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Journal of Global Marketing

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Familiarity, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Consumer Responses

Toward Online Advertising in China and the United
States
a b
Shaojing Sun & Ying Wang
a
School of Journalism , Fudan University , Shanghai, People's Republic of China
b
Department of Marketing, Williamson College of Business Administration , Youngstown
State University , Youngstown, Ohio, USA
Published online: 19 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Shaojing Sun & Ying Wang (2010) Familiarity, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Consumer Responses Toward Online
Advertising in China and the United States, Journal of Global Marketing, 23:2, 127-138, DOI: 10.1080/08911761003673454

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 Journal of Global Marketing, 23:127–138, 2010
Copyright
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ISSN: 0891-1762 print / 1528-6975 online
DOI: 10.1080/08911761003673454

Familiarity, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Consumer Responses

Toward Online Advertising in China and the United States
Shaojing Sun
Ying Wang

ABSTRACT. This study investigated the relationships among consumers’ familiarity with online
advertising, beliefs about online advertising effectiveness, attitudes toward online advertising (ATOA),
Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 05:21 07 October 2014

and consumer responses across the United States and China. Results indicated, for U.S. consumers,
familiarity was a positive predictor of online shopping but not a significant predictor of persuasion. For
Chinese consumers, familiarity was a positive predictor of persuasion but not a significant predictor
of online shopping. Familiarity did not influence any belief factors in the U.S. sample but emerged
as a significant predictor of all five belief factors in the Chinese sample. For both samples, ATOA
positively predicted persuasion, which by default positively predicted online shopping. Multiple group
comparison further showed that the influence of ATOA on persuasion for U.S. consumers was stronger
than that for Chinese consumers.

KEYWORDS. Online advertising, beliefs about advertising, attitude toward advertising, persuasion,
consumer response, culture

With the rapid diffusion of the Internet, online
advertising has been gaining attention from both
advertisers and researchers. Research on online
advertising has provided insight into the new
medium of advertising and its connection with
marketing and commerce. For instance, a host of
studies (e.g., Ducoffe, 1996; Karson, McCloy, &
Bonner, 2006; Korgaonkar & Wolin, 2002; Li,
Edwards, & Lee, 2002; Russell, Staffaroni, &
Fox, 1994) have examined the mechanism of
online advertising and suggested that individu-
als’ attitudes toward online advertising (ATOA)
serve as important indicators of online advertis-
ing effectiveness. However, prior research has
primarily focused on the United States or other
developed countries. To date, little, if any, is
known about online advertising in developing
markets such as China. The current study in-
vestigates online advertising in China and the
United States. There are two major objectives:
first, the study attempts to examine the rela-
tionships among important variables including
consumers’ familiarity with online advertising,
beliefs about online advertising effectiveness,
ATOA, and consumer responses; and, second,
the study seeks to explore similarities and

