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The growth of Internet usage has created a platform for businesses to attract and retain customers. While online advertising strategies are used by many businesses, the effectiveness of these methods being used can be debated. This study will provide an analysis of online advertising and its effectiveness. A study was conducted to test the consumer's perception of online advertising on the popular social webpages: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Steps were also taken to test a possible gender difference when it comes to consumer's receptiveness to online advertising on these sites.
INTRODUCTION
In 2012, there were 245,203,319 internet users in the United States. This means 78.1% of the American population is on the web (New Media TrendWatch). Many of these users are spending their time on the Internet visiting the most popular social networking sites of today. A study was conducted to test American's perception of online advertising on the popular web pages Face book, YouTube and Twitter. If online advertising strategies are formulated correctly, marketers can target this large segment of Americans who are spending a significant of time on the Internet and the popular social webpages of today.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Today adults of all ages are accessing their favorite websites using their tablets, smartphones, and computers. For some time the Internet has been popular with younger Americans, but research shows that this trend is evolving. Generation X (ages 31 to 44) and Younger Baby Boomers (ages 45 to 54) are beginning to spend a significant amount of time online(Indvik).In fact in 2011 it was reported that 65% of adults use social networking sites (Madden & Zickuhr).
Social networking sites are defined as "web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" (Boyd& Ellison, 2007, p. 211). The three most popular social networking sites of today are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Each of these webpages can be accessed through a consumer's tablet, smartphone, and/or computer.
Accounting for 7.07% of all American web traffic, Facebook is the most visited website in the United States (Dougherty, 2010). There...