THE MODERATING EFFECT OF SUBJECTIVE NORMS, PERCEIVED BEHAVIOURAL CONTROL AND GENDER ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE TOWARDS INTERNET ADVERTISING AND PURCHASE INTENTION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN KENYA

Abstract

Advertising through the internet is now an important source of consumer information as the number of internet users continues to increase. Internet usage trends and advertising in Kenya has been growing faster than any other media. However, despite this unprecedented growth, minimal empirical research has been undertaken to explore the effect of attitude towards internet advertising on purchase intention in Kenya with many studies having been conducted in other contexts other than Kenya’s. This study therefore sought to determine the effect of attitude towards internet advertising on purchase intention in Kenya with subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and gender as moderators. A cross sectional survey research design was adopted with university students as the target population. A pre – test on the survey instrument was conducted to check on the format and suitability of questions with Cronbach’s alpha statistic used as the measure of reliability. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to test for causal relationships among the variables. The study findings showed that internet advertising has an effect on purchase intention. Attitude toward internet advertising did have a significant and positive effect on purchase intention. There was no evidence of PBC, SN and gender moderating the relationship between attitude towards internet advertising and purchase intention. However, the main effect variable of subjective norms had a significant and positive effect on purchase intention