This study was supported by research grants (EYH 3353048 and KBH 3353557) awarded to the first
author. The first author also would like to extend his thanks to Professor Tong Bing, director of the State
Innovative Institute for Media Society at Fudan University.
Shaojing Sun is affiliated with the School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic
of China. Ying Wang is affiliated with the Department of Marketing, Williamson College of Business
Administration, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, USA.
Address correspondence to Shaojing Sun, School of Journalism, Fudan University, 400 Guoding Road,
Shanghai 200433, P.R. China. E-mail: ssun1@kent.edu
127
 128 JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING
differences of online advertising between de-
veloping and developed countries and, further,
to reveal underlying reasons for such discrepan-
cies.
China and the United States represent dif-
ferent cultural orientations and developmental
stages of online advertising. The United States
is representative of a highly developed market
and a typical Western culture that emphasizes
individualism, masculinity, and direct com-
munication style. China, on the other hand, is
representative of a developing country undergo-
ing economic and sociocultural transformations
and of a typical Eastern culture that emphasizes
collectivism, long-term orientation, and indirect
Downloaded by [Laurentian University] at 05:21 07 October 2014
communication style (Hall, 1976; Hofstede,
2001). These presumed differences in major
cultural orientations warrant a comparison of
online advertising between the two countries.
The present study makes several important
contributions to the advertising literature. First,
due to the gap in technology development
among different countries, online advertising has
rarely been inspected in an international con-
text. Hence, the current research may help shed
light on online advertising across the globe. Sec-
ond, examining the relationships among famil-
iarity, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in the new
media context deepens the understanding of ad-
vertising hierarchy effects. Specifically, through
examining the mechanism of advertising effec-
tiveness in the online environment, the present
study provides insight into the uniqueness of this
new advertising medium as opposed to tradi-
tional media. Third, due to the short history of
online advertising, consumers’ attitudes toward
online advertising (ATOA) are still evolving and
changing (Karson et al., 2006). Compared with
the rather mature online industry in the Western
developed markets such as the United States,
online advertising in China is still in its ini-
tial stage. Hence, a comparison between these
two markets may offer a new perspective on
the evolving nature of online advertising. Prac-
tically, the study may enhance marketing pro-
fessionals’ understanding of online advertising
audiences and, thus, help businesses and or-
ganizations use online advertising more effec-
tively and efficiently in their global marketing
endeavors.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows:
first, relevant literature on consumers’ familiar-
ity, beliefs, attitudes, and responses toward on-
line advertising is presented, as well as a brief
introduction of the development of online ad-
vertising in the United States and China; sec-
ond, sampling and measurement procedures are
described in the method section; third, data anal-
ysis and results are reported; and, fourth, signif-
icant research findings are discussed, and limi-
tations as well as future research directions are
addressed.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Online
Advertising
Consumers’ attitudes toward advertising are
important indicators of advertising effectiveness
(Mehta, 2000). Research on attitudes toward
advertising generally progresses along two av-
enues. Along the first line, scholars examine at-
titudes toward a particular advertising stimulus
and how such attitudes correspondingly influ-
ence consumers’ brand preferences and, ulti-
mately, purchase intention (e.g., Gong & Mad-
dox, 2003). Along the second line, researchers
investigate the impact of consumers’ general be-
liefs and attitudes toward advertising effective-
ness (e.g., MacKenzie, Lutz, & Belch, 1986;
Muehling, 1987). It is argued that consumer
behavior such as advertisement avoidance may
be a result of consumers’ general negative atti-
tudes toward advertising (e.g., Li et al., 2002).
The present study focuses on consumers’ gen-
eral ATOA.
Past studies have examined consumers’ atti-
tudes toward advertising in the traditional me-
dia environment. With the fast advances of new
technologies, research on attitudes toward ad-
vertising has naturally extended into the Internet
arena. Ducoffe (1996), for example, investigated
whether and how the advertising values such
as informativeness, entertainment, and irrita-
tion were related to consumers’ attitudes toward
online advertising. Further, that study showed
that consumers viewed online advertising as
somewhat valuable, as informative, as not very
 Shaojing Sun and Ying Wang
entertaining, and as not particularly irritat-
ing. Later, studies demonstrated more nega-
tive results, suggesting that online advertising
is viewed as intrusive (Li et al., 2002) and dis-
turbing (Reed, 1999).
Consumers’ attitudes toward advertising are
shaped or molded by their beliefs. Pollay and
Mittal (1993) proposed seven belief factors un-
derlying consumers’ beliefs and classified those
factors into two categories. The first category,
labeled as personal use, consists of factors in-
cluding product information, social role and im-
age, and hedonic/pleasure. The second category,
labeled as social effect, includes value corrup-
tion, falsity/no sense, good for the economy, and
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materialism.
Past research has revealed the link between
beliefs and attitudes. For instance, Ducoffe
(1996) found that informativeness and entertain-
ment were positively related to ATOA, whereas
irritation was negatively related to advertising
value. Karson et al. (2006) segmented consumers
into three attitude groups (i.e., Pro, Ambivalent,
Critics) based on their beliefs about online ad-
vertising. Specifically, critics tended to use the
Internet less often to search for information and
to view the Internet as less utilitarian and hedo-
nic than did the other two groups. Wolin, Ko-
rgaonkar, and Lund (2002) tested Pollay and
Mittal’s (1993) belief model and found that be-
lief factors such as product information, hedonic
pleasure, and social role and image were posi-
tively related to ATOA, whereas materialism,
falsity/no sense, and value corruption were neg-
atively associated with ATOA.
Familiarity With Online Advertising
People’s beliefs and attitudes are influenced
by individual difference factors (Seitel, 2007). In
particular, previous research has linked ATOA
to variables such as demographics, lifestyle, and
Internet experience (Korgaonkar & Wolin, 2002;
Yang, 2004). One factor that has not been ex-
plored in previous research is familiarity with
online advertising, which results from a con-
sumer’s direct and indirect experience with this
type of advertising. According to advertising
sequence theory, advertising effect starts with
cognition and then flows to affect and cona-
129
tion (Lavidge & Steiner, 1961). Awareness and
knowledge are important initial components that
induce consumer responses. Because online ad-
vertising is a relatively new form of advertising,
familiarity with online advertising may also play
an important role in affecting people’s ATOA.
Familiarity breeds trust. Trust is a critical
factor influencing e-commerce. Past research
has shown that, with respect to e-commerce,
consumers’ trust toward a company increases
as they become more familiar with the com-
pany (Gefen, 2000; Grazioli & Jarvenpaa, 2000;
Szczepanski, 2005). In addition, trust in a par-
ticular Web site increases consumers’ intention
to make inquiries and purchases (Gefen, 2000;
Jarvenpaa & Tractinsky, 1999; Swaminathan,
Lepkowska-White, & Rao, 1999), as well as
their willingness to disclose personal informa-
tion to it (Metzger, 2004). These studies consider
familiarity as consumers’ experience of having
done business with a company before —in par-
ticular, being familiar with the procedures and
technology involved with surfing and purchas-
ing from its site (Gefen, 2000). Reasonably, fa-
miliarity with online advertising builds up trust
toward online advertising and will have a pos-
itive impact on ATOA. This may especially be
true in the initial stage of a consumer’s encounter
with this new form of advertising. On the other
side of the coin, one may suspect that too much
exposure to online advertising may produce the
“wear-out” effect and consequently induce neg-
ative ATOA.
Consumer Responses
Past research has lent support to the argu-
