CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

As the Internet continues to grow tremendously in both its applications and number
of users, its usefulness as a tool of communication, entertainment, education, and
electronic trade has continued to expand. The strategic importance of the Internet
and its significant growth over the years has given another avenue for marketers
and businesses to advertise their products to the world. Varieties of online
advertisements can be observed including floating ads, expanding ad, pop-up ads,
wallpaper ads, trick banner, Pop-under, among others. All these types of online ads
are designed to catch the attention of the user. Pop-up ads happen to be the
“scapegoat” for all the people who hate advertising. Nevertheless, there is the need
for an objective analysis of the effectiveness of online pop-up ads in inducing
products purchase of especially among undergraduates of Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka.

1.1 Background of the Study

The rise in Internet usage has seen equal rise in spending as far as online
advertising is concerned. Yaveroglu and Donthu (2008) explain that most
marketers are now taking advantage of the internet revolution to make their
products accessible to the world. The use of the internet as a media of
advertisement has gained much popularity not only because the Internet has
become ubiquitous but also because it offers certain advantages compared to other
forms of media. According to Chandon and Chtourou (2005) as cited in Wang,
Ampiah, Xu and Wang (2014), the most important feature that makes Internet
advertising superior to other forms of advertising is interactivity. Through this

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feature, the user is able to interact with the advertiser to find out more about the
product/services. Other advantages of the internet such as flexibility, easy 24-hour
access, and its global coverage are making the Internet a preferred media for
advertisement from most marketers.

Along with the rapid increase in the number of Internet users around the world, the
World Wide Web has become the fastest growing advertising medium in this
decade. According to calculations by statista.com, mobile advertising revenue in
Nigeria increased by 38.8 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. In 2023,
it is expected that mobile ad revenue growth will slow down to 13.2 percent. The
total internet advertising revenue is expected to reach 133 million U.S. dollars in
2023 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/508892/nigeria-internet-ad-revenue-
growth-by-device/).

On the business side, the Internet has transformed the way we do business. It
allows retailers to offer unlimited range of products and services to all consumers
from around the world at any point in time. The Internet has emerged as an
advertising medium (Silk, Klein & Berndt, 2001). Many companies have turned to
the Internet to advertise their products and services; and the Internet is deemed to
be the most significant direct marketing channel for the global marketplace (Faber,
Lee & Nan, 2004; Ko, Jung, Kim & Shim, 2004; Korgaonkar & Wolin, 2002).
Companies are pouring billions of dollars into Internet advertising to obtain greater
return on investment on ads (Edwards, 2005; Joines, Scherer & Scheufele 2003).

On the consumer side, the Internet has given consumers more control in accessing
information on products and services. There are several factors that contribute to
consumers pull for online content—consumers are the one who decide when,

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where, what, and how much commercial content they wish to view (Korgaonkar &
Wolin, 2002). The Internet enables consumers to access an unlimited range of
products and services from companies around the world, and it has reduced the
time and effort they spend on shopping (Ko et al., 2004). Consumers play a much
more active role in searching for information online with some goal in mind, and
that goal can influence individual behaviors and responses to online information
and advertisements (Smith, 2002). With the rapid advancement in the computer
industry, many companies have made the Internet as part of their advertising media
mix to take advantage of the online technologies (Calisir, 2003). The Internet has
become a popular advertising platform because marketers found that the Internet
possess greater flexibility and control over the advertising materials (Ducoffe,
1996). Since the Internet can be used as an efficient marketing communication
tool, both scholars and practitioners are interested in understanding how to take full
advantage and maximizing the value of this communication medium (Rodgers and
Thorson, 2000).

The definition and commentary provided by marketingterms.com, an online

dictionary, defines a pop-up ad as: "[a]n ad that displays in a new browser
window." Information pop-up windows come in many different shapes and sizes,
typically in a scaled-down browser window with only the "Close," "Minimize,"
and "Maximize" commands.'
There is a strong resentment by some Web surfers towards pop-up ads. In fact, by
its very definition pop-up ads are revealed as synonyms for annoying. One could
argue that this form of advertising is the most despised on the web.

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According to Chandana and Abhishek (2019), in 1995 Netscape came up with the
programming language JavaScript. This paved the way for the invention of pop-up
ads. Pop-up ads were originated in Tripod.com in 1997. Ethan Zuckerman who
was a developer for Tripod.com created pop up ads which open up a new window
in the browser. It was created with the intention to associate an ad with a user’s
page without putting it directly on the page. But pop ups became an annoyance to
users and became the most hated advertising technique. Later multiple ad blocks
for the web browsers were created to curtail the pop up ads. Pop up ads are still
prevalent though (Chandana & Abhishek, 2019). There are two kinds of pop ads –
pop-up and pop under. The only difference between those is how the new window
opens. In the case of pop-up ads, a new browser window opens on top of the
current screen whereas in pop under ads, the new browser window opens behind
the current screen thus not interrupting the user as much as pop up ads but
garnering more views than banner ads. It also reduces the negative reaction to the
page that loaded the pop under ad as it gets seen only after the user closes the
current screen and less likely to know where the ad came from. During this time,
the pop ads have a click through rate of 7% whereas the banner ads have click
through rate of 1% (Source: https://blog.adcash.com/pop-under-and-pop-up-ads/).
This is mainly due to phenomenon called ‘Banner Blindness’ where visitors
consciously or subconsciously ignore banner-like information.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

It has been established that online consumers especially youths, develop negative
attitudes towards pop-up advertisements as a result of its intrusive nature. As a
result of this, some have made decisions to not return to the sites where they were
‘harassed’ and/or shun the message embedded in the pop-up advertisement

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(Geoffrey, 2004). Despite the above position, Longani (2018, p.54) has posited that
“pop-up advertisements are appealing and it has important effect on perception and
awareness of the consumers. Pop-up advertisement on the Internet has helped
companies in engaging in a direct, well-organized, cost effective, short and
reaching to the end consumers in less time as compared to a normal advertisement
tool.” Given the opposing notions by the scholars mentioned above and the lack of
information as regards the effectiveness of pop-up adverts on students product
purchase, this research was therefore conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of
online pop-up advertising in inducing product purchase among undergraduate
students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

1.3 Objectives of study

This study examined the effectiveness of online pop-up advertisements in inducing
product purchase among Unizik undergraduate. Specifically, the objectives of this
study were:
1. To find out if Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students receive
online pop-up advertisement
2. To find out the reaction of Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate
students to online pop-up advertisement
3. To find out if undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University are
influenced in their product purchase by online pop-up advertisement

1.4 Research Question

The effectiveness of online pop-up advertisement in inducing product purchase

among Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students can only be understood
correctly by finding answers to the questions such as:

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 1. To what extent do Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students
receive online pop-up advertisement?
2. How do Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students react to the
pop-up adverts they receive?
3. To what extent do purchase decisions of Nnamdi Azikiwe University
undergraduate students influenced by online pop-up adverts they receive?

