Behavioral implications of international social media advertising: An investigation of intervening and contingency factors

Despite the rapid growth of social media and the enthusiasm surrounding social media advertising (SMA), scant theoretical and empirical knowledge exists on the cross-border effectiveness of SMA and its influence on consumer behavior in the social media environment. This research develops a four-stage belief-value-attitude-behavior framework to understand the intervening role of SMA value and attitude and reflect how consumers react to SMA across cultures and global social media types. The results confirm the mediating effects of value and attitude and reveal that positive attitude toward SMA increases social media-specific behaviors (i.e., message and social interaction behaviors). The moderating effect results of culture reveal a greater impact of infotainment on SMA value and of credibility on SMA value and attitude in the higher-uncertainty-avoidance culture. Infotainment has a larger effect on SMA value and attitude in global content community sites than in global social networking sites, but there is a reverse moderating effect on the impact of credibility. The research provides a better theoretical understanding of consumers' behavioral responses to SMA in international marketplaces.