ment that attitudes toward advertising affect con-
sumers’ response toward advertising and ulti-
mately their purchasing behavior (Mitchell &
Olson, 1981). A more favorable attitude toward
advertising in general is linked to more positive
evaluations of individual advertisements, such
as being informative, fun, and acceptable, and
results in more ad recalls and higher buying in-
terest (Bauer & Greyser, 1968; Mehta & Purvis,
1995).
In this study, two outcome variables were con-
sidered, which are persuasion and reported on-
line shopping frequency. Mehta (2000) found
 130 JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING
that consumers with a more favorable attitude
towards advertising were more likely to recall
the brand and to be persuaded by advertising.
Online shopping has frequently been considered
as a measure of advertising effectiveness. For
example, Stevenson, Bruner, and Kumar (2000)
found that a negative ATOA was associated with
weak purchase intention. Korgaonkar and Wolin
(2002) found that a positive ATOA was more
likely to result in frequent online purchasing and
high levels of online spending.
Above, the literature suggests that familiarity
with and belief toward online advertising may
have an impact on consumers’ ATOA, which in
turn influences consumers’ responses to online
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advertising. Therefore, the following research
question and hypotheses are proposed:
RQ1: How do familiarity with online adver-
tising and beliefs predict ATOA and con-
sumer responses?
H1: The more positive belief toward online
advertising, the more positive is ATOA.
H2: The stronger positive attitudes toward on-
line advertising, the more likely one will be
persuaded by online advertising.
H3: The stronger positive attitudes toward on-
line advertising, the more likely one will
shop online.
Online Advertising in China and the
United States
Advertising by nature is a sociocultural phe-
nomenon. Consumers’ beliefs and ATOA are in-
evitably influenced by their cultural predisposi-
tions. Therefore, it is meaningful to explore the
issue in a cross-cultural context to broaden our
perspective on this new form of advertising.
Attitude toward advertising has been exam-
ined in international settings. For example, Dur-
vasula and Lysonski (2001) systematically com-
pared consumers’ attitudes toward advertising
in five countries located on four different con-
tinents and deduced that beliefs toward adver-
tising vary across culture in general. In a recent
study, La Ferla, Edwards, and Lee (2008) exam-
ined attitudes toward advertising across China,
Taiwan, and the United States. They found that
Chinese and Taiwanese consumers exhibited
more favorable attitudes toward advertising than
did U.S. consumers. Extending this line of re-
search into the online environment, the present
study investigates how consumers’ ATOA vary
across China and the United States.
China
Over the past decade, with its phenomenal
economic growth and rapid diffusion of Internet
technologies, China has experienced explosive
growth in online advertising, evidenced in the
scale of market, the generated revenue, and its
overall share of the Chinese advertising market.
According to the China Internet Network Infor-
mation Center (CNNCI), from 2005 to 2006,
the revenue of Internet advertising in China
reached US$630 million. This figure was pre-
dicted to reach $840 million and $1.3 billion
in 2007 and 2008, respectively, as a benefit of
the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (CNNIC, 2007).
Meanwhile, online advertising in China has been
encountering various challenges. Online fraud
and deception are common practices. Current
policies or measures are not ample to safeguard
against misleading or deceptive advertising on
the Internet. The malpractices of marketers and
advertisers may breach consumers’ confidence
and trust toward online advertising, which in turn
may have a direct impact on the effectiveness of
online advertising (Huang & Xie, 2006).
United States
Online advertising has become a rather ma-
ture industry in the United States. A well-
established credit card system helps making on-
line shopping easy and safe. According to the
American Marketing Association, in 2007, on-
line advertising in the United States grew 18.9%
to reach $21.2 billion. A continuous phenome-
nal growth has been predicted in this market as
advertisers aggressively pursue various opportu-
nities with the Internet. The Yankee Group, for
example, predicted that the U.S. online advertis-
ing market will reach $50.3 billion in revenue
by 2011, more than double the amount of 2007.
Over the next few years, the driving forces for
the U.S. online advertising market will be the in-
creasing size of the audience, the development of
new types of advertising, and the creation of new
 Shaojing Sun and Ying Wang
publisher business models conducive to selling
interactive advertisements (The Yankee Group,
2008).
Hofstede’s (2001) framework of cultural di-
mensions might be relevant when comparing
online advertising across countries. For exam-
ple, compared with the United States, China is
lower on individualism and uncertainty avoid-
ance and higher on power distance and long-term
orientation. The differences in these cultural
dimensions may have an impact on consumers’
beliefs and ATOA and online behaviors. For ex-
ample, higher power distance may indicate that
consumers are easier to persuade by marketing
communication messages (Littrell & Valentin,
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2005). Uncertainty avoidance can be related to
consumer cautiousness to purchases (Marinov,
Marinova, Manrai, & Manrai, 2001). The long-
term/short-term orientation influences one’s at-
titude toward consumption/spending. Logically,
Americans may be more willing to incorporate
new things in their lives than are the Chinese.
Chinese consumers may be more thrifty and cau-
tious toward spending money online than are
Americans.
The above literature suggests cultural dif-
ferences exist in consumers’ attitudes and be-
haviors. However, due to the limited research
on comparing online advertising between the
United States and China, it is premature to
predict how culture influences those variables.
Therefore, the following research question is
proposed:
RQ 2: To what extent do familiarity, belief,
and ATOA influence consumer responses,
and how different are the patterns of influ-
ence across the United States and China?
METHOD
Procedure and Sampling
A questionnaire was developed first in En-
glish and then translated into Chinese. Back-
translation was conducted by bilingual third par-
ties to improve the translation accuracy. Data
were collected among Internet users in both
the United States and China. In each country,
131
research assistants enrolled at a large univer-
sity were trained to recruit participants who
used the Internet and had contact with online
advertising. Participants were recruited from a
large metropolitan city in China and a mid-sized
city in the United States. Only participants over
18 years old qualified for the study.
Overall, 202 questionnaires were collected
in China and 196 were collected in the United
States. Two surveys were excluded from data
analysis in the Chinese sample because of a large
amount of missing data. Of the remaining, only 9
surveys were identified with missing data, which
is less than 3%. Data plot and analysis did not
show any significant relationship between miss-
ing data on one variable and values of other vari-
ables. In line with Brown (2006), if the proba-
bility of missing data on variable X is unrelated
to X or to the values of any other variable in the
dataset, data can be assumed to be missing com-
pletely at random. Hence, imputation with the
mean was conducted for missing data. Finally,
a total of 396 questionnaires (200 for the Chi-
nese sample and 196 for the U.S. sample) were
subjected to data analysis. For the U.S. sample,
107 were males (54.6%) and 89 were females
(45.4%). For the Chinese sample, there were 43
males (21.9%) and 157 females (78.1%).
On average, Chinese respondents (M = 5.84
years) had a shorter history of Internet use than
did the U.S. respondents (M = 9.95 years).
About 93% of Chinese participants reported
spending less than 3 hours per day using the
Internet and the remaining 7% reported spend-
ing 3 to 4 hours per day. About 30.6% of U.S.
participants reported using the Internet for less
than 1 hour per day, whereas 61.7% reported
spending 1 to 3 hours per day on the Internet
and the remaining 7.7% reported spending more
than 3 hours per day on the Internet.
Measurement
Familiarity With Online Advertising
Due to a short history of online advertising,
past research has not provided well-established
scales for assessing familiarity of online adver-
tising. In the present study, familiarity was mea-
sured by the item “How familiar are you with
 132 JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING

online advertising?” Response options ranged
from 1 (not familiar) to 5 (very familiar).
Beliefs About Online Advertising
To measure subjects’ beliefs about online
advertising, a 33-item scale was adapted from
previous studies (Pollay & Mittal, 1993; Yang,
2004). The scale consisted of items culled from
different dimensions of beliefs including that
online advertising is informative (e.g., “The
Internet is a valuable source of information”),
materialistic (e.g., “Online advertising promotes
a materialistic society”), irritating (e.g., annoy-
ing), good for consumers (e.g., “Online ad-
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line advertising promotes undesirable values in
our society”). Responses were measured on a
5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (“strongly
disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”).
Principal axis factor analysis with promax ro-
tation was conducted to examine the underly-
ing structure of those 33 items measuring be-
liefs about advertising. The rules of a minimum
eigenvalue of 1.0 and at least 2 loadings (60/40
loadings) per factor were referenced for extract-
ing factors. For the Chinese sample, five factors
were retained and 53.5% of the total variance
was explained. For the U.S. sample, the retained
five factors explained about 62.57% of the total
variance. Items that were retained in both sam-

vertising is essential”), hedonic (e.g., “Online
advertising is entertaining and enjoyable”), cred-
ible (e.g., trustworthy and believable), or ma-
nipulative (e.g., “Online advertising persuades
people to buy things they should not buy”) and
that online advertising distorts value (e.g., “On-
ples were used for confirmatory factor analysis.
Descriptions of retained items and factor load-
ings are presented in Table 1.
Factor 1, entertainment (China: eigenvalue =
8.84, Cronbach’s alpha = .75; United States:
eigenvalue = 3.75, Cronbach’s alpha =.95). This