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study focused finding out how effective online pop-up advert is in inducing
product purchase among the undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka. The institution has 14 faculties located in three campuses
namely: Awka, Agulu and Nnewi Campuses. The respondents were selected from
10 Faculties in the Awka Campus of the institution. This scope was adopted for the
study given the youthful attribute of the undergraduates and their frequent use of
the Internet and exposure to online pop-up adverts.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be beneficial to online advertisers and the students
as well. To advertisers and advertising agencies who utilize the online platform for
advertising, the findings of this study will undoubtedly inform them about the
reactions of the undergraduates to pop-up adverts which in turn will aid them draft
better ways of using the platform to reach their audience and make desired profit.
To the students, the outcome of the study will provide academic resource to
broaden their knowledge on online advertising and pop-up adverts. More so, the
study will be significant to researchers who will be interested in this field,

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providing a material to further their research effectiveness of online pop-up
advertisement in inducing product purchase among Undergraduate Students.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

1. Online advertising: this is a form of marketing and advertising which uses

the internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers.
2. Pop-up adverts: this is a form of online advertising where a graphical user
interface (usually in a small window) containing an advertisement suddenly
appears (pop-up) in the foreground of the visual interface.
3. Purchase: This is the activity by a consumer to buy a product which has
been exposed to him a number of times.
4. Induce: To make someone do or act in a particular way by subtle
persuasion.
5. Intrusive: This means causing disruption or annoyance through being
unwelcomed or uninvited. It may also mean unwanted appearance in an
annoying or disruptive manner.

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 CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter contains a review of literatures related to this research. It explains the
various concepts found in the study and also highlights the theories adopted as well
as applied the theories to the study. This chapter also presents a review of other
works conducted by researcher as regards the influence of online pop-up
advertisement on young people.

2.1 Online Advertising: Evolution and Scope

The digital age has already made significant changes to each of the elements of the
promotion mix. Companies increasingly see the Internet as an important medium
through which advertising messages can be directed towards consumers. In the
21st century, consumers have more control over advertising exposure with web
advertising because they can select how much commercial content they wish to
view.

Internet is probably one of the most powerful ways of marketing to reach billions
of people worldwide. Internet instantly provides endless scope to market your
product. Online media marketing has seen many changes in the recent past creating
many millionaires, who tend to manage their own businesses by promoting and
advertising their company online. According to Smith and Zook (2011, p.4),

…a new marketing revolution has begun that put

potential customers back at the centre of the organization
and instantly paved way for the marketers to establish a
new set of tools to listen to them and to motivate them to
get involved with the brand.

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This marketing ideal is the beginning of a new creative age in online media
advertising. There is always a good scope as companies realize the endless
possibilities of engaging with the customers who can drive the business forward.
There is a golden break for the marketers to create strong and defensible business,
for; there has never been a better time to be engaged in marketing (Smith & Zook,
2011, p.4).

The main objective of online advertising is to reach out to large audiences quickly.
According to Ha and McCann (2008), the key to measuring the effectiveness of
online media advertising is to differentiate the characteristics of online media
consumers from their offline counterparts. In online advertising, the idea of
‘audience’ is replaced by ‘users’ because customers profusely use internet with
specific targets. On the flip side, offline media consumers can use media such as
television or a radio sans any specific goal of consumption. Hence, online users are
generally goal oriented than offline media consumers. Another important
classification than can be drawn between online and offline advertising is that, in
latter, such as television, consumers tend to skip the commercials by abruptly
leaving the room or zapping through channels (Ha & McCann, 2008). In online
advertising, the only way out for the customer is to shut down the computer
abruptly or wait for 15 to 30 seconds for the ad to finish.

For most people born after 1995, it can be difficult to imagine a world without the
Internet. This is where we do…well, almost everything. From shopping for shoes
to meeting potential spouses to streaming content, the internet is a hub for
essentially every single facet of contemporary life. If a person so chose, they
could go decades experiencing reality through the World Wide Web and never step
foot outside. The Internet is also where we engage with an increasingly significant
portion of our daily ad content, and has been for nearly 30 years. While it may be
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relatively new in the grand scheme of marketing, the internet already has quite a
past (https://www.lemonlight.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-online-advertising/). 

By 2020, the average firm was expected to spend around 45% of their marketing
budget on digital content. That’s why, as the industry continues to pivot towards
reaching audiences through the Internet, it is more important than ever that we
try and understand the own history. Only by grappling with how we reached
this unique moment in the first place will we be able to understand where the field
of online marketing is headed next – and how to take advantage of those upcoming
opportunities.

When the Internet was introduced to the society, back in the 90s, it was never
conceived as a means of advertising. It was created as a simple tool for the
exchange of electronic mails and digital information. That is to say, the enormous
impact that this simple tool would have was still unknown. Such was its great
potential that it was not long before the marketing pioneers opened their eyes.
They started to see the big business that digital advertising would have. More and
more users began to connect trying to search relevant information about their
interests. For many advertising managers, this marked a turning point in the history
of online advertising.

In early years of the Internet, online advertising was mostly prohibited. This was
due to the policies of ARPANET and NSFNet, two predecessor networks of the
Internet, which stated that the “use for commercial activities by for-profit
institutions is generally not acceptable” (https://unifunds.com/the-history-of-
online-advertising).

