Harnessing the power of social media advertising: strategic opportunities

Purpose This paper examines the effects of advertising value, informativeness, entertainment, irritation and personalization on (18–34) generation attitude and the usage of social media by this generation in Dubai. In addition, explore the extent of social media usage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in advertising and marketing. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 429 (18–34) aged consumers in Dubai. Structural equation modeling is utilized to estimate the effect of irritation, advertising value, entertainment, informativeness and personalization on attitude. Findings The results show the significant effects of advertising value, entertainment and informativeness on attitude, whilst irritation and personalization were insignificant. In addition, the study shows that the Internet and social media are heavily used by the (18–34) generation, and many hours are spent on social media, and they are widely used for product promotion and marketing in the UAE. Research limitations/implications The study used data from the population aged 18–35 years living in Dubai from different nationalities. Academic and theoretical Implications: This study will open a door for further studies on consumers’ attitudes toward social media advertising among different age groups and studies investigating the impact of demographic characteristics of consumers on social media advertising, especially in the Gulf and Arab regions. However, a longitudinal study to estimate the long-term effects of independent and dependent variables is suggested. Practical implications Understanding the impact of entertainment, information and irritation on attitude toward social media advertising among the (18–34) generation of different nationalities living in the UAE can guide marketers in creating more effective marketing strategies for cross-national societies and the Gulf region in particular. This can be useful to marketers, advertisers and brand managers in designing advertisements on social media sites by embedding certain essential factors, which can positively shape attitudes and further develop behavioral responses. Social implications Understanding the impact of entertainment, information and irritation on attitude toward social media advertising among the (18–34) generation of different nationalities living in the UAE can guide marketers in creating more effective marketing strategies for cross-national societies and the Gulf region in particular. This can be useful to marketers, advertisers and brand managers in designing advertisements on social media sites by embedding certain essential factors, which can positively shape attitudes and further develop behavioral responses. Originality/value This research is done in the UAE (the third-richest country in the Middle East) with more than 200 resident nationalities. This makes the study a cross-country study. In addition, the study focuses on the attitude of the multinational (18–34) age group in Dubai. This group is a mix of Y and Z generations. The paper bridges the gap between theory and practice in social media advertisements and marketing tools in the UAE and Dubai. The research has an economic and commercial impact that will help marketing and advertising firms to orient their campaigns to this group of population.