Abstract

Studies show that the Internet is gaining status as a mainstream medium for delivering advertisements and thatonline advertising may surpass advertising in traditional media. This study proposes a model for evaluating theeffects of various elements of Internet advertisements on purchase intention and outlines a potential route bywhich persuasive messages might travel. A structural equation model is developed to test the causal effectbetween those constructs. The multiple-group analysis is applied to investigate the moderating effect of Internetusage.

The empirical results show that (1) purchase intention is influenced indirectly by peripheral cues via the mediationof hedonic value, (2) purchase intention is influenced indirectly by central cues via the mediation of utilitarianvalue and search intention, (3) Internet usage plays a partial moderating role in persuasive communication, and (4)utilitarian value plays a critical meditating role by converting rational ad stimuli into purchase acts after thepersuasive communication effected by online advertisements. This study clarified the process of consumerperception and interpretation towards online advertisement information, proposing two pathways for persuasion.Furthermore, we confirmed that in the event that more central cures are released in online advertisements, theconsumers will enhance a greater utilitarian value to the message. This further induces greater search intention andpurchase intention, the finding of which is the contribution of this study.

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