Social factors in user perceptions and responses to advertising in online social networking communities

SOCIAL FACTORS IN USER PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES TO
ADVERTISING IN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING COMMUNITIES
Fue Zeng, Li Huang, Wenyu Dou
ABSTRACT: With the advent of popular Web destinations such as MySpace and Facebook, online social networking
communities now occupy the center stage of e-commerce. Yet these online social networking communities must balance the
trade-off between advertising revenue and user experience. Drawing on the sociology and advertising literature, this study
investigates the impacts of social identity and group norms on community users' group intentions to accept advertising in online
social networking communities. By outlining how this type of group intention could influence community members' perceptions
and value judgments of such advertising, this study delineates possible mechanisms by which community members may respond
positively to community advertising. The authors test the proposed theoretical framework on a sample of 327 popular online
community users in China and obtain general support. Implications for the prospect of advertising in online social networking
communities are discussed.
Keywords: Online social networking communities, advertising responses, social factors.

With the advent of popular Web destinations such as MySpace
and Facebook, a new kind of online community now occupy
the center stage in e-commerce, namely, social networking
communities (Bausch and Han 2006). eMarketer (2009)
projects that advertising revenue from social network
communities in the United States will reach more than 17.9
million, or 15% of total U.S. online advertising revenues, by
2013. The popularity of online networking communities also
has been growing in other parts of the world. More than 200
million users per month visit QQ-Zone, the Chinese online
social networking community, which is considered the largest
social network site in the world (McLeod 2006). Leveraging
this huge base of community users, QQ.com earned US$120.9
million in online advertising revenue in 2008 (Tecent 2008).
The rapid growth of online social networking communities
has caught the attention of advertisers that hope to find new
ways to harness these communities for their advertising
purposes (Hart 2007). However, as the communities battle to
garner long-term, sustainable advertising revenues, they
encounter the severe risk that members will feel exploited if
the sites suddenly appear overrun with ads (Mesure and
Griggs 2007). The burgeoning industry thus has been under
increasing public pressure to strike a balance between the need
to generate advertising revenue and members' demand for
uninterrupted social experiences (Nutley 2007). A 2008 report
by IDC found that 43% of social network users never clicked
on ads, a dramatic difference from the 80% of other Internet
users who did so at least once a year. Furthermore, 23% of
nonusers of online communities who clicked on an ad then

made a purchase, whereas only 11% of social network users
who clicked on ads did the same (eMarketer 2009).
Little academic research addresses the concerns held by
community organizers about how to convince users to be
more receptive to advertising in online social communities. In
particular, though various e-commerce studies investigate
online communities (e.g., Bagozzi and Dholakia 2002; DeKay
2009; Gangadharbatla 2008), none has explored members'
perceptions or acceptance of advertising in social network
communities. To gain insights into this important area of
research and application, we draw on sociology and
advertising literature to examine how social identity and group
norms of online community members may influence
perceptions of and behavioral responses to advertising.
This study therefore makes several theoretical contributions.
First, an emerging stream of e-commerce literature uses
sociological perspectives to examine how social factors may
influence community members' participation in communities;
we extend this line of inquiry by exploring a different set of
outcome measures, namely, how community members
perceive and react to advertising in community sites. Second,
we bridge the link between sociological factors in online
communities and advertising responses by including group
intentions (Bagozzi and Dholakia 2002) and establishing that
group intentions to accept advertising in online communities
shapes community members' perceptions of that advertising.
This application of the group intention perspective is novel in
this context and identifies a route by which community
members may demonstrate receptiveness to advertising in
Journal of Interactive Advertising, Vol 10 No 1 (Fall 2009), pp. 1 13.
© 2010 American Academy of Advertising, All rights reserved
ISSN 1525 2019