TABLE 1. Factor Loadings of Beliefs Toward Online Advertising for the Chinese and U.S. Samples
(Loadings for the U.S. Sample Given in Parentheses)

Belief Factors

Belief Items INFO ENTE CRED ECON VALU

Information
is a good source of 0.55 (0.54) −0.10 (0.20) 0.11 (0.16) 0.20 (0.03) 0.03 (−0.04)
product/service information
supplies relevant 0.65 (0.59) 0.04 (0.09) 0.12 (0.31) −0.04 (−0.02) −0.05 (0.01)
information
provides timely information 0.95 (0.42) 0.00 (0.31) −0.05 (0.04) −0.12 (0.12) 0.06 (0.05)
Entertainment
is entertaining 0.20 (−0.11) 0.73 (1.04) −0.03 (−0.16) −0.11 (0.03) −0.07 (−0.09)
is enjoyable −0.19 (−0.17) 0.79 (1.01) 0.09 (0.05) 0.01 (−0.05) −0.08 (0.01)
is pleasing −0.03 (−0.06) 0.51 (0.88) 0.11 (0.10) −0.06 (−0.02) 0.12 (−0.00)
is interesting 0.06 (−0.03) 0.76 (0.79) −0.00 (0.11) 0.10 (0.04) 0.04 (0.04)
Credibility
is credible 0.03 (−0.08) 0.00 (−0.08) 0.85 (0.77) −0.05 (−0.00) 0.02 (0.06)
is trustworthy −0.13 (−0.06) 0.06 (−0.06) 1.02 (0.79) 0.04 (−0.06) 0.01 (−0.04)
is believable 0.04 (0.02) 0.13 (0.02) 0.66 (0.69) 0.06 (−0.04) −0.06 (0.01)
Economy
has positive effects on the 0.03 (−0.04) −0.10 (0.00) 0.12 (0.24) 0.56 (0.73) −0.10 (−0.08)
economy
raises our standard of living −0.05 (−0.30) −0.02 (0.04) −0.02 (0.34) 0.74 (0.71) −0.13 (0.02)
results in better products for −0.06 (−0.11) 0.07 (0.07) −0.06 (0.17) 0.84 (0.72) −0.06 (−0.02)
the public
Value
promotes undesirable −0.01 (−0.16) −0.05 (0.00) −0.00 (0.07) −0.12 (−0.18) 0.75 (0.56)
values in our society
distorts the values of youth −0.04 (−0.03) −0.04 (−0.09) −0.07 (−0.08) 0.03 (−0.11) 0.91 (0.80)

Note. INFO, information; ENTE, entertainment; CRED, credibility; ECON, economy; VALU, value.
 Shaojing Sun and Ying Wang 133

TABLE 2. Measurement Model Fit for China and U.S. Samples, Separately

χ2 df χ2 /df SRMR GFI IFI CFI RMSEA

China 126.69 79 1.604 0.056 0.921 0.964 0.963 0.063

United States 114.74 79 1.452 0.044 0.931 0.983 0.983 0.048
Ideal value <3 <0.08 >0.90 >0.90 >0.90 <0.08

factor consists of four items and reflects individ-
uals’ beliefs that advertising can bring fun and
enjoyment to their lives. High scores on this fac-
tor refer to a strong belief that online advertising
is entertaining.
Factor 2, information seeking (China: eigen-
value = 2.33, Cronbach’s alpha = .80; United
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& Bentler, 1999; Kline, 2005; Loehlin, 1998).
Among a range of fit indices, the following were
those often reported in published research: the
χ 2 , comparative fit index (CFI), the standardized
root-mean-square residual (SRMR), the root-
mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA),
the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), and the incre-

