AnOnlineAdvertisingModelComparingChinaandtheU.S.doc

An Online Advertising Model: Comparing China and the U.S. Ying Wang Shaojing Sun Ying Wang (Ph.D., Kent State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University. Shaojing Sun (Ph.D., Kent State University; Ph.D., University of Virginia) is an Associate professor in the School of Journalism at Fudan University, Shanghai, P. R. China. Contact Information: Ying Wang, Department of Marketing, Williamson College of Business Administration, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Telephone: (330) 941-1867. Fax: (330) 941-1871. E-mail: ywang01@ April 1, 2009 Paper submitted to Cheung Kong GSB Marketing Research Forum An Online Advertising Model: Comparing China and the U.S. Introduction The Internet is ushering in a new age of advertising which has drawn attention from both researchers and professionals. A hot button topic over the last few years has been consumers’ beliefs and attitudes toward online advertising. A host of studies (e.g., Ducoffe, 1996; Russell, Staffaroni and Fox, 1994) have suggested that individuals’ attitudes toward online advertising (ATOA) is an important measure of advertising effectiveness. Past research of online advertising has provided insight into global marketing and commerce. However, the focus of most studies have been in the U.S. or other developed countries. Little is known about online advertising in developing countries such as China. The goal of the current study is to investigate online advertising across different cultures such as China and the United States. Scholars and practitioners alike have explored the relationship between culture and advertising extensively in the traditional media environment, but rarely do so in the online context. Nonetheless, as Roberts and Ko (2001) stressed, cultural differences and adaptations are as relevant to online advertising as to traditional advertising. Moreover, the Int