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Journal of Interactive Advertising

online communities. Third, by integrating both sociological
perspectives and advertising literature, we develop a
conceptual model that illuminates the key factors that underlie
community members' responses to advertising in online social
networking communities.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Online Social Networking Communities
Online social networking communities are digital networks in
which users feel an intrinsic connection to other members
(Wellman and Gulia 1999). Following Boyd and Ellison
(2007), we define online social networking sites as Web-based
services that allow individual users 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.
Although the nature and nomenclature of these connections
may vary from site to site, communities are fluid and flexible
and may be based on a wide range of cultural interests and
social affiliations. Group affiliations thus color members'
opinions and positions on specific issues, and the
interpersonal ties that the community members share increase
their willingness to commit to goals identified by the group
(Walther 1996; Wellman 1999). Through repeated
interactions, common assumptions and shared understanding
may emerge among community members (Varey 2002).
Meanwhile, social bonds develop as members begin to feel
emotional attachments or mutual liking (McCall 1970); in
turn, these social bonds tend to foster group cohesiveness.
Social connections among members are the main emphasis of
online social networking communities. These connections
may be either offline, preexisting (e.g., classmates) or online,
newly created (e.g., unknown online friends) connections
(Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe 2007). Raacke and BondsRaacke (2008) investigate MySpace and Facebook and find
that the vast majority of college students use such friendnetworking sites during a significant portion of their day for
reasons such as making new friends and locating old
acquaintances. Ridings and Gefen (2004) find that social
support and friendships represent the two main reasons for
participating in online communities. We focus on this type of
social networking community for two reasons. First,
advertisers hungry for the attractive demographics of the
members attracted to most social networking communities are
expending huge amounts of money to enter into the fray

Fall 2009

(Schultz 2007). Second, we hope to build on a burgeoning
stream of academic research that investigates social
networking communities on the Internet (Algesheimer and
Dholakia 2006; Kennett and Matthews 2008).
Social Identity
Social identity serves as a social-cognitive schema (norms,
values, and beliefs) for group-related behaviors (e.g., fan clubs)
that develops through a process of self-categorization (Hogg
and Terry 2000; Tajfel 1981; Terry and Hogg 1996; Turner
1981). Social categorization theories imply that people develop
group intentions to act or behave in a specific way toward an
issue related to the group (e.g., fighting for the reputation of
their idol) and thus maintain a positive, self-defining
relationship with the group.
Group Intention
Sociology literature pays considerable attention to the
construct of group intention, or community members'
commitment to participate in joint community actions,
whether according to an implicit or an explicit agreement
(Tuomela 1995). Group intention results from an
internalization process in which a person adopts the values,
beliefs, or attitudes of others on the basis of his or her
congruence criteria (Eagly and Chaiken 1993).
In e-commerce research, Bagozzi and Dholakia (2002) argue
that online community users collectively develop a unified,
group-level attitude (e.g., intend to participate in online
community activities) through their interactions and
communications in the mediated environment, together, as a
group. Scholars also posit that the nature and type of group
intentions (e.g., need to participate in online communities)
may depend on a community's social characteristics (Bagozzi
2000). We focus on community members' group intentions
with regard to accepting advertising in communities and
evaluating such advertising.
Community sites confront mounting financial pressures for
sustainability and often must pass such pressures on to their
users, urging them to be more open to advertising (Armstrong
and Hagel 1995). In line with Bagozzi's (2000), Bagozzi and
Dholakia's (2002), and Dholakia, Bagozzi, and Pearo's (2004)
work on the impact of social identity on group intentions, we
posit that online community members with a strong
community identity should find it easier to internalize the
notion that community advertising is vital for sustaining the
community site. The individual member (e.g., Star Wars fan)
easily discerns the match between his or her beliefs and those

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of other group members, such as the need for the online
community site (e.g., Star Wars fan site) to accept some form
of advertising. This line of reasoning leads us to hypothesize
that when social identities of community site members are
stronger, their group intentions with regard to community
advertising are more affirmative.
H1. Social identity relates positively to group intentions to
accept advertising in online social networking
communities.
Group Norms
Group norms represent the set of shared goals, values, beliefs,
and conventions understood and committed to by group
members (Postmes, Spears, and Lea 2000). Studies show that
group norms in online communities have powerful and
consistent influences on group members' attitudes and
behaviors (Hogg and Terry 2000; Terry and Hogg 1996).
We examine a specific type of groups norms, which Shaw
(1981) characterizes as group benefit norms, that pertain to
issues of great significance to the group, such as the
community's survival. Such norms implicitly generate
consensus among members about good community behaviors;
for example, the norm might demand that members should
support the development of the community (Weldon and
Weingart 1993). Scholars argue that when a strong group
benefit norm is in place, members realize that they all share a
common goal and are more likely to develop group intentions
(e.g., Dholakia, Bagozzi, and Pearo 2004). Applying this logic
to our research context, when online community members
possess a strong group benefit norm, they should be more
likely to possess a more concrete group intention about the
need to accept advertising in communities, because
advertising revenue becomes vital for the community's
survival. Thus, we hypothesize:
H2: Group benefit norms relate positively to group
intentions to accept advertising in online social
Perceived Ad Relevance
The topic of contextual relevance has long been a focal issue of
Internet advertising research (e.g., Hunt 1998) due to its great
potential for delivering highly targeted ads that match the
decision context of online users. Research shows that
contextually relevant ads attract more attention and
consequently influence Internet advertising effectiveness (Li
and Bukovac 1999). Building on this line of inquiry, we

