getting obsolete due to the own set of challenges, online advertising is gaining
preference across the globe for the wide range of benefits it has to offer (Bleier and Eisenbeiss
2015). With online advertising, time and location is just a term because consumers across
geographical locations have access to online advertising. For instance, if Samsung launches a
product in Korea, it can be spread globally through online advertising thereby, affecting the
behavior of the consumers.
The company does not have to go from place to place for advertising the product or
service. However, on the contrary, online advertising also needs to be modified according to the
location or destination for making the ads more impactful (Berman 2018). The consumers are the
significant external stakeholders that determine the success and profit of business organizations.
Hence, the brands and the organizations need to keep on influencing the behavior of the
consumers in such a way that the consumer behavior in making decision is positive and
impactful (Ghosh et al. 2015). As a result, the brands and the organizations are able to increase
profit, ensure business expansion and generate more revenue thereby, gaining competitive
advantage and strengthening their market position accordingly.
Samsung is a Korean multinational collaboration of several affiliated businesses that is
headquartered in Seoul. The majority of the affiliated businesses are under the brand name
Samsung that was founded in 1938 and diversified in different business areas such as textiles,

11DISSERTATION
electronics, retails, securities and retails. The mobile phone business under Samsung gained huge
popularity across the population across the globe. Samsung mobile offered high tech android
features for consumers with different financial stability thereby, making it a favorite among the
consumers. However, the rise of mobile phone brands such as Xiaomi, Asus and Lenovo have
given rise to tough and intense competition for Samsung as well that highlights the need of
effective online advertising for sustaining the position they hold in the mobile phone market.
1.1 Problem statement
Technological advancements have gripped the advertising industry and are gradually
replacing traditional advertising. Online advertising is the most preferred way of communicating
and influencing the behavior of the consumers but it comes with own set of challenges. One of
the major challenges that business organizations face when it comes to online advertising is the
rapid growth. The digital landscape keeps of growing and changing with even small
technological improvement that makes it difficult for business organizations to adapt and include
while using online advertising (Kireyev, Pauwels and Gupta 2016). Another significant
challenge with online advertising is the ad blockers.
According to Sahni (2015), ad blockers are costing billions of dollars because ad blockers
prevents the ads from appearing on the screen that means brands never have a chance to reach
the consumers. Hence, developing ads those cannot be blocked by ad blockers is costing too
much for the business organizations and the loss of consumers cannot be replaced. For brand like
Samsung, influencing consumer behavior has become a necessity because of the increased
competition. With the increased use of mobile phones, the rise of mobile phones brands has also
been seen that have intensified the competition and Samsung is no different.