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In what is referred to as The Banner Era (1994 to 1996), precisely in October 27th
1994, the first commercial web magazine called Hotwired sold large quantities of
ad spaces to AT&T and other companies, coining the term ‘banner advertising’. It
didn’t take long for the first results of that new advertising modality began to be
seen. Even the most exotic ads could find their place on the Internet. However,
companies were the ones who noticed the highest repercussion. Since then brands
left enormous money quantities in their traditional marketing strategies, but when
they realized what they could get through the Internet, everything changed. For
example, the business started to understand that a message through emails
could be more effective than any traditional advertising strategy. Also, it was
much cheaper. The history of internet advertising began to revolutionize all kind of
communication. As early as 1995, there were about 16 million users surfing the
web. A year later in1995, Yahoo ventured from being a web directory to a
commercial business and carried out the Internet’s first keyword-based
advertisement. The appeal of online advertising started to spread and in the years
to come, the Internet saw major milestones of Internet marketing. Banner ads
became standardized in sizes, and there were finally ways to track the ads and their
return-of-investment (ROI), producing revenue for a number of websites
(https://unifunds.com/the-history-of-online-advertising).

Then came the Dot Com Bust in 2000 also referred to as The Channel Era (1999-
2000) and many companies encountered a huge loss of money and capital
depletion. Banner ads faced lower click through rates and the return-of-investment
(ROI) was lessening, but many new and start-up companies were still spending
millions to buy an ad space, focusing on expanding their consumer reach instead of
profit growth. By the middle of 2000, Internet advertising revenue dropped by
32%. With banner advertising seemingly not working anymore, advertisers were

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looking for alternative and more effective methods of online advertising. From the
most significant business to the smallest ones, they started to create websites and
started to invest money in online marketing strategies with the aim to attract traffic
and potential customers to their digital spaces. With the rising number of websites
in the late 90s, the need for search engines became more predominant. Between
the year 1997 and 2000, 8.2 billion dollars were invested in online advertising.
It was also in this decade when the revolution of pop-ups started. Popup and
pop under ads became prevalent at this time as they were harder to ignore and
bigger attention-grabbers than the static banner ads. However, these ads were
considered intrusive and annoying, which led to the invention of popup blockers
thus decreasing their effectiveness. One of the most determinant movements in the
evolution of the history of internet advertising was the creation of the pay-per-click
advertising model, which was a means to generate revenue for search engines, and
it paved the way for many other online advertising models, such as Google
Adwords, cost-per-mille (CPM) or cost-per-impression, cost-per-action (CPA) and
Overture’s Paid Placement Model. Online advertising was soon a vital marketing
tool for many companies. Google launched its ad system and revolutionized
advertising forever in the year 2000 (https://instapage.com/blog/evolution-of-
advertising).

Next came the era named The Social Era (2005-2008) which was marked by
social media advertising. With social websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and
Youtube, companies saw another way of reaching a ready-available market of
consumers. Businesses especially saw huge advertising potential in recruiting
celebrities with a huge fan following, such as Kim Kardashian and Charlie Sheen
on Twitter, to promote their brands and services. For instance, what YouTube
offered to companies was to promote their products or services in one of the most

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valued media by consumers: the video.  All this without the need to make a too
high investment.  That was the foretaste of what is happening today. Interactive
media ads, promotional tweets and advertising videos became a typical sight on
social media sites. Online ads were tweaked to be able to target specific
demographics or interests of Internet users, driving a new force into online
marketing campaigns and reaching out to genuine potential consumers. Companies
now have their major priority is digital advertising (https://unifunds.com/the-
history-of-online-advertising). 

There is no doubt that online advertising will continue to change as it adapts to

incoming trends, dynamic consumer behaviours and emerging technology. Even
now, with the rise of smartphones and mobile tablets, online advertising has been
modified to fit these latest platforms and the new generation of consumers.

The strategy of online advertising involves a publisher, who integrates

advertisements into their online content or website, and an advertiser, who
provides the advertisements. Other parties potentially involved in online
advertising are agencies that help to generate and place the ad copy and affiliates
who perform independent promotional work for the advertiser.

2.2 Forms and Effectiveness of Online Advertising

There are various forms of online advertising. Some of the forms are classified
according to the medium with which they reach the audience while others are
classified according to the form they take. In this case we have Picture ads, video
ads, animated ads, Instagram ads, Facebook ads, YouTube ads, email ads, AdMob
ads, In-game ads, and the list is endless. However, for the purpose of the study, we

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will look at some select forms of online advertising under which the above listed
forms are captured.

a) Banner Ad: A banner contains a short text or graphics to promote a product

or service. Banners are the most common methods of online advertising. A
Banner is a graphic element between 1.2 cm in length and 12.5 cm to 15.5
cm in width. A banner usually includes the company name, product name
and a short message. Banners motivate website visitors to click on their
advertising message in order to transfer the visitor to the company’s or
product’s main website. There are two entities who participate in publishing
a banner. The first is the advertiser, who attracts visitors to the company’s or
product’s website, and the second is the internet publisher who places the
banner on the pages of the host website and is paid for this service. The
banner is frequently placed at the top of the website’s page horizontally and
may include audio-visual clips (https://www.antevenio.com/usa/7-types-of-
online-advertising/).

Figure 1: A Typical Banner Ad (Source: https://instapage.com/blog/banner-ads)

b) Pop-up Ad: Pop-up ad is a computer window which opens in front of the

current one, displaying an advertisement, or entire webpage. Pop-ups are ads

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 that appear in a separate window on top of the content a user is viewing.
Usually, the pop-up window will not go away until the user actively closes
it. Cho, Jung and Marye (2001) has observed that pop-up ads have become
common as a result of users friendly attitude towards it. The authors observe
that pop-up ads command higher purchase intention than standard banner
ads. Pop-up ad appears in its own window, when the user opens or closes a
web page. Generally, pop-up-ads are considered very annoying and
irritating. The in-build settings in browsers can block such pop-up ads
(Patrali 2008).

Figure 2: A typical pop-up Ad (Source: https://bgr.com/general/who-invented-

the-pop-up-ad-3630327/)

c) Pre-Roll Video Ad: Have you ever been forced to sit through an
advertisement before you could watch a video on YouTube or another video
sharing website. These video ads are called pre-roll advertisements, and
they’re typically short promotional videos. Pre-roll ads are fantastic for
branding, since the users are forced to sit through at least five to 10 seconds
of advertising before they see their desired video. They’re also an acceptable
option for direct response, although usually less effective than banners.
Because most users will click through using the ‘skip’ button after watching
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 the first few seconds of your video, it’s important to get your message
through quickly when using pre-roll advertising to market your business
(https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-examples/).