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investigate how social network community users' perceptions
of advertising relevancy may influence their willingness to
accept advertising in online social networking communities.
Advertising sponsorship literature also uses perceived
relevance as a key construct that delineates the extent to which
consumers perceive advertising as relevant for a particular
media context (Rodgers 2004), such as a GNC advertisement
in Yahoo!'s health section. Conceivably, this effect may depend
on the associative learning principle, which suggests that
stronger advertising alignment establishes explanatory links
that help consumers determine the advertiser-consumer
connection. Similarly, community users may view advertising
on community sites as acceptable if it seems relevant to their
main community themes (part of their identity expression)
and does not annoy them by including commercial messages
in which they would not be interested (McCormick 2006).
When members of a community possess a strong group
identity, they tend to have greater expectations about the
content related to their community sites as a symbol of their
community identity; that is, embedded advertising should be
relevant to community themes. As a result, users with stronger
identity should be more likely to trust the good intentions of
the community site; whatever the community site does should
be for the benefit of its members. Presumably, this mechanism
operates on the reciprocity principle within a social exchange
framework (Gouldner 1960). A community member with a
strong group identity therefore should contribute more to the
community and anticipate reciprocity, such that he or she
expects the site to do good for the whole community as wellfor example, accepting only advertising that seems congruent
with the theme of the community. This theorization leads to
the following prediction:
H3: Social identity relates positively to perceived ad
relevance in online social networking communities.
In a similar vein, when community members possess strong
group benefit norms, they tend to do good for the community.
According to the reciprocity principle, they expect the
community site to do the same, which implies that
communities should accept only advertisements that are
congruent with community themes. The stronger group
benefit norm for community users, the more likely they are to
consider advertising in the community pertinent. Put
formally:
H4: Group benefit norms relate positively to perceived ad
relevance in online social networking communities.

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Finally, when online social networking community members
maintain more resilient and positive group intentions about
the need to accept advertising in their communities, they likely
internalize the notion that advertising benefits the
community's sustainability. As a result, these members should
form favorable evaluations of advertising in communities,
which in turn suggests the following prediction:

Advertising scholars tend to agree on the importance of
advertising message relevancy for advertising effectiveness
(e.g., Lee and Mason 1999; Muehling and McCann 1993). The
more relevant the advertising message to the media context,
the more likely the message can affect consumers' attitudes
positively and influence their behavioral responses to the
advertising. This discussion leads to the following hypothesis:

H5: Group intentions to accept advertising in online
social networking communities relates positively to
perceived ad relevance in community sites.

H8: Perceived ad relevance relates positively to behavioral
intentions to accept advertising in online social

Perceived Ad Value
Advertising value provides an overall representation of the
worth of advertising to consumers (Ducoffe 1995). Existing
literature suggests that consumers view advertising's ability to
supply information as a primary reason for approving of it
(Bauer and Greyser 1968). Research in online advertising also
shows that advertising can offer value to Internet users in the
form of more relevant information (Ducoffe 1996). When
online community members possess a distinct group intention
about the need for advertising, they should be able to
internalize the notion that advertising benefits the community.
As a result, these members should be more inclined to develop
favorable evaluations of the advertising. We also hypothesize
that they perceive a higher degree of value of advertising in the
community:
H6: Group intentions to accept advertising in online
social networking communities relates positively to
perceived ad value in community sites.
Finally, cognitive studies of associative links suggest people
tend to regard relevant information as more accessible in their
attitude formation (Rodgers 2004). The more community
members perceive advertising as relevant to the community
themes, and thus more relevant to community members, the
more likely they are to find such information useful, which
should result in a higher level of perceived ad value. In turn,
H7: Perceived ad relevance relates positively to perceived
ad value.
Behavioral Intentions to Accept Advertising in Online
Communities
A prominent feature of Internet advertising is its interactivity
and ability to record Internet users' behavioral responses (e.g.,
intentions), which span a wide range of actions from noticing
and paying attention to clicking and product purchasing
(Rodgers and Thorson 2000).

