AVOIDANCE OF ADVERTISING IN SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES: THE

TEENAGE PERSPECTIVE

Louise Kelly, Gayle Kerr, and Judy Drennan

ABSTRACT: Technology has provided consumers with the means to control and edit the information that they receive and share
effectively, especially in the online environment. Although previous studies have investigated advertising avoidance in traditional
media and on the Internet, there has been little investigation of advertising on social networking sites. This exploratory study
examines the antecedents of advertising avoidance on online social networking sites, leading to the development of a model. The
model suggests that advertising in the online social networking environment is more likely to be avoided if the user has
expectations of a negative experience, the advertising is not relevant to the user, the user is skeptical toward the advertising
message, or the consumer is skeptical toward the advertising medium.

Keywords: advertising avoidance, online social networking sites, teenagers

Increasing clutter and media fragmentation now expose LITERATURE REVIEW

consumers to thousands of commercial messages every day
(Gritten 2007). These messages arrive not only from
traditional media, such as television and newspaper, but
through guerrilla media campaigns, subviral marketing online,
brand installation, and consumer-generated media such as
blogs, podcasts, and online social networking sites (Gritten
2007; Schultz 2006a). As a consequence, consumers have
increasingly become the editors of information, empowered by
technology to avoid both content and advertising messages
that do not interest them (Gritten 2007).
Although avoidance of advertising is a well-researched topic, it
has only recently been studied in the online environment (Cho
and Cheon 2004; Grant 2005) and never specifically in online
social networking sites. Thus, our purpose is to explore
teenagers' attitudes toward advertising in the online social
networking environment, whether avoidance tactics are
employed, and which tactics are used. This effort is significant
because little is known about how advertising, designed as a
mass media tool, might reinvent itself in the personal spaces of
teenagers. The reaction of teenagers to both the medium and
the message is worthy of exploration, owing to their early
adopter attitude and behavior (Tufte 2003). For example, in
Australia, 70% of girls and 50% of boys, aged 14 to 17 years,
have a MySpace site (Australian Communications and Media
Authority 2007). Furthermore, an examination of teenagers'
usage of such sites and advertising avoidance may provide
guidelines for the transformation of advertising in social
media.
Attitude Toward Advertising and Advertising Avoidance
Attitude toward advertising has been a major focus of research
across time (e.g., Dutta-Bergman 2006; Homer 2006; Homer
and Yoon 1992; Mehta 2000; Shavitt, Lowrey, and Haefner
1998; Speck and Elliott 1997). These studies report consumer
distrust of advertising (Shavitt, Lowrey, and Haefner 1998)
and strong inclinations toward advertising avoidance.
Consumers are well aware that advertising contributes to the
cost of purchased products and believe that better value arises
from products that are not advertised (Shavitt, Lowrey, and
Haefner 1998). More damning, they perceive that products fail
to perform as well as portrayed in advertising and that the
majority of advertising is more manipulative than informative
(Mehta 2000).
Based on these consumer attitudes toward advertising,
advertising avoidance is a likely consequence. Advertising
avoidance can be defined as "all actions by media users that
differentially reduce their exposure to ad content" (Speck and
Elliott 1997, p. 61) and can occur by cognitive, behavioral, and
mechanical means. Examples of advertising avoidance include
choosing to ignore a newspaper or magazine advertisement
(cognitive method), leaving the room during an advertising
break (behavioral method), deleting pop-ups on the Internet,
or using a digital video recorder (DVR) to skip advertisements
(mechanical means).
Mechanical means make advertising avoidance increasingly
easier for consumers. Historically, consumers have been able
to ignore advertising mentally or avoid it physically by leaving
the room or turning the page. Now, new technologies support

Journal of Interactive Advertising, Vol 10 No 2(Spring 2010), pp. 16‐27. 
© 2010 American Academy of Advertising, All rights reserved 
ISSN 1525‐2019 
17  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
avoidance by providing devices such as remote controls,
DVRs, and Internet blocking systems so that it becomes
automatic.
This means offers yet another form of consumer
empowerment, allowing consumers to decide how and when
and even if the message will be received (Schultz 2006b).
