Antecedents of Attitude towards Advertising of Controversial Products in Digital Media

The promotion of controversial products on digital media has become a challenge for marketers as consumers of different ethnicities and cultures access web media. Therefore, the study has examined the impact of advertising’s antecedents on consumers’ attitude and their effect on purchase intentions. The study has also considered the mediating roles of attitude towards purchase intentions. The population for this study comprises of adult female digital media users. We collected data from 377 female respondents via the online survey method. The results suggest that hedonic value, falsity, and materialism directly impact attitude towards the advertising of controversial products. Further, hedonic value and materialism also affect purchase intentions. We also found that advertising attitude mediates the relationship between hedonic value, falsity, materialism, and purchase intentions. The study’s empirical results will help design appropriate marketing strategies, especially in the context of controversial products. Future research may extend the model by incorporating other factors and testing their efficacy in different regions and cultures.


Introduction
Digital advertising refers to the distribution of advertising content by identified sponsors in interactive digital platforms (Kulkarni et al., 2019). Some of the factors that have contributed to digital media's popularity are technology, globalization, and consumers' increased use of social media. Thus, social media has become a strategic advertising medium for firms all over the world. However, this advertising medium has brought both opportunities and challenges for marketers. On the one hand, advertising on social media has a huge reach, and its cost is far less than the conventional medium. On the other hand, it has become extremely difficult for marketers to measure consumers' attitudes towards advertisements, especially considering the global diversity of social media users (Frith & Mueller, 2010). Like conventional advertising, social media advertisements have a few inherent issues. For example, the promotion of controversial products in digital media is more challenging because of its global reach (Huang, 2019;Waller et al., 2005) Controversial advertising messages usually offend consumers and are contrary to their core values. Provocative messages and obscene visual images come in this category (Waller, 2004). Promoting controversial products is also morally challenging (Moraes & Michaelidou, 2017). Waller (2004) believes that advertising gender related products, including feminine hygiene, family planning-related products, also come in the category of controversial advertising. Such advertisements stimulate negative attitudes.
Attitude is an individuals' mindset towards a product or a person. It is enduring and does not change frequently (Aaker et al., 2001). The concept of attitude has often been discussed in the marketing literature (De Pauw et al., 2018;Oumlil & Balloun, 2019;Wiese & Akareem, 2020). Research on attitude suggests that it is a critical precursor to individual behavior. Thus, consumers' positive attitude towards a product leads toward its purchase intentions (Jalees, 2014;Zaman et al., 2018).
In collective societies such as Pakistan, the promotion of feminine hygiene products is considered controversial, and they stimulate negative behavior towards such advertisements (Taimoor & Hameed, 2019). Multinational companies usually promote controversial products through digital marketing, which might not be an issue in western countries, but remain controversial in Southeast Asia. Therefore, it has become essential for academicians and advertising professionals to identify the determinants of controversial adverting products in digital marketing based on empirical evidence. The empirical results of the study may help marketers to develop suitable digital marketing strategies for such products.

Literature Review & Hypothesis Development Hedonic Messages and Attitude towards Advertising
Hedonic messages are a critical precursor to both positive and negative attitudes. It refers to an individuals' reaction to a product or message, which also depends on consumers' cultural values. Thus, some consumers might negatively respond to a message, while others may find it amusing and entertaining. Individuals' reactions to advertising messages also depend on their content, including aesthetic visuals, auditory recall, or printed essentials . Because of their design and aesthetic appeal, hedonic advertisements stimulate positive consumer emotions (Bauer et al., 1968).
Thus, an attractive advertisement not only entertains consumers but also captures their attention (Petrovici & Marinov, 2007). Unlike conventional advertising mediums, media advertising is more interactive. Therefore, researchers believe, it should be more aesthetic, sentimental, and entertaining (Wolin et al., 2002). Similarly, many researchers have also endorsed that media advertisements with an aesthetic appeal attract consumers and promote a favorable attitude (Eze & Lee, 2012).
Past studies have also endorsed that an advertisement is a source of entertainment and pleasure for many consumers. Adverstisements help promote a positive attitude towards a product or service (Alwitt and Prabhaker, 1992;Pollay & Mittal, 1993;Eze & Lee, 2012). On the contrary, irritation is a factor in which consumers develop a negative attitude towards media advertising. However, researchers believe that if the advertisement is attractive and unique, it might reduce consumers' irrational factors and stimulate a positive attitude (Saadeghvaziri et al., 2013).
Furthermore, if advertisers do not change their websites frequently, they may not be attractive to consumers. Consumers want novelty. Thus, firms should often change the website design to maintain a sustainable association with consumers (Chew & Abdul-Adis, 2018). A novelty in advertising content makes it more pleasant and captures consumers' attention. The newness in an advertisement is essential, especially for hedonic consumers. Thus, when marketers incorporate uniqueness in an advertisement, it promotes positive beliefs and attitudes (Chew & Abdul Adis, 2018).
H1: Hedonic messages have an impact on the attitude towards the advertising of controversial products.

