Name: Lai Thanh Son (s3357752)

ADVERTISING FEATURES THAT INFLUENCE

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTION
OF VIETNAMESE ADOLESCENTS
TOWARD IN-APP ADVERTISEMENT
ABSTRACT
Since in-app advertisement has experienced significant growth in recent
years, in-depth study is necessary for optimizing this non-traditional tactic. Far
removed from the legacy of mobile advertisement the extant literature has
already addressed, this paper aims to investigate attitudes of consumer
specifically toward in-app advertisement. Moreover, the relationship between
attitude and behavioral intention as well as factors affecting an overall attitude
are also taken into consideration. Qualitative interview was conducted among
10 undergraduate students at RMIT University Vietnam to answer the
research question. Generally, participants had negative attitudes toward inapp advertisement, with a relationship between attitude and behavioral
intention confirmed. In addition, incongruence and repetition was found as the
main factors that led to irritated feeling among consumers. On the other hand,
recommendation was also presented for advertisers to meet consumers
expectation and drive positive attitudes formation.
Key words: consumer attitudes, in-app advertisement, Vietnamese
adolescents

INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, in-app advertisement is the fastest growing sector of mobile
advertising and its global revenue would increase from $707.6 million at the
moment to $10.2 billion during the next five years (Krause 2012; Raines
2013). In Vietnam, it is also interesting to note that mobile advertising, with a
growth of 500%, has emerged as one of the most potential medium among a
spectrum of non-traditional advertising alternatives (Asia-Pulse-News 2011).
Since mobile-app consumption here is higher than in the U.S. during the
present era of globalization (Appota-Corp 2013; Mobile-Marketing-Association
2013), in-app advertisement has also become an innovative tactics to engage
the consumers (Wei et al. 2010). As in-app advertisement has made drastic
changes to the marketing communication industry (Liu et al. 2012), in-depth
study is necessary for the optimization of this influential tactic. This paper will
review existing literature about mobile advertising in general and in-app
advertising in particular, so as to propose the research question based on
current gaps, explain the methodology, state the findings and present several
suggestion for further studies.

LITERATURE REVIEW
This section will provide definition of key terms, followed by an analysis of
previous studies on advertising features as well as attitudes and behavioral
intentions of consumers towards in-app and mobile advertisement. Current
gaps will be figured out in order that proper research question will be
presented accordingly.
Mobile advertisement was defined as a kind of non-traditional advertising,
which was communicated to consumers via a handset (Barnes 2002). As a
latest trend in mobile advertisement, in-app advertisement offered interactive
and multimedia features (Okazaki & Barwise 2011; Richard & Meuli 2013).
This practice might include, but was not limited to mini games, pop-up
banners and videos within mobile-apps (Okazaki et al. 2012; Sharma et al.
2008). Hence, the distinguishable difference of in-app advertisement was that
it involved pulling strategy, in which consumers voluntarily clicked in the
advertisements content, while other types of mobile advertisement focused
on actively pushing a message to consumers (Barnes 2002; Raines 2013).
Attitude was referred as opinions of people in response to a given object and
it had long been proven to affect consumers attention and reaction toward
advertising (Fishbein & Azjen 1975; Schlosser et al. 1999; Wilson 2011). In
turn, there was a strong correlation between attitude of consumers towards
advertising and their behavioral intention, known as an acceptance or a
willingness to perform a behavior, such as opening or reading the advertising
message (Altuna & Konuk 2009; Kuo & Yen 2009; Parreno et al. 2013). In the
formation of mobile advertising acceptance, it was suggested that consumers

attitude was the most influential aspect in comparison with demographics and
other social factors (Altuna & Konuk 2009; Yang 2007).
In general, consumers tended to have negative attitudes towards mobile
advertisement (Bhave et al. 2013; Muk 2007; Tsang et al. 2004). However, in
the case of in-app advertisement, these attitudes were not stable but
constantly influenced by certain advertising features (Bhave et al. 2013;
Okazaki 2004; Park et al. 2008). Those features included content, which was
related to the representation of the message, and format, which was about the
capability of transmitting media or the length of the message and the
multimedia functionally (Park et al. 2008).
Firstly, format should be taken into account. The cost of receiving mobile
advertisement led to the fact that consumers did not preferred advertising in
video format because it might waste a large amount of bandwidth (Bhave et
al. 2013, Yang 2007). Moreover, hinder pop-up banner in online gaming also
made consumers feel annoyed (Bhave et al. 2013). On the other hand, the
use of animation was noted to be more noticeable and better in memorization
(Bhave et al. 2013; Park et al. 2008; Sundar & Kalyanaraman 2004).
Nevertheless, consumers often denied clicking on it, as a way to redirect them
to another page (Bhave et al. 2013; Raines 2013), because it might contain
threats to security and privacy (Sheehan & Hoi 2000). Consequently, they
expressed their concern on unawareness data collection and the ways
marketers used that data (Culman 1995; Wei et al. 2009). Moreover, partial
diffusion of mobile advertisement was also connected with formatting issues
(Yang 2007).