Schultz (2006a) suggests it is a consumer reaction to
oversaturation of messages or advertising clutter in both
Figure 1. Schultz's (2008) Push-Pull Model of Marketing Communication
Attitude Toward Advertising and Media Characteristics
Attitude toward advertising has been a focus of research in a
range of traditional and new media (Cho and Cheon 2004;
Johnson and Kaye 1998; Kiousis 2001; Moore and Rodgers
2005; Obermiller, Spangenberg, and MacLachlan 2005; Speck
and Elliott 1997). The push-pull model of marketing
communication shows that consumers control the
information flow, making their attitude toward advertising a
critical factor in determining whether a shield is erected and
when a message is received (Schultz 2008). Research shows the
believability or trustworthiness of the medium influences how
the consumer views the credibility of the information offered
(Moore and Rodgers 2005). Furthermore, if consumers do not
trust or believe the media, they are less likely to pay attention
traditional and nontraditional media such as the Internet. He
proposes that consumers erect shields to shut out the
increasing clutter and avoid the "push" of the advertising
message from marketers. Doing so leaves consumers free to
"pull" the information they desire from the Internet or other
media at a time convenient to them. Figure 1 demonstrates
this new model of communication.
to either the content or the advertising (Johnson and Kaye
1998).
Several studies profile different media in terms of credibility.
For example, Johnson and Kaye (1998) find that online and
traditional media sources both appear somewhat credible but
that younger people are more likely to view online information
as credible. Yet the Internet represents an unregulated flow of
information, whose quality is not subject to the same scrutiny
exerted over traditional media. Notably, the Internet also has
been considered a more credible source of news information
than traditional media. In contrast, Kiousis's (2001) study
identifies newspapers as considered the most credible
medium, though the Internet is seemingly more credible than
television. Moore and Rodgers (2005) also find that consumers
18  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
 

consider newspapers the most credible advertising medium, credibility as an advertising medium. Newspaper articles
followed by television advertisements, magazines, and radio. suggest that revenues gained through online social networking
sites such as Facebook are not as high as anticipated, and
Despite positive results regarding online news, studies indicate
many marketers view advertising in this area as experimental
the Internet is the least credible medium in which to advertise;
(Vascellaro 2008).
consumers regard it with the highest level of skepticism
(Johnson and Kaye 1998; Kiousis 2001; Moore and Rodgers Advertising Avoidance Online
2005). Consumers do not feel comfortable surfing online
Cho and Cheon (2004) propose three antecedents of
advertisements, and college students, the demographic that
advertising avoidance online: interruption of task, perceived
shops online the most, do not find Internet advertising
clutter on Internet sites, and negative past experiences with
trustworthy. They express hesitation about being required to
Internet advertising. The model in Figure 2 further explains
give credit card details or personal information and only
these antecedents.
purchase from sites they know and trust (Moore and Rodgers
2005). Industry trends also support the Internet's lack of

Figure 2. Cho and Cheon's (2004) Model of Advertising Avoidance Online

Figure 2 shows that the first antecedent of advertising advertisement or product (Cho and Cheon 2004). Pop-up
avoidance online is perceived goal impediment. This factor is advertisements, distracting advertisements, and
important because the Internet is considered more goal and advertisements that require consumer action before they can
task oriented than traditional media such as television. When resume their online activity may encourage them to delete the
advertising reduces or interrupts the speed of data retrieval message immediately and therefore avoid the advertising
and processing, consumers may react negatively toward the completely.
19  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
The second antecedent of advertising avoidance online is
perceived advertising clutter, which can also prove a
distraction, causing consumers to discriminate and avoid ads
that are not relevant or important to them (Ingram 2006). If
this perceived clutter is excessive, consumers are likely to have
difficulty discriminating messages, which could result in
disregard of them all (Cho and Cheon 2004).
The third antecedent of advertising avoidance is prior negative
experience, which includes instances in which Internet
advertising is deceptive, exaggerated, or incorrectly targeted or
leads users to inappropriate sites (Cho and Cheon 2004). Such
marketing techniques have led users to believe that that the
Internet is a distrustful medium (Grant 2005).
Much research in the online environment has focused on
generic Internet experiences (Grant 2005; Ko, Cho, and
Roberts 2005; La Ferle, Edwards, and Lee 2000; Namiranian
2006; Rappaport 2007; Speck and Elliott 1997). However,
Internet users can communicate through e-mail, forums,
branded Web communities, and commercial Web sites. Each
of these Internet experiences uses different communication
strategies, and each exhibits varied and often unique media
characteristics. We focus on social networking sites within
online media. The next section provides some background
about this communication avenue.
