Factors Affecting Internet Advertising Adoption in Ad Agencies

1. Introduction

Richards and Curran (2002), in a valuable study, argue that “Advertising is a paid, mediated form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action now or in the future” (p. 74). Regarding Internet advertising, Hanafizadeh and Behboudi (2012) define Internet advertising as “an Internet-based process through which advertisers communicate, interact with, and persuade online users in order to position a brand, which allows a company to promote both consumer awareness and preference in a customized and personalized way, and to decrease the time needed to make a buying decision” (Hanafizadeh and Behboudi, 2012, p. 22). By scrutinizing the internet advertising definition, it would be uncovered that meeting this goal is not easily reachable for businesses, and depends on using different techniques and methods which in turn, involve third-party companies known as advertising agencies. The Association of Advertising Agencies of America (AAAA) defines advertising agency as “an independent business organization composed of creative and business people who develop, prepare and place advertising media for sellers seeking to find customers for their goods and services” (quoted in Moeran, 1996, p. 21).

However, the advancements in Internet-based technologies lead to the emergence of a new wave of communications and interactions around the world. Internet is the only incorporator of shopping features including the ordering route of a product, the route of payment and the route of delivering the selected product which makes it imperative to consider as business choice (Hanafizadeh and Behboudi, 2012). Internet has become a popular advertising platform because marketers found that the Internet has greater flexibility and control over advertising content (Ducoffe, 1996). In addition, estimates show that the number of registered websites reached 200 million in 2011 (itproportal.com, 2011), and the number of Internet users throughout the world was about 2.405 billion, 1 billion of whom belong to Asia (Internetworldstats.com, 2013). Moreover, the number of Iranian users at the end of the third quarter of 2013 was about 42 million, ranking first in the Middle East and fourth in Asia. These statistics indicate that Iran is an appropriate place for studying the Internet and its application as a channel for distributing information.