Figure 3: A typical Pre-Roll Video Ad (Source:

https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pre-roll-ad)

d) Social Media Ad: Social networks like Facebook give advertisers a huge
variety of targeting options for their advertising campaigns. From basic
characteristics like age and gender to favourite bands, movies and sports
teams, Facebook ads are hugely customizable. These social ads come in two
varieties – sidebar ads and sponsored content. Both ads can be used to drive
traffic, generate ‘likes’ to a Facebook page, Instagram or Twitter handles or
simply inform users about a new product. Although social media advertising
is technically a form of display advertising, it is a little different in practice.
The targeting options of social media make it far easier to customize a social
campaign than it is to customize a large-scale display campaign. With the
right targeting options, you can create a social media ad campaign targeted
to your perfect audience, whether it is women aged 18 to 27 near Awka who

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 like Spa and Natural skin scare products, or 40-year-old working class living
in Lagos.

Figure 4: A typical Social Media Ad placed on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

(Source: https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/25/social-media-good-ideas-
campaign/)

e) Adwords Search Ad: When you search for certain keywords on Google, the
results will be made up of a combination of paid listings and free listings.
The free listings are sorted based on relevance and optimization, while the
paid listings are sorted based on bid value. These paid ads are known as
Adwords Search ads, and they’re placed based on the keyword you search
for. Commercial keywords like “Credit Cards” generally bring up Adwords
ads, while keywords with low commercial value generally won’t. Adwords
Search ads are known for having a high conversion rate, since the user’s
intent – in this example, to learn more about credit cards – matches the
product or service offered by the advertiser. Running a Search Network
campaign on Adwords is quite a complicated process, with dozens of
variables – from keyword match types to Quality Store – to modify based on
the campaign’s performance (https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-
examples/).
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 Figure 5: A typical Adwords Search Ad
(Source: https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-examples/)

f) Related Content Ad: These are “sponsored” listings at the end of a blog
post? These listings typically include small thumbnail images, persuasive
and mysterious titles, as well as a call-to-action link encouraging you to
click through and read more. Related content ads are used to market a wide
variety of forms of web content. From blog posts and sales letters to videos
and interactive guides, any form of readable or viewable content can be
promoted using these ads. Related content ads typically have high click-
through rates, since the content they’re promoting isn’t overtly commercial.
Instead, it’s usually subtly commercial – guides on topics like “Choosing
The Best Credit Card” or “5 Mysterious Weight Loss Tricks.”
(https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-examples/)

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 Figure 6: A typical Related Content Ad
(Source: https://blog.udemy.com/advertising-examples/)

2.3 Pop-Up Adverts: An Overview

Pop-up ads are adverts that appear in their own, small browser window on top of
the window the user intended to open. The pop under is the opposite, which
appears under the web page being viewed. It also shares similar features with the
banner advert in that it could also be static or contain emotive features such as
images, audio, video or animations. However, its intrusive nature has been noted
by critics. Deutch (2006, p.405) writes that “a pop-up can be highly annoying to
the user, especially if he is not aware of having done anything to trigger the ad that
is obscuring his view of a web page. In many instances, online users are left to
wonder what they have done to warrant the punishment of seizure of their
computer screens by pop-up advertisements for secret web cameras, insurance,
travel values, and fad diets, to name a few of the more popular pop-up ads”.

In a study conducted by Gartner (2002) it was observed that compared with other
forms of online advertisement, popup ads are considered by consumers as the most
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irritating. From an advertiser‘s perspective, however, irritating ads may not always
be bad. Some Internet advertisers use popup ads because of the ―in your face
impact they have (Dillabough, 2002). However, major online content/service
providers such as EarthLink and America Online have recently responded to
consumers’ complaints about popups by employing new software that allows users
to block pop-up ads (―America Online, 2003). Some advertisers are also
attempting to make pop-up ads less annoying. One strategy is to use them in
situations where users are likely to be online for diversion or to avoid boredom
rather than where they are focused on a specific goal. Another strategy to reduce
annoyance may be to increase the value of popup ads. Edwards, Li and Lee (2002)
found that when pop-up ads provided value to consumers, they were perceived as
less irritating.

Pop-ups advertisement has undoubtedly created havoc in the society because of the
distraction it creates to the web users while they surf the web. Display over or
underneath the current web content while browsing, Adam (2003) said that: “Pop-
ups also known as advertisement which comes with heavy criticism from the web
user, as the web user have to handle all the extra windows while the purpose of
their visit to the website is to search something else. Because of the irritation, pop-
ups, had led the rise of the software to block the advertisement”.

When a pop-up ad pops up, users are forced to stop whatever they are doing and
close the newly created browser window. Marketers often do not realize the ill-will
generated by popups because it is easier to click the 'close' button than send an e-
mail to complain (Wilson, 2004). A common sentiment surrounding pop-up ads is
that no one buys anything from pop-up advertisers, so why do advertisers use
them? Advertisers use pop-up ads because they feel they can create a large amount
of them, relatively inexpensively, that have the potential of reaching millions of
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customers. The problem is that many members of the online community despise
pop-ups, and hundreds of articles have been written about the problems that pop-
ups create. “Pop-ups Must Die” is a site dedicated exclusively to the problems of
pop-ups and serves as a clearing house for anti-pop-ups articles and sites.

In this comparative world social media marketing is new trend, such as blogs,
community sites, video sharing sites, pop-ups on internet, inline advertisement etc.
are strategies to market the products. Pop-up advertisement have been said to be
appealing and it has important effect on perception and awareness of the
consumers. Pop-up advertisement on internet has helped companies in engaging in
a direct, well-organized, cost effective, short and reaching to the end consumers in
less time as compared to a normal advertisement tool (Longani, 2018).

Pop-up advertisement is more advantageous to large multinational, small and

medium sized companies as well as all non-profit and government agencies. With
the help of pop-up advertisement company and consumers can actively interact
with each other. It gives the consumers opportunity to like certain advertisement
and react on it (Longani, 2018). Many consumers are using social media more
often to search information then the traditional method for purchase decision.

The pioneer of pop-ups advertisement is Brian Shuster. He is long-time figure in

Internet pornography world. He does not stop with pop-ups, after receiving a
patent for the pop-ups advertisement format, he also creates another pop-ups
advertisement, but this time it comes with audio and the worst is that the audio
from the pop-ups cannot be turned off (Bob, 2009).