The consensus in advertising literature also implies that when
consumers perceive that advertising contains useful
information, they become more likely to respond to it (e.g.,
Ducoffe 1996; Muehling and McCann 1993). Following this
line of logic, we posit that when community members perceive
advertising in the community as more useful, they are more
likely to exhibit positive behavioral responses.
H9: Perceived ad value relates positively to behavioral
intentions to advertising in online social networking
communities.
METHOD
Subjects and Procedure
The study's setting is China, which contains the largest
Internet population (298 million users) in the world (CNNIC
2008). In addition, the nation's young Internet users have
rapidly embraced online community Web sites (Xu 2007), and
spending in online advertising has been quickly rising since
1998 (Sachoff 2007).
The 327 study participants, recruited by a snowball procedure
by four research assistants, vary in age from 22 to 31 years
(mean age = 26.7 years). Each participant must have been
enrolled as a member in his or her most visited community
site for at least three months and spend at least four hours a
week there. On average, participants (48.8% female, 90%
between 20 and 29 years of age) had been members of their
communities for 1.56 years and spent 6.2 hours a week in
them.
At the beginning of the study, participants first listed the
online social networking community that they visited most
frequently. The most frequently mentioned (more than 90%)
were QQ-Zone, Tianya Club, and Mop Space, all popular
social networking community Web sites for young people in
China. Participants imagined that they had logged on "to the
community site that you frequently visit and engage in your

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regular community activities." Recent reports (Ramesh 2007)
indicate that users of these three sites are highly active
participants in the communities; they often browse other
members' profiles, post comments, and respond to others'
comments. In this regard, these community users are very well
connected to other users-probably in contrast with a more
"fragmented" social networking site such as Facebook, in
which users' attachments are largely to smaller groups. The

survey was administered online in Chinese and followed
standard back-translation procedures (Brislin 1976).
MEASURES
We develop the survey instrument by adopting existing
validated scales when possible. On the basis of focus group
interviews and a separate pretest, we also refine the
questionnaire and modify some items. We present the
constructs and item details in Table 1.

Table 1. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Measures
Construct and Source

Operational Measures of Construct

SFL

t-Value

1. I am an important member of the community.

.87

18.48

2. I am a valuable member of the community.

.89

19.18

3. I can impress other members of the community.

.71

14.16

1. My identity in the community is similar to that of other
members in this community.

.70

13.51

2. My identity is congruent with the community theme.

.84

17.37

3. My self image is congruent with the community's image.

.79

15.76

1. I have sense of strong belonging to this community.

.71

13.99

2. I believe that I am one of the community members

.83

17.18

3. I am strongly attached to the community.

.84

17.61

1. We support actions that can benefit the community.

.88

19.86

2. We try our best to do things that can benefit the
community.

.87

19.68

3. We are opposed to things that may harm the
community.

.88

19.83

4. We avoid doing things that may harm the community.

.89

20.22

1. Members of this community consider community
advertising to be normal.

.85

17.98

advertising a part of the community offering.

.91

19.97

advertising a source of information.

.73

14.70

Model 1 Fit Indexes χ2 = 181.67, df = 94, χ2/df = 1.93; GFI = .94, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .05
Evaluative social identity
AVE=.68
CR=.86

Cognitive social identity
AVE=.61
CR=.82

Affective social identity
AVE=.63
CR=.84

Group norms
AVE=.77
CR=.93

Group intention
AVE=.69
CR=.87

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Model 2 Fit Indexes χ2 = 43.48, df = 24, χ2/df = 1.81; GFI = .97, CFI = .99 , RMSEA = .05
15.97

2. Advertising in this community is important to me.

.90

19.65

.84

17.96

1. Advertising in this community is useful to me.

.89

19.84

2. Advertising in this community is valuable to me.

.90

20.32

.79

16.52

1. I will click advertisements shown in this community.

.86

18.74

2. I will pay attention to advertisements shown in this
community.

.84

18.14

3. I will search for related information
advertisements shown in this community.

Behavioral responses toward
community ads
AVE=.74
CR=.89

.78

3. Advertising in this community is an important source of
information for me.

Perceived ad value
AVE=.74
CR=.89

1. Advertising in this community is relevant to me.

3. Advertising in this community means a lot to me.

Perceived ad relevance
AVE=.70.
CR=.88

.87

18.97

about

Notes: SFL = standardized factor loading; AVE = average variance extracted; CR = composite reliability; df =
degrees of freedom; GFI = goodness-of-fit index; CFI = confirmatory fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of
approximation. The scale format for each of these measures is 1 = "strongly disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree."