Secondly, the content of in-app advertisement mattered. An ability to provide

timely and accessible information was the basic aspect for advertisement
acceptance (Wong & Tang 2008; Yang 2007). Furthermore, credibility and
correctness of the message was important since in-app advertisement was a
pull-based approach, which engaged consumers in a one-on-one relationship
(Ducoffe 1996; Sandra & Yang 2010). Moreover, enjoyment was perceived as
the

strongest

factor

that

determined

consumers

attitudes

toward

advertisement (Schlosser et al. 1998). Therefore, participation to the

advertisement comprising entertaining elements was high (DuCoffe 1996;
Raines

2013;

Woo

&

Sangmi

2007).

Hence,

credibility,

perceived

informativeness and entertainment were shown to be positively influenced

attitudes of consumers, while irritation was mentioned to establish negative
influence, which then also affected the acceptance of in-app advertisement
(Kolsaker & Drakatos 2009; Okazaki 2004; Parreno et al 2013; Raines 2013).
Irritating advertisement features was identified as those causing annoyance
and impatience of the momentary (Aaker & Bruzzone 1985).
Much research in this area failed to investigate the cause of irritation, which
led to

negative attitudes of

consumers

towards in-app

advertising

(Parreno2013; Raines 2013). Since mobile advertisement was quite

ubiquitous, it might also be useful if further studies would examine deeper into
in-app advertisement to draw a clearer picture. Besides, research in such
topic was often neglected in the Vietnamese context. Accordingly, the
research question (RQ) I wish to propose in this project is:
RQ: What are advertising features that influence attitudes and behavioral
intentions of Vietnamese adolescent towards in-app advertisement?
5

METHODOLOGY
Qualitative interviewing was conducted among 10 RMIT University Vietnams
undergraduate

students

at

Saigon

South

Campus.

Since

in-app

advertisement is a specialized term, explanation would necessary, and

therefore this method was acceptable. Moreover, people might use mobileapps in both home-based setting and public spaces, and accordingly
qualitative interviewing was suitable due to its capability to examine
phenomena that cannot be directly observed (Babbie & Baxter 2003). Semistructured protocol with open questions was employed to dig deeper into
participants responses, which was applicable for such an exploratory study
into attitudinal variations and reactions (Babbie & Baxter 2003). On the other
hand, this method might be time-consuming during a short-term project and
the findings might contain personal bias and limited generalization capability
(Keyton 2011).
Convenience sampling was used to take advantages of available participants
with ease and low expense (Babbie & Baxter 2003). RMIT students were
chosen not only because they were part of Vietnamese adolescents
population, but also because 1/3 of mobile-apps users in Vietnam were
students (Mobile-Marketing-Association 2013). Furthermore, proximity could
be facilitated during interview sessions. Likewise, 10 students is a
manageable sample size for this 3-month project. The sample was selected
from both genders and differing academic programs to enhance the reliability
of the data (Huston & Merrigan 2009). In terms of gender, 5 out of 10
participants were females. Regarding to academic program, 5 of them studied

Professional Communication and the others were equally selected from

Commerce, Design, Economic & Finance and Marketing.
Vietnamese were the main interviewing language since expressing attitudes
in mother tongue was often more comfortable than in foreign language.
Moreover, English was also combined where necessary, given the
commonplace use of code-switching in this international college. However,
there was a limitation that several Vietnamese terms in the response could
not be translated into English with complete accuracy.
As for preparation, a draft of questions was designed for pilot testing on a
group of 5 students. Hence, amendments were made according to the
feedback before actual interview. During the actual 30-minute interview,
process and purpose of the study would be explained to assist participant in
becoming comfortable. As for data collection and analysis, all responses were
recorded and taken note of. Main points of the interview were transcribed,
categorizing on common themes based on qualitative content analysis (Berg
1995), in order to analyze and to integrate for the report.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

As responding to the research question, key findings were categorized into 3
main themes: advertising recall, general attitudes and irritating features and
preferred features.