States: eigenvalue = 1.44, Cronbach’s alpha
= .83). The factor consists of three items and
reflects the belief of using online advertising
to seek information. High scores on this factor
mean that online advertising is informative.
Factor 3, credibility (China: eigenvalue =
3.12, Cronbach’s alpha = .86; United States:
eigenvalue = 12.65, Cronbach’s alpha = .89).
The factor consists of three items and reveals
one’s view on whether online advertising is be-
lievable. High factor scores refer to high credi-
bility of online advertising.
Factor 4, economy (China: eigenvalue = 1.72,
Cronbach’s alpha = .64; United States: eigen-
value = 1.19, Cronbach’s alpha = .80). This
factor consists of three items and refers to an
individual’s belief about the influence of online
advertising on the economy. High factor scores
indicate a strong belief that online advertising is
beneficial for the economy.
Factor 5, value corruption (China: eigenvalue
= 1.65, Cronbach’s alpha = .82; United States:
eigenvalue = 1.62, Cronbach’s alpha = .70).
This factor consists of two items and reveals
one’s belief about the impact of advertising on
people’s outlook of life. High factor scores mean
that online advertising has a strong negative ef-
fect on moral values and social justice.
A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted
to examine the goodness-of-fit of the measure-
ment model for belief factors. AMOS version
5.0 was used for the structural modeling analy-
sis. Over the past decades, there has been a large
body of research and debate on the cutoff cri-
teria of fit indices for assessing model fit (Hu
mental index of fit (IFI). Researchers tend to
agree that it is not advisable to rely on one fit
index to assess the model fit. Instead, using a
combination of different fit indices may be more
reliable. Because χ 2 is sensitive to sample size,
χ 2 /df is recommended, and the ideal cutoff is
3 (Kaplan, 1990). Kline (2005) recommended
the following cutoff criteria for good model fit:
SRMR < 0.10, CFI > 0.90, GFI > 0.90, IFI >
0.90, RMSEA < 0.08. Hu and Bentler (1999)
suggested that a strict rule with SRMR < 0.08
and RMSEA < 0.06 would result in a lower Type
II error rate of model rejection.
Based on the typical cutoff criteria of model
fit, results indicate that the measurement model
of belief factors fit both the Chinese sample and
the U.S. sample satisfactorily (Table 2).
Attitudes Toward Online Advertising
Five items were used to measure ATOA on
a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). For the Chinese
sample, the item “In general, I think that on-
line advertising increases the cost of products”
was deleted to increase Cronbach’s alpha from
.71 to .77. For the U.S. sample, deletion of the
aforementioned item increased Cronbach’s al-
pha from .65 to .68. The remaining four items
were “Overall, I consider online advertising a
good thing”; “Overall, I like online advertising”;
“I consider online advertising very essential”;
and “I would describe my overall attitude toward
online advertising very favorably.” The mean of
the four items served as an index of ATOA. The
 134 JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING
FIGURE 1. Structural Equation Model. D1, D2, and D3 denote disturbance terms in structural
equation modeling.
information
entertainment
credibility
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economy
value
higher the index score, the more positive attitude
one holds toward online advertising.
Consumer Responses
Consumer responses toward online advertis-
ing were conceptualized as a combination of
persuasion and shopping experience. Persuasion
was measured by one’s willingness to buy as a re-
sult of online advertising. Online shopping expe-
rience was assessed in terms of frequency of on-
line purchases. It should be pointed out that past
research has not demonstrated consistent mea-
sures of consumer online responses. For exam-
ple, prior studies focused on either online infor-
mation searching or online purchasing (Karson
et al., 2006; Korgaonkar & Wolin, 2002). On one
hand, such an inconsistency speaks to the com-
plexity of consumer responses to online adver-
tising and researchers’ differing understandings
of this construct; on the other hand, it is reason-
able to conceptualize consumer responses as did
the current study, particularly given the study’s
exploratory nature.
RESULTS
Results demonstrated that U.S. consumers
(M = 3.65, SD = 1.00) on average had a higher
level of familiarity with online advertising than
D1
attitude
D2
persuasion
D3
buying
did Chinese consumers (M = 2.85, SD = .94)
(t = −8.17, df = 394). Moreover, 27.7% of Chi-
nese participants reported that they were not very
familiar with online advertising. Interestingly,
for the U.S. sample, there was a positive correla-
tion between familiarity with online advertising
and the history of Internet use (r = 0.32, p <
.001). However, such a relationship did not show
up in the Chinese sample. Structural model anal-
ysis indicated that familiarity did not influence
any belief factor in the U.S. sample but emerged
as a significant predictor of all five belief fac-
tors in the Chinese sample. Regression analy-
sis showed that for U.S. consumers, familiarity
was a significant predictor of online shopping
(β = .29, p < .001) but not a significant pre-
dictor of persuasion. Interestingly, for Chinese
consumers, familiarity was a statistically signif-
icant predictor of persuasion (β = .19, p < .01)
but not a significant predictor of shopping.
A structural equation model (Figure 1) was
fitted to the Chinese sample and the U.S. sample.
Results showed that the model fit both samples
satisfactorily (Table 3).
Regression coefficients of structural models
are presented in Tables 4 and 5. Regarding the
Chinese sample, belief factors including infor-
mation seeking, economy, and value beliefs sig-
nificantly predicted ATOA. Among them, the
information seeking belief was the strongest
 Shaojing Sun and Ying Wang 135