Our conceptualization of "social identity" is based on Bagozzi
and Dholakia's work (Bagozzi and Dholakia 2002; Dholakia,
Bagozzi, and Pearo 2004) and consists of three dimensions:
evaluative social identity, cognitive social identity, and
affective social identity, each of which contains three items.
We adapt the group intention construct from the same sources
(Bagozzi and Dholakia 2002; Dholakia, Bagozzi, and Pearo
2004); it consists of three items with which we examine the
extent to which group members are willing to act jointly to
achieve a common objective.
The group benefit norm, also from Bagozzi and Dholakia
(2002) and Dholakia, Bagozzi, and Pearo (2004), taps the
extent to which respondents are willing to support things that
benefit the community. We measure perceived ad value with
three items from Ducoffe (1996) and base our perceived ad
relevance measure on the scale of Drolet, Williams, and LauGesk (2007), which reveals the extent to which respondents
consider community advertising pertinent. Finally, we develop
three items to measure behavioral intentions toward
community advertising on the basis of Rodgers and Thorson's

(2000) conceptualization and thus examine a wide range of
reactions to advertising, including clicking and paying
attention to community advertising. All items use seven-point
Likert scales (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).
Reliability and Validity
We test the validity and reliability of the study's measurement
models with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS
7.0. We group theoretically related constructs to ensure
acceptable estimate-to-observation ratios (Bentler and Chou
1987). The first CFA model (Model 1) includes evaluative
social identity, affective social identity, cognitive social
identity, group norms, and group intentions. The second CFA
model (Model 2) includes perceived ad value, perceived ad
relevancy, and responses to community ads. The results
indicate that both CFA models offer acceptable fit (Model 1:
χ2 = 181.67, degrees of freedom [df] = 94, χ2/df = 1.93;
goodness-of-fit index [GFI] = .94, confirmatory fit index [CFI]
= .97, root mean squared error of approximation [RMSEA] =
.05; Model 2: χ2 = 43.8, df = 24, χ2/df = 1.81; GFI = .97, CFI =
.99, RMSEA = .05).

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support of the convergent validity of the measurement items
and the unidimensionality of the latent constructs. The overall
fit of the model also supports unidimensionality (Steenkamp
and Van Trijp 1991).

To estimate the internal consistency of the constructs, we use
composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted
(AVE). The CRs for all constructs are greater than the .7
threshold (Hair et al. 1998), and the AVEs are all above the
recommended .5 level (Hair et al. 1998), which means more
than half of the variance observed is accounted for by the
hypothesized constructs. In addition, because the CR and AVE
for all constructs in the model (see Table 1) are significantly
higher than the stipulated criteria, we have evidence of good
internal consistency.

We evaluate the discriminant validity of the model constructs
using two different approaches. First, for each pair of factors,
we compare the χ2 value for a measurement model that
constrains their correlation to 1 with a baseline measurement
model without this constraint. The χ2 difference tests
performed for each pair of factors consistently reveal
significant differences (Tables 2 and 3), which suggest all
measures achieve discriminant validity.

For assessing convergent validity, we rely on factor loadings
from the CFA. All items load significantly on their expected
constructs, and we detect no significant cross-loadings, in

Table 2. Chi-Square Difference Test for Model 1
Δc2

I.

II.

III.

IV.

I. Evaluative social identity
II. Affective social identity

251.78

III. Cognitive social identity

224.67

133.53

IV. Group norm

436.62

269.08

265.53

V. Group intention

437.21

305.98

295.47

321.34

Notes: All p < .001.

Table 3. Chi-Square Difference Test for Model 2
Δc2

I.

II.

I. Perceived ad value
II. Perceived ad relevancy

255.32

III. Response

361.80

392.05

Notes: All p < .001.