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Some of companies still have higher expectation that pop-ups and pop-unders are
effecting advertisement, but other disagree. Complaints from web user have led
some of the open-sources and other website to block this kind of advertisement
forms. Meanwhile, a survey by the Transnational Studies (TNS) revealed that 93
percent of respondents said that pop-ups advertisement are annoying and very
irritating appears in the user’s face out from nowhere with new web browser apart
from the site (Belch & Belch, 2007).

Even though it has it is own frenzy, the click-through rates for pop-ups
advertisement is higher than banner advertisement. After the existence of pop-ups
advertisement whereby pop-ups advertisement click-through rates reach up to 15
percent compared to banner advertisement that only got 3 percent. The advertiser
would choose popup advertisement after he saw the number of click on pop-ups
advertisement (New Architect, 2003).

Figure 7: A Pop-up Ad Figure 8: A Pop-up Ad

(Source: https://bgr.com/general/who-invented-the-pop-up-ad-3630327/)

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The pop-up under (Figure 8) is a bit different compared to the pop-ups
advertisement (Figure 7), where it only shows up behind the current web browser.
The advertisement can only be seen after the main web browser closed by the web
user (smartcomputing.com, 2004). Pop-ups advertisement has its own variations
that come with less intrusive approach.

Known as pop-ups under, the web user can only view the ads after the main
browser is closed. Before pop-ups advertisement make its debut, banner
advertisement was the most popular revenue generator in early day of World Wide
Web (WWW), but somehow, marketer started exploring and inventing other forms
of advertisement which are more effective from their point of view (King, 2006).

The purpose of pop-up advertisement is to attract potential consumer, and some of

the websites utilize pop-up advertisement by allowing web user to click on button
help for assistance. After the visitor clicks on that button, they will teleport away
from that website. Many of companies design pop-up with misleading button, they
also add unexpected action such that when the visitor wants to close the pop-ups
advertisement, the action comes with the deluged pop-ups advertisement (Smith,
2008).
Pop-up ads runs with JavaScript, and a lot of web browsers try their best to keep
pop-ups ads blocked. Some of the advertisers try to use other script to circumvent
this situation. Pop-ups ads also spread spyware. It is a common way of spreading
spyware is through downloading peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sweeping products such as
games or applications. Some of the applications hide spyware in their system
especially application that comes with title ‘anti-spyware’ programmes.

23
The worst part is when spyware is flooding the system with pop-ups
advertisements, it occupies hard disk and reduces the personal computer (PC)
performance (Beal, 2008). Bhatnagar (2004) wrote that:

“The main reason why the advertisers choose pop-up and

banner advertisement on the web is because online
advertisement requires low cost capital. Besides, it can reach
to all range of consumers that come from different
background”

According to Williams, pop-ups advertisement is not right for the web user. He
also added if the website overloads their visitor with pop-ups advertisement, it
would be the main reason for web users to walk away from visiting the web for
next surfing (William, 2003).
The above statement is supported by Reibstein (2003), who noted that part when
web users get annoyed with pop-ups advertisement, it would be the first and last
time they visit your website. He also advised advertisers to be careful and try to put
fewer pop-up advertisement in the website (Reibstein, 2003).

2.4 Pop-Up Adverts in Recall and Purchase of Products.

Ads displayed on web pages seek to divert consumers’ attention from their
browsing goals to process ad information. Consumer interaction with online ads
comprises a hierarchy of stages starting with pre-attention, attention and click
decision (Chatterjee, 2001). Under conditions of high involvement or personal
relevance in the advertised brand or category, consumers will have higher
motivation, ability and opportunity (MAO) to attend, centrally process and click on
ads to elaborate on information in target ad pages leading to enduring memory and
communication outcomes (Chatterjee, 2001).

24
In natural browsing contexts, voluntary exposure ad formats like banner ads and
pop-up ads have to compete for consumers’ attention with editorial content on web
pages (and possibly with other embedded ads). Attention is singularly focused
towards achieving navigational goals (Janiszewski, 1998), most consumers avoid
fixating on banner ads either because they lie in the periphery of the visual field or
cognitively avoid them. Dreze and Hussherr (2003) suggest that eyes have been
subconsciously trained to avoid banner ads, leading to “banner blindness” or non-
perception of banner ads.
Various researchers have studied numerous factors that might have an impact on
pop-up adverts recall. The factors include ad characteristics, Internet users’
viewing mode and duration of viewing, campaign publicity, attitudes toward the
ad, and curiosity and innovative advertising strategy (Danaher & Mullarkey, 2003;
Goldsmith & Lafferty, 2002; Menon & Soman, 2002).

Danaher and Mullarkey (2003) examined the effects of such factors as viewing
mode, visit duration, text and page background complexity, and the style of pop-up
ads on both aided and unaided recall. The authors did not find any significant
impact of the web site context factors on advertising recall. The key finding was
that the duration of page viewing is a strong determinant of the ability to recall
pop-up ads; however, a minimum level of exposure (around 40 seconds per page)
is required to achieve a reasonable level of advertising recall. Furthermore, the
authors found that “the mode a web user is in has a large impact on advertising
recall and recognition. Those in a goal-directed mode are much less likely to
remember pop-up advertisements than those surfing the site” (p: 263). As an
illustration, weather web site would tend to attract goal-directed users who visit the
site for weather forecast information. A travel site would tend to draw users with a

25
searching mode since this type-site contains lots of information on tours, places of
attractions, accommodation, eateries, entertainment, and climate. Users of this type
of site are more likely to surf through the site, examining various pages. The study
suggested that greater advertising effectiveness could be achieved by placing pop-
up ads on such a travel site, as the pop-up ads are more likely to be remembered by
surfers.
Dreze and Hussherr (2003) also examined the effectiveness of ad characteristics on
the ability to recall ad. Animation content, the shape of the pop-up, and frequency
of the ad (repetition) leads to higher advertising recall but not the size of the pop-
up. In addition, the authors reported that “a pop-up’s message influences both
aided advertising recall and brand recognition. This indicates that what an ad says
is more important than how it says it” (p. 21). In contrast, Yoon (2003) found that
pop-up image is more significantly effective than text to assess consumers’
preferences toward online ads. In terms of consumer responses in the form of
liking online ads, researchers such as Goldsmith and Lafferty (2002) and Metha
(2000) have found that a more favorable attitude towards ads can lead to a higher
ability to recall ads. Goldsmith and Lafferty (2002) found a significant relationship
between positive responses to web sites and the likelihood of recall the brands
advertised on the web. The authors reported that “In general, research suggests that
those consumers who have a positive attitude toward an ad are more able to recall
than those with a negative attitude (p. 320). Metha (2000) made a similar
conclusion but the study was based on print advertising performance. Lastly,
Menon and Soman (2002) have investigated the power of curiosity on Internet
advertising effectiveness. The results of their study postulates that curiosity
improves the quality of search in terms of time spent on the ad and attention
devoted to specific product information, resulting in more focused memory and

26
recall. The authors recommend a curiosity-generating advertising strategy to
increase consumer’s interest and learning of product information about the
curiosity trigger.