Advertising recall
To begin with, all of the participants realized there was an existence of
advertisements in the mobile-apps they used. However, only 3 of them
recognized the exact advertised brand, while the others recalled the product
category only (2 participants), or failed to recall anything (5 participants).
Regardless of accuracy, those who recalled the advertised brand also
remembered the advertisement format, including its placement and the
presentation (interstitials, mini games, and videos). On the other hand, those
who failed to recall the advertised brand could not recall its format also,
attributing this failure to indifference among different advertisements on
mobile-apps,

little

exposure

to

the

advertisement

placement,

mere

concentration on mobile-apps performance or divided attention span.

Therefore, there could be a connection between in-app advertisement recall
and its format, which should be investigated more carefully via casual study.

General attitudes and irritating features

In general, all of the participants expressed negative attitudes towards in-app
advertisement, regarding this kind of advertising as annoying, a waste of
time, disturbing or unacceptable. This point was consistent with previous
studies on consumers attitudes toward in-app advertisement (Bhave et al.
2013; Muk 2007; Tsang et al. 2004). The interviewees also criticized in-app
advertisement for being repetitive, overt and incongruent with the mobile-app.
In addition, 4 participants strongly indicated that repetitiveness was the main

factor that made them feel irritated, which might explain why consumers were
often dissatisfied with in-app advertisement (Kolsaker & Drakatos 2009). In
addition, other causes of irritation included in-app advertisement interrupts
the flow of my mobile-apps and it prevents me from touching functional
buttons on the screen or performing other actions.
On the contrary, participants also sympathized with those promotional
activities since most of the mobile-apps they used were free to download, and
therefore they partly acquired in-app advertisement as a way to pay back for
mobile-apps developers. Accordingly, this meant that interviewees were well
aware of the paid-for essence of mobile-apps. Furthermore, respondents did
not perceived privacy issue as their primary concern. Hence, hidden threats of
gathering personal information was not led to the denial of clicking on in-app
advertisement. This finding was opposed with previous studies on consumers
perspectives toward the privacy of in-app advertisement (Culman 1995;
Sheehan & Hoi 2000; Wei et al. 2009).
Another noticeable relation between the advertised brands and mobile-apps
should also be taken into account. Here were 2 contradictory viewpoints on
this issue:
"Advertisement of brand or product related to the mobile-app is useful.
It served to enhance the mobile-apps value (Female, 22, Professional
Communication)
Too much advertisement often overshadows the modal nature of
mobile-apps, which is simplicity (Male, 21, Design).

Moreover, participants freedom of choice was stated as another aspect for

judging the acceptance of in-app advertisement. 2 dissimilar opinions were
marked from the responses:
In-app advertisement is fair because it does not force me to response,
and I am free to decide whether to pay attention to its practice (Male,
20, Commerce).
I feel despised there, once realizing the inability to control in-app
advertisement. It keeps popping up on my screen automatically
(Female, 23, Finance).
Based on those responses, there might be certain considerations underlying
consumers negative attitudes toward in-app advertisement. Although privacy
concern was mentioned as the main reason that caused irritation in prior
studies, some factors were newly identified, such as consumers freedom,
incongruence and repetition.

Preferred Features
By asking participants about their preferences, there was a shortcoming due
to the assumption that they liked one option at least, while actually they might
dislike all. For this section, interactivity, informativeness and entertainment
were examined, as also indicated in previous studies (Ducoffe 1996; Kolsaker
& Drakatos 2009; Okazaki 2004; Parreno et al 2013; Raines 2013; Sandra &
Yang 2010).

10

A majority of participants agreed that in-app advertisement was more

engaging due to its interactivity. They believe it attracted more potential
consumers to the brand than other traditional types of advertising did.
Nevertheless, 2 interviewees revealed their preference for advertisement on
computer and television, as bigger screens would be able to provide more
information.
In terms of informativeness, 5 people claimed in-app advertisement did not
directly provide information to consumers, while they had to click in step by
step. The others, who preferred its practice, said in-app advertisement was
able to demonstrate the promotions necessity. Notwithstanding, 2 of them
recommended developers to sophistically integrate an advertised plot to the
mobile-apps. Moreover, 1 participant was also concerned about the credibility
of in-app advertisement:
It was hard to trust information provided by in-app advertisement
nowadays due to its lack of credibility (Female, 20, Commerce).
Regarding entertainment, two opposite opinions were dominant. Those
supporting in-app advertisement explained that the use of entertaining
features positively affected their attitudes on in-app advertisement, as also
reported in prior cases (Bhave et al. 2013; Park et al. 2008; Sundar &
Kalyanaraman 2004). Specifically, they believed a mini group game or a
special offer of in-game purchase might enhance the attitudes of consumers
toward in-app advertisement. Consequently, a willingness to click in and
participate was also generated. This particular response might relate to the
theory of planned behavior, which proposed positive attitudes with social

11

influences would result in higher behavioral intentions (Ajzen 1991).