Second, we use the most stringent test offered by Fornell and
Larcker (1981). For all possible pairs of constructs, we
compare the correlation value between the two latent
constructs with the square root of the AVE for each construct
and find that in no case does the correlation value exceed the
square root of the AVE (see Tables 4 and 5), in strong support

of the discriminant validity of all constructs in our study. In
summary, the internal consistency, convergent validity, and
discriminant validity results indicate we may proceed to
estimate the structural model.

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Table 4. Construct Correlation Values and Comparison with AVE in Model 1
I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

I. Evaluative social identity
(.82)
II. Affective social identity

.55

(.79)

III. Cognitive social identity

.55

.68

(.78)

IV. Group norm

.31

.52

.48

(.88)

V. Group intention

.29

.44

.36

.60

Notes: Numbers in parentheses are the square root of each AVE value.

Table 5. Construct Correlation Values and Comparison with AVE in Model 2
I.

II.

I. Perceived ad value

(.86)

II. Perceived ad relevancy

.67

(.84)

III. Response

.60

.46

III.

Notes: Numbers in parentheses are the square root of each AVE value.

STRUCTURAL MODEL
Because the measurement model exhibits satisfactory
properties, we may conduct a structural model analysis to test
our hypotheses using maximum likelihood estimation. The
structural model (Figure 1) contains six model constructs,
represented as single indicators with summated scales (Price,
Arnould, and Tierney 1995). We establish the measurement
scale for each construct by fixing the error term to 1 minus its
reliability (Hibbard, Kumar, and Stern 2001). The fit indices
suggest a suitable fit (χ2 = 11.39, df = 5, χ2/df = 2.28, GFI =
.99, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .06).

(.86)

(.83)

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Figure 1. Parameter Estimates for Final Structural Model

Social identity had a positive effect on group intention (γ =
.22, p < .01), in clear support of H1. Group norms have a
positive effect on group intention (γ = .45, p < .001), in
support of H2, and social identity leads to positive perceived
ad relevancy (γ = .39, p < .001), in support of H3. However,
the path from group norms to perceived ad relevancy, though
significant, is negative (γ= -.038, p < .001). Thus, H4 does not
receive support.
In H5, we propose that group intention should be positively
associated with perceived ad relevancy, and the results support
this claim (β = .45, p < .001). The path from group intention to
perceived ad value is positive and significant (β = .40, p <
.001), in support of H6. In H7, we relate perceived ad
relevancy and perceived ad value, and the results show support
for this hypothesis (β = .47, p < .001). Because the path from
perceived ad relevancy to response to community advertising
is positive and significant, we also find support for H8 (β =
.28, p < .001). Finally, perceived ad value relates positively and
significantly to response to community advertising (β =
.49, p < .001), so H9 also receives support.
DISCUSSION
The role and impact of advertising in online social networking
communities have the utmost importance for the long-term
sustainability of these communities (Hart 2007). Therefore, we
investigate how two key social characteristics of online

communities (i.e., social identity and group norms) may
influence members' responses to advertising. Using a survey of
Chinese social community users, we find that these two factors
affect community members' group intentions to accept
advertising in online communities, which could lead to more
positive behavioral responses to advertising. We discuss some
key study insights and their implications next.
Importance of Social Identity and Group Norms
From a theoretical perspective, our findings can add insights
to social networking community literature. Despite the hype
about advertising in online social networking communities,
few studies endeavor to understand the unique characteristics
of advertising in this group setting, in which advertising
responses are not strictly personal actions but rather can be
shaped by overall community characteristics. In this
connection, we focus on two group-level factors, social
identity and group norms.
The stronger the social identity possessed by online
community members, the more likely they are to develop
group intentions to accept advertising in online communities.
We also confirm that a stronger group (benefit) norm has a
positive effect on such group intentions. These two findings
provide clear evidence that in social networking community
Web sites, the identity of community members and their