TABLE 3. Structural Model Fit for China and U.S. Samples, Separately

χ2 df χ2 /df SRMR GFI IFI CFI RMSEA

China 273.81 173 1.583 0.056 0.884 0.942 0.941 0.054

United States 246.22 173 1.423 0.043 0.894 0.972 0.972 0.047
Ideal value <3 <0.08 >0.90 >0.90 >0.90 <0.08

predictor. Credibility and entertainment, how-
ever, did not emerge as significant predictors of
ATOA. As for the U.S. sample, besides informa-
tion seeking, economy, and value beliefs, enter-
tainment also emerged as a significant predictor
of ATOA.
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it is that consumers have experiences with on-
line advertising. Interestingly, familiarity did not
influence any belief factors in the U.S. sam-
ple but emerged as a significant predictor of all
five belief factors in the Chinese sample. The
more familiar a Chinese consumer is with on-

The results also showed that ATOA was a
statistically significant and positive predictor
of persuasion, which by default positively pre-
dicted online shopping. In other words, the more
positive ATOA one holds, the more likely he or
she will be persuaded by online advertising and
correspondingly will buy online.
Multiple group comparisons were conducted
to further examine the structural model across
the two countries. A series of nested models was
examined to identify group difference. First, un-
constrained models were fitted to both groups
of data. Then, the measurement model weights
were constrained to be equal. Finally, certain
structural weights were constrained in steps.
Chi-square change was referenced to determine
whether the model fit became worse (Table 6).
Results indicated only the regression path from
ATOA to persuasion was statistically significant
across the two groups. Specifically, the influ-
ence of ATOA on persuasion for U.S. consumers
(β = .59) was stronger than that for Chinese con-
sumers (β = .32). Also, it seems that the effect of
persuasion on buying for U.S. consumers (β =
.26) was slightly stronger than that for Chinese
consumers (β = .15).
line advertising, the more he or she believes that
online advertising is informative, entertaining,
believable, contributing to economy, and less
value corrupting and the more likely the per-
son will be persuaded by online advertising as
a result. This finding is consonant with the dif-
fusion theory, which posits that people tend to
hold a less-than-welcoming attitude toward new
things. As the knowledge about the new tech-
nology/product increases, consumers are more
likely to trust it, accept it, and incorporate it in
their lives (Rogers, 1995). On the other hand, a
“wear-out” effect of familiarity may come out
in a developed market. Online advertising is a
relatively new phenomenon in China. Naturally,
familiarity has a stronger influence on people’s
beliefs and attitudes in China as compared to
those in the United States. This finding also
has practical implications. For example, to gain
acceptance, marketers need to invest money to
educate Chinese consumers, to help them learn
TABLE 4. Regression Weights of Structural
Model (Chinese Sample)
Regression Path B SE B β C.R.

DISCUSSION Information → ATOA .357 .084 .412*** 4.245

Entertainment → ATOA .094 .063 .114 1.487
Credibility → ATOA .117 .068 .134 1.711
As expected, U.S. Internet users were more Economy → ATOA .500 .124 .356*** 4.024
familiar with online advertising than were Chi- Value → ATOA −.143 .057 −.168* −2.500
nese consumers. Online advertising in the United ATOA → persuasion .437 .102 .322*** 4.261
Persuasion → buying .141 .067 .148* 2.105
States is much more mature than in China. The
longer the Internet use history, the more likely *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
 136 JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING

TABLE 5. Regression Weights of Structural it has experienced a dramatic development. The