Online Social Networking Sites
Since their introduction in 2004, the growth of online social
networking sites has been both rapid and dramatic, changing
the purpose and functionality of the Internet (Vogt and
Knapman 2008). The potential to reach consumers directly
and in a personal and social environment has meant that
marketers are keen to advertise in this new medium (boyd and
Ellison 2007). Globally, advertising on social network sites was
predicted to reach $1.2 billion in 2008, an increase of 155%
from the previous year (Sinclair 2008). Facebook estimates
that it has 120 million active users (i.e., who have accessed its
site in the past 30 days). With this rapid growth over a short
period of time, academic research on social networking sites
has struggled to keep pace, especially in the area of advertising
avoidance (boyd and Ellison 2007; Krishnamurthy and Dou
2008).
Social networking sites provide people with the tools and
opportunity to be part of international communities that share
opinions and content and communicate directly with one
another or to other large communities. These sites are funded
by sales of advertising specifically targeted to the person
(Gangadharbatia 2008) and of statistical data collected from
the profiles of site users (Barnes 2006).
The "rules" of communication are evolving, and issues of
credibility, privacy, trust, and advertising avoidance likely
influence site users' perceptions of the advertisements they
view. The financial viability of these online sites depends on
the faith that advertisers have in the effectiveness of the
medium. Marketers fear that that they may be intruding into
users' personal spaces or even placing their advertisements
next to less-than-desirable content (Krishnamurthy and Dou
2008).
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY
Our literature review demonstrates the substantial research
into consumer attitudes toward advertising. It also highlights
work on advertising avoidance and how it has escalated with
increasing media fragmentation, advertising clutter, and
technological devices to avoid advertising. The gap that our
research aims to fill pertains to attitudes toward advertising on
social networking sites and whether advertising is welcomed as
a friend or avoided as an unwelcomed guest. This exploratory
study asks five important questions:
RQ1: What are teenagers' perceptions of advertising on
social networking sites?
RQ2: Do teenagers avoid advertising on online social
networking sites when they believe it disrupts their goals
online?
RQ3: Do teenagers ignore advertising on online social
networking sites when they perceive that there is too
much clutter in the medium?
RQ4: Do teenagers avoid advertisements on online social
networking sites if they have had negative experiences
with previous online advertisements?
RQ5: Are there other reasons why teenagers avoid
advertising in online social networking sites?
To address these questions, we conducted a qualitative
exploratory study, which is appropriate because online social
networking sites are a relatively new phenomenon (Cavana,
Delahaye, and Sekaran 2001; Zikmund 2003), and limited
research is available regarding consumer perceptions of these
sites (Krishnamurthy and Dou 2008). Exploratory research is
most useful in situations in which limited information is
available and the researcher wishes to have flexibility to
20  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
explore areas of research (Cooper and Schindler 2006;
Polonsky and Waller 2005).
Using a multimethod approach, we combined the benefits of
focus groups and in-depth personal interviews. The flexible
format of the focus group encouraged free discussion and
allowed the group to venture spontaneously into new areas of
online social networking (Cavana, Delahaye, and Sekaran
2001; Zikmund 2003). Whereas the focus groups gathered a
wide range of perceptions quickly, the in-depth interviews
provided explanation and elaboration of the issues that arose
(Cooper and Schindler 2006; Davis 1997; Hair et al. 2003).
Considering the objectives of the study, the convenience
sample consisted of teenagers (male and female, aged 13-17
years) who had their own social network sites. With their
"early adopter" attitude (Tufte 2003), this age group is the first
truly digital generation (Goldgehn 2004), and their usage of
online social networking has become an important element of
Table 1. Participant Profile
Age
Gender
Social networking platform
Length of involvement in social network site
Amount of time per week spent on social network sites
We assigned participants into focus groups or in-depth
interviews according to their availability. Although the two
samples are similar in most respects, they differ in the amount
of time spent on social networking sites. That is, 30% of the
focus group participants reported spending an average of 23
hours per week on social network sites, which swelled the
focus group average to 11.5 hours-an extraordinary amount of
time compared with an Australian Government study that
found that 13- to 17-year-olds spend on average 49 minutes
per day, or 5.7 hours per week, on social networking sites
(Australian Communications and Media Authority 2007).
