INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING THROUGH MEDIA ON CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDE: A COMPARISON OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE CHANNELS USED BY SELECTED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The media landscape in Kenya has changed over time with more internet-enabled channels, giving marketers a wide range of communication mediums to advertise through. This has made institutions to push their advertising through online instead of offline channels, yet there is scanty scientific studies to justify this shift. Marketers use media advertisements to shape consumers’ attitude positively. The objective of this study was to establish the influence of advertising through media on consumers’ attitude: a comparison of online (Facebook, Google Ads and YouTube) and offline (TV, Radio and Newspaper) media channels used by selected commercial banks in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study used the AIDA model to make assumptions on advertising through media and the Tri-Component attitude model on consumer’s attitude. The study population comprised all consumers who bank with Equity Bank Limited, Kenya Commercial Bank Limited and Co-operative Bank of Kenya Limited in Nairobi County. It adopted a positivist paradigm research philosophy and used a descriptive cross-sectional survey from a sample size of 384. Data were collected using questionnaires comprising Likert scale type of questions to measure consumers’ attitude. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that there was a significant and positive influence of offline media channels (TV and Radio) on consumers’ attitude; save for Newspaper. Further, the study found out that the influence of online media (Facebook and Google Ads) was insignificant in influencing consumers’ attitude, save for YouTube. The relationship between advertising through media and consumers’ attitude was found to be moderated by age. The recommendation for this study is that marketers should advertise through online channels to influence awareness and offline channels to influence action sub-constructs of consumers’ attitude.