2.5 Empirical Review

There are only but limited studies available on the perception of online pop-up
adverts in recall and purchase of products. A Study conducted by Nwosu and
Nwosu (2020) on Influence of online advertisement on consumer purchase
behaviour among internet users In Lagos State, Nigeria had among its objectives,
to determine the extent to which the respondents are exposed to GT Bank online
advert, their perception of such online adverts and the effect of such online adverts
on respondents’ purchase behaviour. Using the survey research method and Multi
Stage Sampling technique, questionnaire was used to gather data administered on
the respondents consisting of two hundred users of internet in Ifako- Ijaiye LGA of
Lagos State. The findings revealed that the respondents are well exposed to online
advertising as 87.5% are exposed to GTB internet advertising. Data also revealed
that majority of the participants (70.5%) patronize GTB services and products
advertised online and as such it can be said that majority are positively disposed to
online advertisements. Therefore, online advert influences online users’ purchasing
decisions and behavior.

Ogunyombo, Oyero and Azeez (2017) in their study examined the exposure,
viewership and influence of social media advertisements on the purchasing
decision of young people using undergraduates in three Nigerian universities. The
three universities were purposively selected: the University of Lagos, Ogun State
University and Covenant University, representing the three tiers of university
ownerships in Nigeria. Adopting a survey design and using a multistage sampling

27
technique, a 13 item questionnaire was administered to 385 students which formed
the sample. Findings showed that social media advertisements are very visible in
terms of high exposure (66.9%) but limited in influencing purchase decision
(14.3%) among the respondents.

In another study by Ajaero, Uzodinma, Nwachukwu and Odikpo (2020), the

researchers investigated the influence of online display adverts on students’
patronage of product, with specific reference to banner. The study was anchored on
the theory of buyer behaviour. Three universities in Enugu state (University of
Nigeria, Nsukka; Enugu State University of Science and Technology and Godfrey
Okoye University) were purposively selected for the study. A sample size of 380
was gotten using the Australian calculator. The survey research method was
adopted with the questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Findings
showed that students are aware of these advert forms. Also, a significant amount of
patronage exists because of these advert forms and majority of the respondents had
minimal issues with the forms of advertising and companies that use them.

2.6 Research Gap

Previous related literatures as reviewed in the preceding sub-headings dwelt
extensively only on and social media advertisement and few other types of online
advertisements. Mentioned hasn’t been made of pop-up adverts and its
effectiveness in inducing product purchase among undergraduate students.
Therefore, this study stands to fill in this research gap as it studied the
effectiveness of pop-up adverts in inducing product purchase among Unizik
students.

2.7 Theoretical Framework

28
This study adopts one theory and one model of marketing communication and
advertising research namely the Hierarchy of Effect Model and Theory of Buyer
Behaviour.

a. The Hierarchy of Effect Model (HEM): The Hierarchy of Effects Model

describes how advertising affects consumers’ behavior and leads to the
transition from not knowing a product or brand to liking it and finally making
the action to purchase. The Model was first raised by Robert J. Lavidge and
Gary A. Steiner in their article entitled “A Model for Predictive Measurements
of Advertising Effectiveness,” which was published in 1961. It has now been
used as a sophisticated advertising strategy to build up brand awareness and has
branched off into many different variations.

The Hierarchy of Effects is based on behavioral psychology. It can be classified

into three main behavior stages – cognitive, affective, and behavioral, regarding
the human thought process. The cognitive stage is also known as “thinking,”
containing the awareness and knowledge stages.

The affective stage is composed of the sub-stages of liking, preference, and

conviction, which describes the impact on consumers’ “feeling” process. The
final stage is the behavioral (doing) stage, reaching the ultimate goal of
purchase.

According to Egan (2007), the Hierarchy of Effect Model is an appropriate

theoretical framework for marketing communication and advertising (Sinh,
2004; Barry 2002; Belch & Belch 2009). The model are useful to promotional
planners from several perspectives. It describes the series of steps potential
purchasers must take to move them from unawareness of a product or service to

29
 readiness to purchase it (Belch & Belch, 2009). Then, the potential buyers may
be at different stages in the hierarchy and make the advertisers face different
sets of communication problems. The theory incorporates elements of
awareness, comprehension, conviction, and purchase as stages of the influence
of advertising message on consumers’ behaviour (Colley 1961).

The Hierarchy of Effects Model is important to this study because it explains

the various stage of advertising which a consumer consciously and
unconsciously pass through before a product purchasing happens. These stages
as explained, influences the behaviour of the consumer and determines the
effectiveness of pop-up adverts in inducing them (students) to make a purchase
of a product. These are the underlining variables of the study and that is why
the Hierarchy of Effects Model act as bedrock to the study and the other theory
applied in this study.

b. Theory of Buyer Behaviour developed by John A. Howard and Jadish N.

Sheth in 1963, the Theory of Buyer Behaviour is based on the postulation that
the consumer behaves rationally during purchase after being exposed to stimuli
repeatedly and this decision is as a result of incentives which have their source
in the environment (input variables). It looks at how Input variables i.e.
messages serve as stimuli that draw the buyer into consideration of patronizing
products. Three different types of stimuli that can influence the buyer abound;
the environmental stimuli that the consumer is subjected to, and is
communicated from a variety of sources. Significative stimuli, actual elements
of products and brands that the buyer confronts and symbolic stimuli referring
to the representations of products and brands as constructed by marketers
through advertising and act on the consumer indirectly. The influence of such
stimuli is internalized by the consumer before they affect the decision process.
30
 However, it is seen that these stimuli must be in sync with the individual’s
psychological makeup (such as personality, stored information experience,
attitudes) and external variables such as value of purchase for the buyer, the
character traits of the consumer, membership of a social group, the financial
status of a consumer and the pressure of time. These serve to control, filter and
process the stimuli that are received. Output variables are hence considered as
the result of the effectiveness of the awareness and they include: purchase
intention, attitude, brand perception and attention. They are noticeable effects of
internal processes, for example: decision to implement the purchase, disclosure
of customer view and interest and actual purchase. This theory helps us to
understand the processes which the buyer’s personal standards act as agents for
effective communication to a buyer. In the advertising process, the consumer is
in complete control of the impact of what goes through his mind as he examines
the message in order to ascertain if it fits in with the social constructs that guide
his patronage of products. This is also supported by Joyce as cited in
O’Donohoe (1993 p.55) who insisted that “the consumer is not a passive,
helpless advertising fodder”. He/she scrutinizes adverts to find ‘‘those which fit
well with their frame of reference in terms of product quality”. Thus the theory
of buyer behaviour, therefore provides a solid framework for ascertaining the
effectiveness of online pop-up adverts in inducing product purchase among
Unizik undergraduate students.

