RESIDENTS PERCEPTION OF THE USE OF INTERNET FOR PRODUCT ADVERTISING IN PORT HARCOURT

RESIDENTS PERCEPTION AND ONLINE MARKETING OF PRODUCT IN PORT HARCOURT

ABSTRACT: The study focused on Port Harcourt residents perception of the use of the internet for product advertising. The study aimed to find out whether internet advertising influences the buying behavior of consumers. The study adopted a survey method, and a simple random sampling technique was employed to gather data from 399 respondents. Out of the figure, 384 respondents correctly filled and returned copies of the questionnaire which was used as the research for the study. The study adopted a four-point Likert scale for data analysis and tables were used to present data. Based on the findings the study recommended internet advertising is effective in reach and creation of awareness and recommends that companies should invest more in internet advertising to increase their market share and provide product information and the regulatory agency should be established by the government to register and regulate the activities of companies in Port Harcourt which are involved in providing goods and services via the internet. This way, the problem of fraud will be eliminated or brought to a bearable level. The government should continue to invest in power until there is an uninterrupted electricity supply to every home in Port Harcourt.

CHAPTER ONE

Background of the Study

In our daily activities, we are all surrounded by a vast amount of advertising. Advertising permeates our daily lives. It has developed over the years to become a complex marketing strategy. It is an effort by producers to get prospective consumers to know he has a given product available to sell.

In any organization or company advertising is one of the most important marketing activities. The advertising industry due to its rapid growth has become an important economic entity support millions of people in the world. Dominick (2007) defines advertising as any form of marketing presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, and services usually paid for by an individual/identified.

Advertising is a variable tool for organizational growth. This is in line with Hasan (2013), that advertising is likable, believable, easy to understand, unique and distinctive, providing new information, offering good deals, motivating purchase interest, improving the chain’s image, and overall basis’. Daramola (1997) states that advertising is a tastemaker, extra-ordinary a powerful shaper of value, a molder of opinion and prime transmitter of ideas and information: certainly, major businesses in the world are empowered through advertisement, hence the idea of advertising a product like peak milk on the internet is seen as a plus, following the emerging trends in the technological world.

Every product in the market has a corporate identity which is enhanced by the message of the advertisement. It is a general belief in present-day marketing circles that advertising nay determines the difference between success and failure for an individual brand of products or a corporate organization. An advertised brand has a higher potential for success than its unadvertised competitors. Also, the goal of the advertiser is to place the message in the right medium to achieve an expected end. Some media plays pivotal roles in giving it a place in the competitive market and to others, the message determines the medium. Consequently, advertising plays an important role in the survival and growth of the brand of a product.

Moreover, these are the many ways the media achieve the ability to reach a large audience. Advertising has gone beyond as suggested by Albert Davis Lauper.  Some of these ways are Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, Television, and the internet. The business dictionary online defines the internet “as a means of connecting a computer to any other computer anywhere in the world via dedicated routers and servers”. From the above definitions, one can say that the interest is about computers (a computer can also be a handheld device like phones and tablets) connected together. Producers have to do more than making good products; they have to carefully position the product in the minds of the consumers through advertising in order to blow up the market with a product that has been advertised.

Okwechime cited by Nwachukwu and Omega (2) said, “This is the newest form of advertising involving the use of the computer to browse and download advertising messages from across the globe”. Agba (2001, P.63) said businesses and organizations have become interested in the web as a means t advertise their products and service.

According to Bower et al (1902) internet is computer-based, it has the attributes of combining sounds, vision, and colors of appeal that could trigger the psychological and cognitive and domain of the prospective audience members. Robert (1998) refers to product advertising as any method of communication about the promotion of a product in an attempt to induce potential customers on why they need the products, how it is used, and the benefits derived from its use. A successful campaign also tells the consumer how the product is a better offering than several competitors. Product advertising can also be seen as any method of communication about the promotion of a product in an attempt to induce potential consumers to purchase the product. Advertising usually requires payment to a communication channel.