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norms help shape the formation of group intentions to accept
advertising.
From a managerial perspective, operators of social networking
community sites should appreciate the roles played by group
norms and social identity in shaping users' acceptances of
online advertising in these Web sites. Specifically, operators
can identify ways in which they can exert (some) influence on
users' group benefit norms and social identity. The implication
for online communities that seek to garner advertising revenue
is that they must first build a strong sense of group identity
and a robust group benefit norm through various means. For
instance, online communities could employ educational
campaigns to instill a sense of belonging among users (i.e., to
enhance social identity perceptions). They also could
propagate the benefits of accepting advertising for the longterm survival of community Web sites to enhance the group
benefit norm. These actions, when implemented properly, can
improve the likelihood that community users become more
receptive to accepting advertising on such Web sites.
In the meantime, advertisers that hope to harness the power of
community advertising should shift their focus from the
individual to the group level. Furthermore, when deciding
where to place their advertising, advertisers should select those
sites with strong group identity and group benefit norms,
because these communities offer the greatest potential of being
receptive to advertising.
Perceived Relevance and Value of Advertising in Online
Communities
The results of this study also contribute to online advertising
literature, especially in the fast growing yet poorly understood
field of advertising in online social communities. If online
networking communities want to achieve positive member
responses to advertising, they should consider two key
perceptual factors that have pivotal effects on behavioral
responses: perceived relevance and value of community
advertising. Specifically, when users perceive community
advertising as more relevant to the theme of community and
thus more congruent to the extension of their social identities,
they regard that advertising as more valuable and exhibit more
positive behavioral responses to it.
Our results also indicate that to understand these two pivotal
perceptual factors clearly, community sites could rely on both
direct and indirect mechanisms. Because strong group identity
enables members to spot the relevancy of community
advertising, community sites could attempt to facilitate and

Fall 2009

develop strong group identities through incentive designs,
community recognition systems, and so forth. Strong group
identity and group (benefit) norms also may lead to more
concrete group intentions to accept community advertising,
which could result in higher relevancy and value perceptions
about community advertising.
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
A particularly unexpected finding from this study warrants
more attention. Specifically, we find that a strong group norm
leads to lower relevancy perceptions about community
advertising among community users. This finding may
suggest, unfortunately, that most of the advertisements that
appear in online social communities are not relevant for most
users. It is also likely that certain kinds of social communities
have stronger negative predispositions against accepting
advertising than others. For instance, a social network of
Chinese students studying in New Zealand, given its focus on
fostering social relationships, may exhibit a higher level of
opposition to advertising than a product-oriented user
community, such as a community of iPhone users. Many
community Web sites probably cannot afford to be picky
about accepting relevant ads either. Furthermore, our study
focuses exclusively on social communities for which the main
objective is to forge relationships among users. Hence, our
findings with regard to "social" communities may not be
applicable to other types of online communities; we encourage
future research to extend the scope of our investigations.
Further research also should investigate pertinent moderators
in this regard, such as community members' status (core or
peripheral) or trust of the community's capability to deliver
relevant ads. Other fruitful research directions might identify
group factors (e.g., group power structure) that might facilitate
advertisers' ability to form close bonds with members of social
networking environments. Finally, investigations of group
opinion leadership in online social networking communities
could offer additional insights into how advertising works in
them.
Another limitation is the study's single country context.
Nevertheless, we believe China, the country with the largest
internet population and the biggest online market is a good
representative context for future trends in social networking
communities, as well as online advertising development.
CONCLUSION
Online community members' responses to community
advertising depend on their perceptions of the relevance and

11


value of community advertising, and these perceptions are
either directly or indirectly influenced by group identity and
group norms. Therefore, community sites in pursuit of
advertising revenue should strive to create strong identity and
group benefit norms among members. Ultimately, only when
community users are comfortable with the presence of
advertising in community sites will they be responsive to
community advertising.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Fue Zeng (Ph.D., Wuhan University) is an Associate Professor
of Marketing, Wuhan University, P.R. China, and an
Academic Visitor at City University of Hong Kong. Her
research interests include network marketing, marketing
ethics, and consumer behavior. She has published articles
in Management World, Journal of Marketing Science, R&D
Management, Systems
Engineering-Theory
&
Practice, Economic Management, Business Economics and

Fall 2009

Administration, and Journal of Business Ethics, among others.
E-mail: zfee@sina.com.
Li Huang (M. Phil., City University of Hong Kong) is a
current Ph.D. student in the Department of Marketing, Hong
Kong University of Science and Technology. Her research
interests include, but are not limited to, affect and judgment,
social identity-based decision making, and advertising
effectiveness
in
new
media
context.
Email: mkhuang@cityu.edu.hk
Wenyu Dou (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin), is an associate
professor in the Department of Advertising, Department of
Marketing, City University of Hong Kong. His research
interests include advertising effectiveness in the new media
environment and client-agency relationships. He has
published in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising
Research, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of
Business Research, and others. E-mail:mkwydou@cityu.edu.hk
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was supported by National Natural Science
Foundation Grant (China) No. 70772044.

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