2.8 Summary of Literature

In the course of reviewing literatures to this study, definitions and explanations
were given to major concepts like online advertising, its amazing history and scope
as well as how it benefits the advertising firms. The various forms of online

31
advertising were also reviewed. The concept of Pop-Up adverts were exhaustively
discussed and also how it affect the recall and purchase of products among
consumers. The empirical review revealed from former studies that, the way
advertisers compose, handle and disseminate online adverts especially in form of
pop-up adverts, has a lot of influence on the targeted audience. Appropriate theory
was also adopted with the purpose of helping to arrive at an acceptable result in the
literature review. It is evident from the assumption of the twin theories of The
Hierarchy of Effect Model (HEM) and The Theory of Buyer Behaviour to form
the theoretical framework of this study.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the procedures that were employed in carrying out this
research work. It explores the Research design, area of study, research/study
population. Sample size, instrument of data collection, validation of instrument
method of data analysis and presentations

3.1 Research Design

The concept of research design in scientific studies, as submitted by Ohaja (2005)

description of the nature of a study which creates an interface with the kind of data
to be collected and the manner of presentation. The study adopted the Survey
Design. Survey allows a researcher to select and study only a sample of larger
population and population and then generalize the results obtained to the whole
population (Adepoju, 2003). The researcher settled for this approach given the
nature of the variables investigated.

3.2 Area of Study

32
Area of study is the area where research is to be conducted or expected to cover.
The area of this study is Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka which is located in
Anambra State. The choice of this area is because the researcher believes that
young people who makes up the population of the university are Internet savvy and
would help to come to a more realistic findings on the effectiveness of online pop-
up adverts in inducing product purchase among Unizik undergraduate students.

3.3 Population of study

A population is made up of all conceivable elements, subjects or units relating to a
particular phenomenon of interest to the researcher. The population of this study
was derived from the population of Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
which according to the data from the Registrar’s unit is 38,718 (Forty-Five
Thousand).

3.4 Sample Size and Sampling Procedure

The researcher employed the purposive sampling to choose respondents from the
10 faculties located in the Awka Campus of the University namely Faculties of
Arts, Agriculture, Bioscience, Education, Engineering, Environmental Science,
Law, Management Science, Physical Sciences and Social Science.
Table 1 below shows ten (10) different purposive sampling of students in the 10
Faculties of Nnamdi Azikiwe University in the Awka Campus Urban and the
sample gotten from each.

33
Table 1: Distribution of the Questionnaires among the 10 Faculties in Awka
Campus used in the survey.

S/ Faculties sample
N
1 Arts 40
2 Agriculture 40
3 Bioscience 40
4 Education 40
5 Engineering 40
6 Environmental Science 40
7 Law 40
8 Management Science 40
9 Physical Sciences 40
10 Social Science 40
Total 400

To determine the sample size of the population, the Taro Yamane’s mathematical
model was applied thus:
According to Yamane (1964)
N
n=
1+ N(e)2

Where:
n = Sample size
e = Margin of error (0.05)
N = 38,718 (population NAU Students according to Registrar’s Unit, 2020)
1 = Constant variable

38,718
n=
1+ 38,718 (0.05)2

38,718

34
 n =0
1+ 38,718 (0.0025)

38,718
n=
1+ 96.8

38,718
n=
97.8

n= 395.6. The researcher approximated the number to be 400 on the

premise that the closer the sample size to the population, the higher the chances to
arrive at a more realistic result.
Therefore, n = 400

From the above, 400 persons constituted the sample size of this study.

3.5 Instrument of Data Collection

The study made use of questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was
posed in simple language in such a way that it was well understood by the
respondents without the need for further explanations.
The questionnaire was made up of two sections: “A” and “B”. Section A contains
information concerning the respondent’s personal data (demographic data), while
section B contains both open ended questions which have “yes” or “no” and other
options that was adopted to observe and the measure the response of the
respondents.

3.6 Method of Data Collection

35
A total of four hundred (400) copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the
respondents directly by the researcher. The researcher encouraged each respondent
to fill out and return their copy immediately to minimize loses.

3.7 Validation of Instrument

To ensure that the instrument measures accurately its purpose, the researcher
submitted the questionnaire after drafting to her supervisor for necessary
corrections and validation. When the corrections were made, the researcher
reflected it on the research instrument.
The essence of the test of validity is to ensure that the questions are consistent with
the research objectives and are capable of eliciting the right responses from the
respondents. After that, the project supervisor scrutinized this work and make final
corrections to approve the face and content validity of the instrument.

3.8 Reliability of Instrument

The measuring instrument was constructed in a way that the questionnaire items
were used to find answers to the research questions and relevant variables that
leads the realization of the research objectives. The result were analyzed using test
and retest before arriving at the score and later presented to the supervisor who
approved it as being reliable.

3.9 Method of Data Analysis and Presentation

The study is a quantitative research where frequency tables, pie charts and simple
percentages for statement of numerical values were adopted in the presentation of
the generated data, while descriptive statistics was used to analyze it.

36
37
 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

This chapter focuses on the presentation of data, analysis of data and discussion of
findings collected results from the field survey. Frequency tables, pie charts and
simple percentages for statement of numerical values were adopted in the
presentation of the generated data, while descriptive statistics was used to analyze
it.

4.1.1 Response Rate

A total of 400 copies of questionnaires were distributed in ten (10) Faculties in the
Awka Campus of the Institution. These copies were proportionally distributed to
the research sample and all the 400 questionnaires were returned with a return rate
of 100%.