Meanwhile, those refusing entertaining features said the practice was a waste
of time and it had little effect on brand recall. Interestingly, 1 participant
expressed a different view from those two mainstream preferences:
Entertaining features had better depend on the goal of advertisement,
as it aimed to attract awareness and participation of people or it was
just a simple brief announcement (Female, 19, Professional
Communication).
There was a conflict with previous findings that involvement to the practice
comprising entertaining features was high (DuCoffe 1996; Raines 2013; Woo
& Sangmi 2007). This inconsistence might be due to some typical
personalities of Vietnamese adolescents, which would require further
examination, or simply because the sample was too little to create an exact
comparison.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this paper provided some new findings to the current database
regarding to consumers attitudes toward in-app advertisement, and it also
proposed proper indications for advertisers who were longing to make use of
this promotional tactic. Basically, Vietnamese adolescents revealed their
negative attitudes toward in-app advertisement due to its incongruence and
repetition. This study also found that interactivity was mostly preferred, and
both informative and entertaining features should be sophistically blended into

12

mobile-apps in order to decrease the irritated feeling among consumers. As

an attempt to create a comparative result, future study should examine in a
larger sample scale with different methodologies. It was also advisable that
further study should examine the effectiveness of in-app advertisement,
especially in the field of brand and product recall. Finally, similar study on
different age groups, such as middle-aged adult or teenager, was highly
encouraged.

Word count: 2490.

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17

APPENDIX 1
Invitation to Participate in a
Research Project
Project Information Statement

Centre of Communication and Design

Project Title:

Advertising Features That Influence Attitude and Behavioral

Intention
of Vietnamese Adolescents Toward In-app Advertisement.

Investigator:
Supervisor:

Son, Lai Thanh

Hue, Duong Trong

Phone/Email:
Phone/Email:

s3357752@rmit.edu.vn
hue.duong@rmit.edu.vn

You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by RMIT University
Vietnam undergraduate students undertaking the course Communication Debates and
Approaches. This information sheet describes the project in straightforward language, or
plain English. Please read this sheet carefully and be confident that you understand its
contents before deciding whether to participate. If you have any questions about the project,
please ask one of the investigators.
What is the project about? What are the questions being addressed?
This study aims to investigate consumers attitude specifically toward in-app advertising, the
relationship between attitude and behavioral intention, and advertising features affecting
overall attitudes.
In this project, qualitative interviewing will be conducted among 10 RMIT University Vietnams
undergraduate students at Saigon South Campus.

Why have you been approached?

You have been approached randomly as the convenience sampling method is adopted in this
study. Participants must be over 18 years old and be currently studying undergraduate
degrees at Saigon South Campus, RMIT University Vietnam.

If I agree to participate, what will I be required to do?

If you agree to participate in this project, you will be required to complete a thirty (30) minutes
in-depth interview with investigator who asks you questions related to your smart-phone and
mobile-app use, as well as your attitude and behavioral intention towards advertisement
mobile-app. Those are open questions so as to examine what advertisement factors that
affect your attitude and acceptance.

18

What are the risks or disadvantages associated with participation?

As part of the interview, you will be required to consider and challenge several aspects
regarding to your attitude and the use of mobile-apps. You will be interacting with the
investigator and the investigator will moderate the discussion carefully. Therefore, there
would be no risk associated with the participants during interview section.
During the process of data analysis, if the investigators concerns about your response, you
may be contacted via email or mobile phone to clarify your point of view.

What are the benefits associated with participation?

During the interview section, you will be know more about in-app advertisement and its
significance in recent years.

What will happen to the information I provide?

All of your information will be treated confidentially. Only investigator and supervisor can get
access to your information. Moreover, you will not be personally identified in any presentation
and report arising from the study.
Any information that you provide can be disclosed only if (1) it is to protect you or others from
harm, (2) a court order is produced, or (3) you provide the researchers with written
permission.

