Moderating impact of brand authenticity and control over ads on the effectiveness of Facebook advertising: a two-sample study

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study is twofold. First is investigating the factors associated with the effectiveness of Facebook advertising and its resultant impact on behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. The second is testing the moderating impact of control over ads and brand authenticity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is conducted by adopting the cross-sectional data collection technique, two samples with 396 and 482 sample sizes were collected at different points in time. Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique, using Smart PLS 3.0 software, was applied to analyze the data.

Findings

The results show that the moderating effect of behavioral control on the relationship between advertising intrusive and attitude towards Facebook advertising was insignificant for both samples. Brand authenticity was significant in moderating the relationship between an individual's attitude towards Facebook advertising and behavior towards the brand for sample 1 and was insignificant for sample 2. Behaving towards brands resulted in attitudinal and behavioral loyalty intentions of individuals for both samples.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of knowledge in four ways besides contextual contribution. First, it investigated the moderating influence of perceived behavioral control on the relationship between advertising intrusiveness and attitude towards Facebook advertising. Second, this study also studied the relationship between attitude towards Facebook advertising and behavior towards the brand, moderated by brand authenticity. Third, this study extended the Facebook advertising Framework to behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. Fourth, this study methodologically contributes by conducting a two-sample study to enhance the generalizability.

Citation

Sarfraz, U. and Bano, S. (2023), "Moderating impact of brand authenticity and control over ads on the effectiveness of Facebook advertising: a two-sample study", EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 424-440. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-12-2021-0196