The Effect of Product Information and Information Privacy Concerns on Acceptance of Facebook Advertising

Abstract

Facebook is gaining primacy as a preferred online advertising channel among marketers as it provides consumers with valuable up-to-date product information. As the amount of information about products advertised on Facebook increases, privacy concerns become a major issue. Consumers are concerned about the use and distribution of their personal information without their consent. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of product information and privacy concerns on acceptance of Facebook advertising. The main argument of this paper is that consumers will accept Facebook advertising only when it provides them with valuable up-to-date product information, and when they believe that Facebook keeps their information anonymous and protected. This paper also examines the relationship between attitudes and intention to accept Facebook as an advertising channel. A self-administered questionnaire comprising existing scales was used to collect the required data. A model was developed and tested to a convenience sample of 269 students drawn from a South African public higher education institution located in the Gauteng province. The study hypothesised that product information and privacy impact on acceptance of Facebook advertising. The results indicate that providing valuable product information affects students’ intentions to use Facebook as an advertising channel; privacy concerns influences students’ attitudes towards Facebook as an advertising channel. Furthermore, the results suggest that privacy concerns affect students’ intentions to accept Facebook as an advertising channel; students’ attitudes towards the use of Facebook as an advertising channel impacts on their intentions to accept it. The model of the current study appears to be relevant in explaining product information and information privacy concerns as important variables influencing the acceptance of Facebook advertising.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n25p198