This Australian average is more in line with the in-depth
their social system (Lee and Conroy 2005).We used several
criteria to recruit participants in this study: (1) aged 13-17
years of age, (2) equal representation of male and female, and
(3) ownership of a social networking profile, together with
experience in the social network environment. We used
snowball sampling to recruit participants, because
this approach is particularly useful for locating information-
rich key informants (Patton 1990). This process involves
contacting a few potential respondents to identify whether
they know of anybody with the characteristics sought for the
research. For this study, we made contacts with acquaintances
who had children, through the researchers' children's friends
and friends of friends, who fulfilled all three criteria. Some of
the participants were known, but not well known, to the
researchers. The acceptance rate was high, with a total of 23
teenagers participating in the mixed-gender focus groups, and
a further 8 teenagers sharing their thoughts in in-depth
interviews. Table 1 provides the full details of the sample.
Focus Groups In-Depth Interviews
Average age 15 years Average age 14.5 years
Girls: 12 Girls: 5
Boys: 11 Boys: 3
MySpace: 17 MySpace: 8
Facebook: 2
Both: 2
Average 12 months Average 16 months
Average 11.5 hours per week Average 5 hours per week
interview average of 5 hours per week and the average of the
focus groups without heavy users, which was 7.25 hours per
week. If the data collected from the heavy users were not an
exaggeration by the teenagers, we note a major concern in
terms of excessive consumption of social networking sites. It is
possible that some participants overstated their hours to
impress other members of the focus group. However, it is also
worth noting that the length of involvement in the social
networking sites was four months longer in the in-depth
interview group, which may compensate somewhat for the
shorter weekly consumption.
21  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
RESULTS
The results combine both focus group and individual
interview data collection methods. Overall, the participants in
both the focus groups and the in-depth interviews believed
they spent too much time on their online social networking
sites. Although driven there through boredom, they were
nonetheless concerned that it represented wasted time that
could be more productively spent. The fact that it was a fun
and easy way to keep in contact with their friends and
provided them with a sense of social inclusion possibly kept
them online longer than they intended to be. This point is
perhaps best evidenced by the names of some of the Facebook
groups, such as "I was doing homework when I ended up on
Facebook" and "If I fail my exams, it's Facebook's fault." In
terms of online privacy, participants believed that if their sites
were classified as "private," no one would be able to access
their personal information, which suggests some naivety about
to the level of privacy these sites offer.
Attitude toward Advertising on Social Networking Sites
Respondents in the study took little interest in the advertising
on their sites:
"I don't really notice them" (boy, 16 years).
"There's so much dodgy stuff that you can't take any of it
seriously" (boy, 15 years).
"I don't pay any attention to them" (girl, 14 years).
Generally, participants indicated that many of the
advertisements were not relevant to them. They did not
believe that there was a link or did not make the connection
between the advertisements appearing on their site and the
personal information they had disclosed:
"I like skating and body boarding and surfing and
stuff, and I've seen ads that come up and actually
offer skating and body boarding and surfing. I'm not
sure if it's just me or they were placing those surfing
ones [ads] on everyone's MySpace or just mine" (boy,
16 years).
Although they enjoyed playing the interactive games that were
displayed on their site, most respondents did not view them as
advertising and would not give out any personal information
to receive prizes from these games:
"Well, the problem is, most of the game ads, what you do
is you finish the game and then the button comes up, so to
tell you the truth, I would shut it down straight away.
They will ask for my phone number and I'll sort of think,
‘No'" (boy, 15 years).
Throughout the study, advertising recall was minimal, with
participants only recalling specific brands when prompted by
the focus group moderator. Their main method of advertising
avoidance was ignoring the messages.
Goal Disruption and Advertising Avoidance
Most of the participants indicated that they visited their online
networking site to fill time and relieve boredom:
"Pretty bored, generally pretty bored. Like usually if I
come home from school and I'm going to get into
assignments, all I'll do is I'll just like, sort of kind of ease
the transition, I'll log on Messenger and go get on
MySpace" (boy, 15 years).