Falsity and Attitude towards Advertising
Falsity in advertising negatively affects consumers' attitudes towards advertised products. It creates a contradiction between fiction and reality (Russo et al., 1981). Advertisements that are deceptive, untrue, and irrational belong in this category (Pollay & Mittal, 1993). Most ads contain information about products and services, which helps consumers in their buying process. But all advertisements are not rational. A bulk of them are confusing and have social consequences (Pollay & Mittal, 1993). Alwittt and Prabbaker (1992) believe that a misleading and manipulative advertisement stimulates a negative attitude and has other unfavorable outcomes (Alwitt & Prabhaker, 1992). Wolin et al. (2002) believe that web advertisements that claim magical results challenge consumers' intelligence and negatively influence their buying behavior (Wolin et al., 2002). Muratović et al. (2014) argue that falsity in sports-related ads is more common than other advertised products. Thus, they recommend that sports enterprises address this issue to enhance their advertisements' effectiveness. Consumers are now able to identify the falsity in advertisements. Therefore, they condemn such advertisements and develop a negative attitude towards them, which in the long run adversely affects the reputation of the brand Alwitt & Prabhaker, 1992). In multi-ethnic cultures, advertisers face a dilemma. Often, advertisements might be compatible with one ethnic group's cultural values but may be unsuitable for another ethnic group. Many past studies have found that advertisers face this dilemma in countries like Malaysia, where Chinese and Malaysian values are significantly different .
H2: Falsity in advertisements negatively impact consumers' attitude towards advertising of controversial products. Pollay and Mittal (1993) refer to materialism as an attitude where consumers believe that worldly goods are a major source of comfort and satisfaction in life. Consumers, due to technological advancement, get more exposure to products and services available globally. Thus, they spend more time on the web searching for goods and services. Many researchers have criticized advertisements as they promote excessive buying and materialistic values, which is considered harmful to society (Sabah, 2017). Many studies have documented a positive association between materialism and attitude towards advertising (Singh & Sahni 2019). For example, Yoon (1995) found that materialistic values promote a positive attitude towards advertisements. He also believes that materialism has a causal impact on advertising, while advertising helps materialistic values. Many researchers believe that materialistic tendencies in an individual are enduring. Therefore,

Market Forces
College of Management Sciences Volume 15, Issue 2 they get inspired by advertising (Othman, Ali & Ismael, 2020;Osmonbekov, Gregory, Brown, & Xie, 2009). Bhatia (2018) believes that materialistic individuals spend more time viewing advertisements as they focus on finding new products for purchase. Mandliya et al. (2020) have studied materialism and attitude towards the advertising of sustainable products. The study concluded that consumers' selection of durable products is dependent on the degree of materialism and other factors, i.e., attitude towards materialism, sustainability, and environmental advertising. Further, Wolin et al. (2002) have observed that materialistic products promoted through websites attract consumers' attention and stimulate greed.

Hedonic Values and Purchase Intentions
Hedonic consumers enjoy spending their time in conventional and online shopping. They derive pleasure by just watching goods and services available on websites (Sabah, 2017;Hüttl-Maack, 2018). Generally, their intentions are not to purchase products available on social media. But many researchers believe that the proximity of goods and the experience of websites inspire them to buy (Russell et al., 2017). Similarly, Gan & Wang (2017) believe that hedonic consumers spend time on websites searching for bargains, which stimulates positive emotional feelings in them. Consequently, these factors inspire hedonic consumers to develop a positive attitude towards purchase intentions (Hüttl-Maack et al., 2018). Moreover, experiential shopping, a critical facet of hedonic value, also promotes favorable purchase intentions (Anderson et al., 2014;Chew & Adis, 2018). Hedonic value (i.e., enjoyment and pleasure) in the context of social media is non-functional. Nevertheless, hedonic value causes emotional benefits. These irrational values are a significant precursor of purchase intentions (Gan & Wang, 2017).