What are my rights as a participant?

Participants are voluntary, and therefore you have no obligation to be involved. You have the
right to withdraw your participation at any time, without prejudice. You have the right to have
any unprocessed date withdrawn and destroyed, provided it can be reliably identified. You
have the right to have any questions answered at any time.

Whom should I contact if I have any questions?

Further information about any aspect of the study will be provided by the investigator. Please
contact Mr. Lai Thanh Son on s3357752@rmit.edu.vn

What other issues should I be aware of before deciding whether to participate?

To take part in this study, access to smart-phone and its mobile-apps will be necessary.

19

APPENDIX 2
Consent Form For Persons Participating In
Research Projects Involving Interviews,
Questionnaires or Disclosure of Personal
Information

Centre of Communication and Design

Project Title:

Advertising Features That Influence Attitude and Behavioral Intention

of Vietnamese Adolescents Toward In-app Advertisement.

Name of
Participant:
Investigator:
Supervisor:

Son, Lai Thanh

Hue, Duong Trong

Phone/Email:
Phone/Email:

s3357752@rmit.edu.vn
hue.duong@rmit.edu.vn

1. I have received a statement explaining the interview/questionnaire involved in this project.

2. I consent to participate in the above project, the particulars of which - including details of
the interviews or questionnaires - have been explained to me.
3. I authorise the investigator or his or her assistant to interview me or administer a
questionnaire.
4. I acknowledge that:
a)
Having read Plain Language Statement, I agree to the general purpose, methods
and demands of the study.
b)
I have been informed that I am free to withdraw from the project at any time and to
withdraw any unprocessed data previously supplied.
c)
The project is for the purpose of research and/or teaching. It may not be of direct
benefit to me.
d)
The privacy of the personal information I provide will be safeguarded and only
disclosed where I have consented to the disclosure or as required by law.
e)
The security of the research data is assured during and after completion of the
study. The data collected during the study may be published, and a report of the project
outcomes will be available to the participant by request. Any information which will identify
me will not be used.
Participants Consent
Participant

Date:
(Signature)

Witness

Date:
(Signature)

Participants should be given a photocopy of this consent form after it has been signed.

20

APPENDIX 3
IN-DEPTTH INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
INTRODUCTION
Thanks for you time, I really appreciate your participation in this project.
During this interview session, I would like to ask you questions about your
opinion regarding to in-app advertisements. In order to focus on our
discussion and with your permission, I would like to record the interview.
However, you have the right to ask for shutting the recorder off at anytime. In
addition, I would like to assure that your identity and all information you
provide to me will be kept strictly confidential. Accordingly, I will not be
reporting your name to anyone. In addition, I will not attach your name to any
comments you make and only pseudonyms will be used in my written report.
Do you have any questions about the project or about what I have told you so
far? May we begin?
QUESTIONS
1/ Do you use mobile apps?
If so, what kind of mobile apps do you use?
Can you name your preferences?
Why do you like those apps?
2/ To what extent do you pay attention to advertisement in the apps you use?
What is the most important thing for you to get your attention?
Why is that?
3/ What do you think/ or fell about those advertisements? Why is that?

21

Probe on:
Informativeness
Entertainment
Irritation
Credibility
Interactivity
4/ Can you name at least 1 in-app advertisement you have seen recently?
Are you familiar with its format and content?
If YES, What encourage you to recognize its format or to remember its
message? How so?
5/ Are you more likely or less likely to voluntary interact with in-app
advertisements?
What things do you consider when deciding whether to interact or ignore
those advertisements?
6/ Would you tap on those advertisements to look for more information?
If YES, Do you find it is useful? Why or Why not?
If NO, What would be the preferred way of presenting this information to you?
Why this way?
7/ Does the presentation of in-app advertisement affect your decision to
interact or to click-in? Does the message of in-app advertisement affect your
decision to interact or to click-in?
8/ What advertisement features bother you about in-app advertisement?
Have you experienced any concerns with those advertisements?
What was the concern?
What, if anything? Did you do about this?

22

Why is that?
9/ What advertisement features do you like or are you attracted to in-app
advertisement?
Are they important? Why or Why not?
What might an ideal in-app advertisement look like?
10/ What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of in-app
advertisement?
How do they compare to traditional ways of advertisement?
11/ Are there any comments or recommendations you would like to share
regarding to in-app advertisement?

CLOSING
This is the end of our interview session. Thank you for your time!

23

24