Social networking sites seem to have little task orientation.
After participants entered their home page, their main focus
was checking to see if anyone had left any comments. This
tactic is different from other parts of the Internet, in which a
user might download information from a commercial Web
site or post new data on a branded community Web site.
None of the participants suggested that the advertising on
their MySpace or Facebook site slowed down their use of the
features on the site or disrupted their time on the site. They
saw the pop-ups and noisy advertisements as being mildly
irritating, but because their time on social networking sites
was not specifically task driven, the distraction was minimal:
"Just popping up on the screen and you just have to close
them. I just close them straight away. I don't even look at
them" (girl, 16 years).
Annoyance and Engagement
Many participants indicated that they only noticed the
advertising when it annoyed them, citing some advertisements
that suddenly popped up or made surprising noises. As a
consequence, they believed that they could not do anything
about the ads except avoid them:
"I mean yeah, they're kind of annoying because they're just
like always there and they're like, play this game and they
make all these noises and like, have you ever seen those
ads that have like all these emoticons and they talk? They
annoy me sometimes" (girl, 14 years).
In contrast, participants liked advertisements that engaged
them, such as playing games to win ring tones. However, the
majority of those who played the games also said that they
22  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
shut them down without giving out the required personal
information. These advertisements that engage the participant
fit with the concept of online social networking sites being
used to fill in time and relieve boredom:
"Really what I'll do is I'll just play the game and I'll actually
try and make it harder for myself as possible because they
have like race games, so I'll try and like, just because I'm
bored and really have nothing better to do, I'll give the
computer a head start and just see how long it takes before
I lose. And then I'll just shut the window when I win"
(boy, 15 years).
Advertising Clutter
Many of the participants indicated that advertising on their
online social networking sites was acceptable, because it kept
the use of the site free of charge. None of the participants
indicated that they avoid the ads because of undue clutter of
advertising on the sites:
"It doesn't really bother me because I never really notice
the advertising" (girl, 15 years).
"You just don't really take notice of them [the
advertisements], because they are there all the time. It is
like a conditioned response" (girl, 13 years).
Negative Previous Experiences
There was general distrust of advertisers on online social
networking sites, as most participants had been warned by
parents and teachers about the possibility of catching a
computer virus by clicking on an advertisement. For example,
when asked if she had ever clicked onto an advertisement on
her MySpace site, one participant said, "I probably have when I
was a bit younger [but] because I know about them I don't
really click them at all because I just know that they'll either
give me a virus or be some sort of scam thing" (girl, 14 years).
Even though most participants had a strong distrust of the
advertisements, the majority had not had a bad experience
themselves with online advertising. Their beliefs were based
on stories that they had heard or warnings from people in
authority, such as parents and teachers:
"Because anyone can really do anything on the Internet,
whereas on TV, have to have like, yeah, licenses and codes
and things. Just like so many things have happened with
those kinds of things, like just give away your information
on the Internet and then bad things happening" (girl, 14
years).
"Well, most of the ads that say you will win $100 if you do
this game or if you do this or you answer this question. I
really just think they're kind of, like I don't even touch
them because I know what they're all about but I can
imagine the people who don't know anything about them
like doing it and they're very annoying and it frustrates
me" (girl, 14 years).
"I just don't trust things that can take your information
and just use it" (girl, 15 years).
Other Reasons Why Advertising Is Avoided
Participants offered several other reasons for avoiding
advertising in online social networking sites. These included
the relevance of product, lack of credibility of the medium,
and lack of trust of advertisers.
Relevance of Product. The relevance of the product being
advertised was an important issue for participants. Often,
viewing an advertisement that was not specifically targeted to
their age group led the participants to believe that all of the
advertisements in this medium would not be relevant to them:
"Generally, they're more real estate. Most of the
genuine company ads are real estate companies ...
who sell for whatever reason, so I find it a lot more
difficult to relate to the real company ads because
they don't really put like food advertising or
something like that on MySpace; it's just not the kind
of thing I guess" (boy, 15 years).
Some participants acknowledged that the advertisements on
their site were specifically targeted to them on the basis of
information they had provided on their site. However, the
majority did not see a link between their information (e.g., the
type of sports, books, and movies in which they are interested)
and the type and brands of advertisements displayed on their
site. Some even believed that if the site was private, MySpace
could not use the information to target them.