Materialism and Purchase Intentions
Materialism is a critical facet of consumer buying behavior. Materialistic consumers derive happiness by possessing and displaying material goods (Ting, Goh, & Isa, 2016). They believe that worldly goods are a source of joy due to which materialistic individuals have a favorable attitude towards buying (Davidson, Nepomuceno & Laroche, 2019). Materialistic individuals have higher purchase intentions towards prestigious brands as they would help them associate with the elite class (Singh & Sahni, 2019;Xi & Cheng, 2017). Consumers learn materialistic values from family, friends, and social media. Many studies have documented that young adolescents who spend more time on social media develop materialistic values, leads to high purchase intentions (Kalyoncuoglu & Sahin, 2017).

Attitude towards Advertising and Purchase Intentions
Attitude is one of the frequently studied concepts in advertising research. It refers to an individual's mental state towards a person or an object (Aaker et al., 2001). It also reflects an individual's pre-learned disposition that is sustainable and enduring (Fishbein, 1967). Purchase intention, on the other hand, is an individual's intention to purchase a good or service in the future. Consumers who have a positive attitude towards a product generally want to buy it (Blackwell et al., 2006;Ting, Chuah, Cheah, Ali & Yacob, 2015). Kaushal and Kumar (2016) investigated the relationship between attitude towards advertising and purchase intentions of smartphones. The study found that consumers who had a positive attitude towards smartphones also showed a high inclination to buy it. Thus, the study concluded that advertising is a critical aspect that motivates consumers to buy a product. Consumers' favorable purchase intentions depend on their attitude and subjective norms. Subjective norms directly associate and intervene (through attitudes) with purchase intentions (Paul & Bhakar, 2018). Given this association, marketers promote a product to target a selected group of consumers. Christofi et al. (2018) believe that cause-related marketing is a critical strategy for changing consumers' behavior towards a brand. Thus, marketers can use this strategy for making their advertisements more appealing and promoting purchase intentions.
H6: Attitude towards the advertising of controversial products stimulates purchase intentions.

Indirect Hypotheses
In addition to the direct hypotheses discussed in the earlier section, we also have proposed three indirect hypotheses, whose literature support is presented in the following sections. Web advertisements are creative not only attract consumers, but they also make their experience pleasant and enjoyable (Saadeghvaziri et al., 2013). On the other hand, hedonic consumers also enjoy searching for deals available on the web (Aziz & Ariffin, 2010). Thus, the alignment between the needs of hedonic consumers and creative web design has a favorable impact on attitude towards advertising (Aziz & Ariffin, 2010 advertisements stimulates favorable purchase intentions (Wirtz, Sparks & Zimbres, 2018). Additionally, Patel, Gadhavi and Shukla (2017) believe that peers and family members indirectly affect purchase intention. Jalees and Ernest (2013) based on extensive literature review, have concluded that the relationship between attitude towards purchase intention is universal, which means that this relationship does not change from one culture and product category to another.
Falsity is a contradiction between advertisements and reality. Additionally, deceptive advertisements also fall into this category. Many studies have found a negative association between falsity and attitude towards advertisements. Most consumers are well equipped to identify such advertisements due to which they develop a negative attitude towards brands endorsed by them.
Materialism is a tendency that assumes that possession of materialistic goods is a major source of comfort and wellbeing. Davidson, Nepomuceno and Laroche (2019), Singh & Sahni (2019), and many others have concluded that materialism promotes a favorable attitude towards advertisements. A few studies also found the young adults who spend more time on the internet and television are more vulnerable to materialistic values and have favorable purchase intentions (Osmonbekov, Gregory, Brown & Xie, 2009). Based on the above-cited literature, we argue that: H7: Attitude towards the advertising of controversial products mediates the relationship between hedonic value and purchase intentions.
H8: Attitude towards the advertising of controversial products mediates the relationship between falsity and purchase intentions.
H9: Attitude towards the advertising of controversial products mediates the relationship between materialism and purchase intentions.

Conceptual Framework
Based on the theoretical discussion, we have developed a model in Figure 1, which has six direct relationships and three indirect relationships.