Model (U.S. Sample) entertainment element has not been emphasized
as much as in the United States. Therefore, it
Regression Path B SE B β C.R. is possible that the impact of this particular be-
lief on ATOA in the Chinese market is not as
Information → ATOA .346 .108 .345** 3.189 prominent as it is in the United States.
Entertainment → ATOA .225 .073 .269** 3.099
Credibility → ATOA .066 .116 .066 .568 The results showed that there was a positive
Economy → ATOA .427 .192 .239* 2.220 relationship between ATOA and consumer re-
Value → ATOA −.243 .089 −.192** −2.732 sponses. The more positive ATOA one holds,
ATOA → persuasion .746 .088 .588*** 8.514 the more likely he or she will be persuaded
Persuasion → buying .216 .057 .263*** 3.812
by online advertising and correspondingly buy
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001. more online. However, the link between atti-
tude and behavior was stronger for U.S. con-
sumers than for Chinese consumers. The positive
about and become familiar with online advertis- attitude–behavior link was consistent with previ-
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ing. This also speaks to the importance of de- ous research and the hierarchy effect theory. For
veloping Internet literacy programs, which may example, Wolin et al. (2002) found that respon-
include educational programs pertaining to on- dents’ favoring ATOA significantly influenced
line advertising. their Web advertising behavior such as click-
Information seeking, economy, and value cor- ing online advertisements. Korgaokar and Wolin
ruption beliefs emerged as significant predictors (2002) further observed that heavy Internet
of ATOA for both Chinese and U.S. samples.
Entertainment, however, emerged as a signifi-
cant predictor for the U.S. sample but not for TABLE 6. Multiple Group Comparison of
the Chinese sample. One possible explanation Structural Equation Models Across Culture
may be that information and economy are the
most basic functions of advertising, whereas en- No. of
tertainment is considered as a higher-level func- Models Parameters χ2 χ2 Change df
tion, and hence consumers in developing coun- (Model 1)
tries are not fully cognizant of such higher-level Unconstrained 116 520.03 346
functions. As the lifeblood of business, advertis- (Model 2) (vs. model 1)
ing provides consumers with information about Measurement 103 540.63 20.60 (N.S.) 359
weights
products and services and encourages them to constrained
improve their standard of living. Advertising (Model 3) (vs. model 2)
has been linked to producing jobs and helping Measurement 98 545.43 4.80 (N.S) 364
new firms enter the marketplace. Companies em- weights
Belief → ATOA
ploy people who make products and provide the constrained
services that advertising sells (Belch & Belch, (Model 4) (vs. model 3)
2008). Advertising, therefore, is often conceived Measurement 97 550.56 5.13* 365
to be stimulating competition and facilitating weights
Belief → ATOA
economic development. ATOA →
Entertainment, in comparison, is a higher- persuasion
level expectation of advertising. This belief is constrained
more prominent in mature advertising markets (Model 5) (vs. model 3)
Measurement 97 546.18 0.75 (N.S.) 365
than in developing markets. The U.S. market is weights
cluttered with advertising messages vying for Belief → ATOA
people’s attention; an advertisement needs to be Persuasion →
interesting and enjoyable in a creative way so buying
constrained
as to hold an audience’s attention. The Chinese
advertising market is still evolving even though *p < .05; N.S. = not statistically significant.
 Shaojing Sun and Ying Wang
users with positive ATOA were more likely to
purchase online. Regarding the differences be-
tween the two groups, one possible explanation
is simply that Americans purchase more online
in general than do Chinese consumers because
Americans have more spending money, the e-
commerce industry is more mature in the United
States, and U.S. consumers hold a more pos-
itive attitude toward consuming and spending.
In addition, the differences in consumer deci-
sion making between the two cultures may also
play a role. Chinese culture, as a typical Eastern
culture, does not emphasize analytical reason-
ing as much as do Western societies. Beliefs and
attitudes are important components in the log-
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ical hierarchy effects of advertising. However,
the predicting power of attitude toward behavior
may not be as significant among Chinese con-
sumers as it is among Americans. Moreover, the
emphasis of Chinese traditional culture on be-
ing cautious and frugal may be more influential
than typical attitudes toward advertising. In other
words, even though a Chinese consumer has a
very positive ATOA, he or she may not purchase
much online because of the high risk associated
with online shopping or simply because of an
unwillingness to spend money.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE
DIRECTIONS
The study explores the relationships among
familiarity, beliefs, attitudes, and consumer re-
sponses toward online advertising across two
countries. Research findings may help enhance
the understanding of ATOA and offer valuable
information to global marketers.
The study has several limitations. First, the
nonrandom sample used in this study may limit
the extent to which the findings can be general-
ized. Second, due to the short history of online
advertising, consumers’ beliefs and ATOA may
still be evolving and changing (Karson et al.,
2006). Nonetheless, a cross-sectional design is
far from sufficient to capture that change or evo-
lution. To that end, a longitudinal study may pro-
vide more insights into the relationships among
different factors. Last, this study primarily inves-
tigates the impact of familiarity and beliefs on
137
ATOA. Past research has demonstrated a close
link between ATOA and other social and individ-
ual factors such as demographics, lifestyle, In-
ternet experience, and development stage of the
online advertising industry (Karson et al., 2006;
Korgaonkar & Wolin, 2002; Yang, 2004). Fu-
ture investigation could focus on how the afore-
mentioned factors conspire to influence online
advertising.
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