Lack of Credibility of Medium. Because of their own
experience, participants knew how easy it was to set up a social
network site and that anyone could do it. They also knew that
they could say whatever they liked or be whoever they wanted
to be on their social networking site, again on the basis of their
own or their friends' experience. They recognized that there
was little regulation; therefore, they exhibited an inherent lack
of trust, and for them, online social network sites lacked
credibility as a medium. Teenagers demonstrated great
skepticism of these sites and the advertising they carry: "So I
23  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
don't really take it seriously because it's a MySpace ad and it's
usually for the same stuff. Then there is the MySpace job
[advertisements] and I don't really need a job" (boy, 15 years).
Another added, "So many people post dodgy bulletins, like
spam bulletins, that if you see one that looks real, you don't
bother clicking on it because you know it's probably going to
be a spam. So you sort of lose your trust in it" (boy, 16 years).
Lack of Trust. The lack of credibility of online social network
sites transferred to the advertising on these sites. Many felt
tricked by advertisers, not realizing they had clicked on an
advertisement. There was further distrust when brands sent
advertisements as comments to users of MySpace sites.
Participants were reluctant to give out personal details to
companies:
"I don't trust them. In case you gave them your mobile
number and they could send you heaps of stuff and you'd
have to pay for it and everything" (girl, 15 years).
"Sometimes ads get sent through comments. Like the
company sends it through comment, like to every person
on your list, they'll send, it forms a virus on your page, so
it's all the ads and stuff" (girl, 14 years).
"They get your email address and your password and then
they make bulletins from your space and it just has a
random heading and you click on it and just shows you
the ad" (boy, 16 years).
DISCUSSION
On the surface, advertising in the online social networking
environment should be an attractive proposition for
marketers. Advertising messages can be sent to specific targets
on the basis of their disclosed interests and demographics.
These messages are displayed in an environment that is
designed and controlled by the receiver of the message and is
considered a personal space. The receiver is generally in a
relaxed frame of mind and has chosen to be in the online
networking environment to relieve boredom or socialize.
However, if the advertising message is ignored or dismissed, as
our study suggests, advertising dollars are wasted, and the
future of online social networking sites as an effective
advertising medium is in question.
We found limited support for Cho and Cheon's (2004) model
that online advertising was avoided because it was disruptive
or cluttered. Our results indicate that previous negative
experiences or stories of negative experiences had some impact
on advertising avoidance. However, this study revealed more
important reasons for advertising avoidance in online social
network sites, such as relevance and credibility.
These two factors are related, because if advertising is
perceived as not being relevant, neither the medium nor the
message can be considered credible, and participants become
skeptical. These findings are supported by Ingram (2006), who
confirms that people are most likely to avoid advertisements
that are of no interest to them, and Johnson and Kaye (1998),
who find that advertising has less credibility when it is viewed
in a medium that is not perceived as trustworthy. Advertising
avoidance due to skepticism also is supported by Obermiller,
Spangenberg, and MacLachlan (2005), whose study suggests
that consumers are not motivated to process information
when they are skeptical of the message. Evidence in our study
shows that social networking sites represent an "anything goes"
communication channel. Little control occurs, anyone can
post anything, and participants stated that they did not trust
the posts or those people posting them, whom they often
described as "dodgy."
Why should social network users trust advertising? The
participants in this study were distrustful of the motivations
and the information behind advertising online. Most of them
had heard of people who had negative experiences, such as
getting a computer virus or receiving incorrect information,
and therefore, they were reluctant to click on any advertising.
This finding supports Cho and Cheon's (2004) theory that
consumers avoid advertising because of previous negative
experiences. However, in our study, most of the participants
had not personally had a negative experience but knew
someone who had or were warned by someone in authority.
In addition, advertisers seem to make matters worse through
poor targeting and uninteresting messages. In this "friend
space," not knowing the target market and bombarding
recipients with irrelevant messages, such as advertising
pension plans to teenagers, contravenes the most basic rules of
advertising. As a result, most teenagers ignored the
advertising, considering it a cost of a free social network site.