Methodology Population and Sample Size
The target population for this study was female digital media users. We have used a sample size of 377, which we calculated at a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. The authors have used a non-random sampling technique for collecting the data. The questionnaire used for collecting the data also had a print advertisement of feminine hygiene products as an annexure. The respondents' profiles are as follows. Of all the respondents, 35% were single, and 65% were married. 30% of respondents were in the age strata of 18 to 28; 25% of respondents' age ranged from 25 to 35 years, 30% of respondents were in the age group of 35 to 45 years. The remaining 35% of respondents were 45 years of age or older. Most of the respondents (55%) were from the middleincome group, 35% were from the lower-income group, and the remaining 10% were from the higher income group. About 50% of respondents had an intermediate level education, 35% had a bachelor's degree, and the remaining 15% had a Master's degree.

Survey Instrument
The questionnaire used in the study has five latent variables and 18 indicator variables. Table 1 shows the sources and other details about the constructs used in the study. All the adapted constructs had Cronbach's alpha values greater than 0.65 in earlier studies, which is considered acceptable in marketing research (Ursachi et al., 2015). We measured the responses on a five-point Likert Scale where one represents Strongly Agree, and five represents Strongly Disagree. The constructs of the study are presented in Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics
We have presented the results related to the descriptive statistics in Table 1. The descriptive statistics examine the internal consistency and univariate normality of the constructs.

Reliability Analysis
The summary of the results exhibited in Table 3 shows the reliability of constructs.  (Ursachi et al., 2015).

Convergent Validity
We have ascertained the convergent validity to examine the theoretical association between latent variables and their indicator variables. Table 4 summarizes the results related to the convergence of the data set. The results also indicate that the highest composite reliability is for purchase intentions (CR=0.84, Mean= 3.134, SD=0.810), and the lowest is for materialism (CR=0.79, Mean=3.038, SD=0.909). The variance explained is at least 0.40, and composite reliability is at least 0.70; therefore, we have inferred that the theoretical relationships between latent and their indicator variables exist (Kline, 2015).

Discriminant Validity
We have examined the "distinctiveness and uniqueness of the constructs" based on Fornell and Larcker (1981) criterion. Table 5 exhibits the summarized results. The results show that the square root of variance explained for the construct falsity is 0.793, and lowest for the construct purchase intentions (i.e., 0.714). As the "Pearson Correlation values are less than the square root of AVE, " we conclude that all the latent variables are "distinctive and unique. "

Results
The study has proposed nine hypotheses, including three indirect hypotheses. These hypotheses were empirically tested using Smart PLS. Table 6 shows the summary of results, while Figures 2 and 3 show measurement and structural models. Our results support all the direct hypotheses except hypothesis six, which is "the association between attitude and purchase intentions. " In the context of indirect hypotheses, we found support for all the three mediating relationships.