In our society, today advertisers influence their audience internet thereby exploiting their innocence. Internet advertising lacks user privacy. Many advertisers track user activities online and send ad messages, they create online advertisements of various brands thereby targeting their minds. They force their audience to watch unwanted advertisements, this may cause unwanted results. Audience perception of internet advertising is a matter that is worthy of looking at. The reason is that new technologies such as the use of mobile phones with internet services have now become viable vehicles for delivering advertising messages to target groups.

Discussing the revolution of advertising the internet “Online advertising O Guinn, et al (2006) aptly observed that: the internet will not be replacing all other forms of advertising nor is it even likely that many advertisers would use the internet as the main methods of communicating with a target audience. But like Pepsi and BMW advertisers are discovering ways to use the internet as a key component of integrated promotion effort. Online advertisements can take various forms such as popup and pop-under advertisements, web banner, corporate websites, viral marketing, and blog marketing.

According to Shane Rivers (via Google search), internet advertising is the process of marketing services or products on the WWW (World Wide Web). This can be done through the utilization of search engines banner ads on website, affiliate marketing, email marketing, etc. internet advertising allows a product or service to instantly reach a universal audience in a few minutes or span of time. A crucial advantage of internet advertising is that it is much cheaper and inexpensive when to radio, print, television, billboards, or digital boards.

Internet advertising compared to traditional advertising on television, radio, newspapers, billboards or direct mail is based on large exposure and particularly wide audience. Internet advertising on the other hand is based on relatively few channels goals to bring forth maximized target customers. Internet is the world’s most powerful media for two main reasons, first, almost every home has continuous access to the internet, and second, the internet has a daily audience that is greater than the sum of traditional media. The possibility of reaching a predetermined target audience leverages the brand, induces the effectiveness of the website’s sales, and conducts the transfer of information

Statement of the Problem

In our society today advertisers influence their audience through the internet thereby exploring their innocence, they create online advertisements of various brands thereby targets their minds. Internet advertising lacks users’ activities online and sends ads messages that relate to their internet despite the user’s wishes. There are many types of online ads such as pop-up ads “commonly perceived to be really annoying. In the latter case, the users’ original activity is disrupted and they cause unwanted results.  The telephones now have internet with which each individual views daily. Therefore, this research work is set to really find out the audience’s perception of the use of the internet for product advertisements in Port Harcourt.

Objectives of the Study

This aims at ascertaining Port Harcourt residents perception of the use of internet for product advertising in Port Harcourt.

1. To examine of Port Harcourt residents exposure to internet advertisements
2. To determines residents’ platform of access to internet advertisement.
3. To find out the responses and attitudes residents of Port Harcourt perception of internet advertising
4. To examine the influence and effects of the internet on the buying behavior of the residents of Port Harcourt

Research Questions

1. Are the Port Harcourt residents adequately exposed to internet advertisements?
2. What is the residents’ platform of access to internet advertisement?
3. What are the response attitudes of Port Harcourt residents towards internet advertising?
4. What are the influence and effects of internet advertising on the buying behavior of Port Harcourt residents?

Significance of the Study

This study will be significant in several ways:

1. The study will be relevant to regulatory bodies in censoring internet advertisement before it gets to the public.
2. The study will help the government and other regulatory bodies in creating an anti-internet advertising campaign.
3. Through this study, there will be awareness and the view of the society especially the women, youths, Port Harcourt residents; the negative impact of internet advertisement will be re-evaluated.

Scope of the Study

The study is focused on Port Harcourt residents perception of the use of the internet for product advertising in Port Harcourt.

Limitation of the Study

The research or study was limited to only people who reside in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The present research encountered some problems in the cause of the work, which are often the normal problems encountered by researchers. These include; finance, time constraint, high cost of transportation, typing, and photocopying of relevant literature, and frequent contacts with respondents.

Operational Definition of Terms

The basic terms in the study may require meaning to enable a better understanding. They are the following;

Advertisement

This is the activity of the process of producing information for promoting the sale of commercial products or services.

Audience perception

The ability of internet users to see, hear or become aware of something/product.

Audience

The assembled spectators or listeners at a public event, such as a play movie, concert, etc, or the people who watch or listen to television, internet, or radio program.

Internet advertising

It is the process of marketing and promotion of products or services on the internet

Internet

It is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard internet protocol suite (TCP/ IP) to serve billions of users worldwide.