Providers of advertising on social networking sites should
provide better user profiles or targeting information. Perhaps
clearer rules of communication might improve the credibility
of the site, though there is a thin line between personal space
and police state. Advertising agencies could also improve
perceptions of advertising by improving the quality of the
messages. This effort demands exploring the dynamics of this
evolving medium, developing a better understanding of social
24  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
network users as "friends," and creating advertisements that
engage people who are bored and wasting time.
A Revised Model of Advertising Avoidance in the Online
Social Networking Environment
We used Cho and Cheon's (2004) research in advertising
avoidance on the Internet as a starting point to develop a
model for advertising avoidance in the online social
networking environment. As discussed previously, Cho and
Cheon's (2004) research investigates advertising avoidance in
the general Internet environment, not specifically the online
social networking environment. It asserts that perceived goal
impediment and advertising clutter are significant antecedents
to advertising avoidance. We have found that other factors
have a greater influence and identify four antecedents of
advertising avoidance in the online social networking
environment (as outlined in Figure 3):
• Expectations of negative experiences: This expectation of
advertisements in the online social networking
Figure 3. Model of Advertising Avoidance in the Online Social Networking Environment
environment can be as a result of prior negative
experiences or the expectation of negative experiences due
to word of mouth, including that received from those in
authority.
• Perception of relevance of advertising message: If the
advertising message is not of interest to the receiver of the
message, the information is likely to not be processed.
• Skepticism of advertising message claims: If consumers are
skeptical of the claims made by the advertisement or if
these claims are not appropriate to the media
environment, they are likely to ignore the message and
potentially disregard other messages in this medium.
• Skepticism of online social networking sites as a credible
advertising medium: Consumers do not trust the
information gained from online social networking sites.
They believe that online social networking sites lack
credibility and perceive that there is little policing of
advertising claims in this medium.
25  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
This model is of importance to both academics and
practitioners because it provides a starting point to understand
why advertising in the online social networking environment
is not as successful as originally anticipated. By understanding
the reasons consumers avoid advertising, marketers can
develop strategies to lessen this possibility. The future success
of online social networking sites as an advertising medium
depends on its acceptance as an advertising vehicle that can
deliver a message to a micro-target in a manner that will be
well received and that increases the likelihood of interaction. If
social networking sites do not become a profitable proposition
for advertisers, teenagers (and other online users) may find
that charges associated with the use of their online social
networking sites.
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
As with any qualitative study, there are limitations as to the
generalizability and reliability of these findings. Because this
study is exploratory, many of the findings may not be
generalizable to all online social networking users or to
teenaged online social networking users internationally.
Therefore, further research is needed to define social network
sites as an advertising medium and address their relevance and
credibility to their target market. Further research could widen
the frame of reference by drawing on larger samples nationally
and internationally and addressing users of different ages and
demographic profiles. Researchers could also consider the
issue that teenagers raised regarding the lack of advertising
regulation on online social network sites. Finally, this research
presents a new model for advertising avoidance in the online
social networking environment. Further investigation into this
model could clarify and confirm its importance in developing
advertising in the online social networking environment.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Louise Kelly (Masters by Research, Queensland University of
Technology) is an Associate Lecturer of Advertising in the
School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations,
Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane Australia.
Her research interests include online social networking,
advertising, sponsorship and new media. E-
mail: lm.kelly@qut.edu.au
Gayle Kerr (Ph.D., Queensland University of Technology) is
an Associate Professor in Advertising and IMC in the School
of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland
University of Technology. She worked in the creative side of
advertising before joining academia more than a decade ago to
teach and research in advertising and integrated marketing
communication. Her areas of research interest include
advertising ethics and self-regulation, advertising management
and strategic research, integrated marketing communication
27  Journal of Interactive Advertising  Spring 2010
 

and educational issues in both advertising and international

marketing communication. E-mail: gf.kerr@qut.edu.au
Judy Drennan (Ph.D., Deakin University) is a Professor and
Leader of the Services Innovation Research Program at the
Queensland University of Technology. She is a distinguished
academic with numerous best paper and teaching awards. Her
research direction has extended from her doctoral dissertation,
with two key research themes emerging from this study: e-
marketing and entrepreneurship. Since 2002, her research has
expanded to include mobile phone marketing (m-marketing)
and social marketing. She considers teaching vitally important
in her profession and also publishes research in the field of
education. E-mail: j.drennan@qut.edu.au