Discussion
This study has developed and empirically tested nine hypotheses, including three indirect hypotheses. Of the six direct hypotheses, our results did not support one direct hypothesis. However, we found support for all the three mediating relationships. The following sections discuss the effects of the premises and their relevance with earlier empirical studies.
Hypothesis 1 was based on the "positive effect of hedonic values on attitude towards advertising. We found support for this hypothesis. This finding is consistent with Wiese & Akareem (2020) conclusions, who also found that hedonic values promote a favorable attitude towards advertising. Wang et al. (2009) believe that advertisers should balance the content and make the advertisement memorable and enjoyable. Wiese & Akraeem (2020) suggest that consumers' attitude depends on their beliefs and perceptions. Therefore, they suggest that marketers should not use hedonic attributes in mass marketing advertisements. Instead, they should use it in customized marketing messages (Wiese & Akareem, 2020).
Hypothesis 2 states that "falsity and attitude towards advertising have an association. " We found support for this hypothesis. Azeem & Haq (2012) believe that falsity is the negative attribute of advertisement. Therefore, it promotes a negative attitude towards the advertisement. When watching an irrational or misleading ad, consumers develop a negative attitude towards the advertised product (Pollay & Mittal, 1993). On the contrary, Tan and Chia (2007) found a positive association between falsity and consumers' attitude towards the advertisement. However, a few researchers believe that marketers should make advertisements in a manner they appear rational and credible to consumers.
Hypothesis 3 states that "materialism and attitude are associated. " This hypothesis was accepted. Literature supports the positive relationship "between materialism and attitude towards advertising. " Richins & Dawson (1992) and Segev et al. (2015) believe that advertising promotes materialistic values, which adversely affects individuals and society. Similarly, Yoon (1995) also found empirical evidence suggesting that worldly individuals have more favorable attitudes towards advertisements than non-materialistic individuals. Contrarily, Boateng and Okoe (2015) found a "negative relationship between materialism and attitude towards social media advertising. " Hypothesis 4 postulates that "materialism and attitude towards advertising and purchase intentions are associated" and supported by our results. This finding is consistent with many studies that found a "positive relationship between hedonic values and purchase intentions" (Xu et al., 2015;Hsu & Lin, 2016;Gan & Wang, 2017). Xu et al. (2015) suggest that consumers who enjoy shopping and consider it a pleasant experience tend to have positive purchase intentions (Xu et al., 2015).
Hypothesis 5 states that materialism and attitude towards advertising are positively associated". We found support for the hypothesis. This finding is consistent with other studies that also found a "positive relationship between materialistic values and consumers purchase intentions" (Eze & Lee, 2012;Segev et al., 2015;Nguyen et al., 2019). Materialistic consumers believe that goods are a source of happiness and wellbeing. Therefore, they have a favorable attitude towards them.
Hypothesis 6 states that "attitude towards advertising positively affects purchase intentions. " The study's results do not support this hypothesis. The result is inconsistent with previous empirical research (Young et al., 2009;Zhu, 2012;Mandliya et al., 2020). However, it is surprising, as well. The possible reason could be the nature of the product category used in the study (i.e., feminine hygiene products) may have contributed to this result. Dolan et al. ( 2020) believe that feminine hygiene products are need-based products, and factors such as affordability are important aspects. Despite knowing the value of feminine sanitary products, many females in developing countries like Pakistan still use old clothes and towels as substitutes.
Hypothesis 7 states that "attitude towards the advertising of controversial products mediates the relationship between hedonic and purchase intentions. " The results support this hypothesis. Hedonist online shoppers enhance their pleasant shopping experience by interacting with other users of websites. The shopping for such persons promotes a pleasent experience and sensory emotions (Delafrooz et al. 2011). Thus, advertisements' attitude has a mediating impact on purchase intentions (Saadeghvaziri et al., 2013). The study's finding is consistent with many past empirical studies, which also found that attitude mediates hedonic values and purchase intentions Moon et al., 2017). Similarly, Delafrooz et al., (2011) also found that both hedonic and utilitarian attributes, directly and indirectly, affect consumer purchase intentions.
Hypothesis 8 states that "attitude towards advertising mediates falsity and purchase intentions. " The results support this hypothesis. This result is consistent with the empirical findings of Wolin et al. (2002) and Aziz and Ariffin (2010) and Chu et al. (2013), who also found "that attitudes towards advertising mediate falsity and purchase intentions. " Hypothesis 9 states that "attitude towards advertisement mediates materialism and purchase intentions. " Our results support this hypothesis. This finding is also consistent with the empirical study of Kamal et al. (2013) and Tan and Chia (2007), who also documented that "attitude towards advertising mediates materialism and purchase intentions" Past literature also suggests that materialism has a direct impact on both attitude and purchase intentions (Yoon, 1995).

Conclusion
Websites are accessed globally by consumers of conflicting cultural values. Therefore, using these websites for controversial products may adversely affect consumer attitudes. Thus, it is important to identify consumer attitude's antecedents and their direct or indirect relationship with purchase intentions. This research-based on empirical findings has concluded that hedonic value, falsity, and materialism significantly affect attitude towards advertising. The study also found that attitude mediates the association between (1) "hedonic values and purchase intention, " (2) "falsity and purchase intention, " and (3) "materialism and purchase intentions. " Our results are consistent with existing empirical research.

Implications
The study's findings contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge. The study's findings will also help advertising professionals and communication experts to develop effective advertising and communication strategies to promote controversial products via digital media. However, marketers should understand that websites are accessible globally. Consumers' world over have different values. Therefore, while promoting such a product, marketers must ensure that the messages do not adversely affect cultural values. While this is challenging, our study has provided a direction for future researchers.

Limitations and Future Research
This study was restricted to the females of Karachi. Other studies may be extended to other cities and may also examine the impact of demographic factors. Factors like culture, social norms, and religious beliefs are essential in controversial advertising, which other studies can incorporate in their conceptual framework. We have used one stimulus in this study. Combining more than one stimuli may bring more insight into the phenomenon. This study was cross-sectional. However, a longitudinal research design can also be used by future researchers.