4.1.2 Demographic variables

The demographic variables analyzed in this study included gender, age range,
marital status and academic level. These variables were measured in Section ‘A’
using questions 1 - 4 on the questionnaire.

38
4.2 Presentation and Interpretation of Data
Table 2: Respondent s’ Gender
Frequency Percentage (%)
Male 201 50.25
Female 199 49.75
Total 400 100

Figure 9: Respondent’s gender distribution

Female
Male

Male Female

The data in figure 9 above shows that 50.25% of respondents are Male while
49.75% are female. This shows that there is a slight difference in the representation
of females and males as there were more males than the females who responded.

39
Table 3: Respondents age distribution
Frequency Percentage
18-22 104 26
23-26 205 51
27-30 91 23
Total 400 100

Figure 10: Respondent’s age distribution

Age

27 years & above

23%

23 - 26 years
50%

18 - 22 years
27%

23 - 26 years 18 - 22 years 27 years & above

Data presented in figure 10 above shows that 205 respondents were from the age
bracket of 23 and 26 representing 51%, 104 respondents were between 18 and 22
years representing 26% while 91 respondents were between 27 and 30 years
representing 23%. It could be summarized that the age bracket of 23 and 26 years
has the highest number of responses in the selected faculties.

40
Table 4: Respondents’ Department of study
Frequency Percentage (%)
English Language & 18 4.5
Literature
Fine and Applied Arts 10 2.5
Linguistics 12 3
Fisheries and Aquaculture 14 3.5
Agricultural Economics 12 3
and Extension
Food Science and 14 3.5
Technology
Guidance and Counselling 24 6
Education Management 16 4
and policy
Chemical Engineering 20 5
Mechanical Engineering 12 3
Civil Engineering 8 2
Environmental 22 5.5
Management
Architecture 18 4.5
Law 40 10
Marketing 8 2
Public Administration 20 5
Accountancy/Accounting 12 3
Computer Science 16 4
Mathematics 24 6
Micro Biology and 20 5
Brewing
Industrial Chemistry 20 5
Mass communication 20 5
Sociology 10 2.5
Political Science 10 2.5
Total 400 100

Data in Table 4 above presents the respondents’ departments of study and the
percentage. Fisheries and Aquaculture and Food Science and Technology
departments had 14 (3.5%) each; Mass communication, Industrial Chemistry,

41
Micro Biology and Brewing, Public Administration and Chemical Engineering
departments had 20 (5%) respondents each; Political Science, Sociology and Fine
and Applied Arts had 10 (2.5%) respondents each; Mathematics and Guidance and
Counselling had 24 (6%) respondents each, Education Management & Policy and
Computer Science had 16 (4%) respondents each; Linguistics, Agricultural
Economics and Extension, Mechanical Engineering, Accountancy/Accounting had
12 (3%) respondents; Marketing and Civil Engineering has 8 (2%) respondents;
English Language & Literature and Architecture had 18 (4.5%) respondents while
Environmental Management and Law had 22 (5.5%) respondents and 40 (10%)
respondents respectively.

Table 5: Respondents’ Marital Status

Frequency Percentage (%)
Single 368 92
Married 32 8
Total 400 100

Figure 11: Respondent’s Marital Status

42
 Marital Status

93

Single Married

Data presented in figure 11 above shows that 92% (368) of the respondents are
single while 8% (32) of them are married.

43
Table 6: Respondents Academic Level
Frequency Percentage (%)
100 Level 72 18
200 Level 157 39.25
300 Level 100 25
400 Level 71 17.75
400 100

Figure 12: Respondents Academic level

Academic Level
18
17.75

25

39.25

100 Level 200 Level 300 Level 400 Level

The Data presented in figure 12 shows the level of study of the respondents in
selected faculties in Awka Campus of Nnamdi Azikiwe University. It is observed
that 72 respondents representing 18% are in their first year of study, 157
respondents representing 39.25% are in their second year of study, 100 (25%) are
in their third year while 71 are in their third year and above, representing 17.75 %.

44
Table 7: What Internet enabled device do you have phone or a computer?
Frequency Percentage (%)
Smart phone 231 57.75
Computer 97 24.25
Both 72 18
Total 400 100

From the table 6 above, 231 respondents (57. 75%) have smart phone which is
internet enabled, 97 representing 24.25% respondents said they computer while 72
respondents representing 18% have both smart phone and computers with which
they access the Internet. This shows that the respondents have access to the
Internet through a phone or a computer.

Table 8: How long (in hours) do you browse the Internet in a day?
Frequency Percentage (%)
1-3hrs 58 14.5
4-6hrs 203 50.75
7-10hrs 139 34.75
Total 400 100

From the table 7 above, 58 respondents (14.5%) spend between 1 and 3 hours on
the Internet a day, 203 representing 50.75% respondents said they browse the
Internet for 4-6 hours in a day, while 139 of them representing a percentage of
34.75% spends between 7 and 10 hours a day on the internet. This shows that the
respondents browse the internet at least one hour every day.

Table 9: How well do you know about online pop-up adverts?

Frequency Percentage (%)
Very well 321 80.25
well enough 57 14.25

45
 barely 22 5.5
Total 400 100

From the table 8 above, 321 respondents representing 80.25% knows about online
pop-up adverts very well, 57 respondents (14.25%) knows about it well enough,
while 22 (5.5%) barely know about online pop-up adverts. This shows that there is
a high level of knowledge and awareness about online pop-up adverts among
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Undergraduate students.
Table 10: Do you receive online pop-up adverts when you are browsing the
Internet?
Frequency Percentage (%)
Yes 382 95. 5
No 18 4.5
Total 400 100

From the table 9 above, 382 respondents representing 95. 5% said answered in
affirmative while 18 representing 4.5% answered in the negative. This shows that a
greater number of respondents receives online pop-up adverts when they browse
the Internet.

Table 11: How often do you receive online pop-up adverts when you are
browsing the internet?
Frequency Percentage (%)
Rarely 31 7.75
Very often 188 47
Every time 181 45.25
Total 400 100

46
The data in table 10 presents that 31 respondents representing 7.75% rarely receive
online pop-up adverts when they browse the Internet, 188 (47%) respondents
receives online pop-up adverts very often while 181 respondents representing
45.25% receives them every time they browse the Internet. This result therefore
shows that a greater number of the respondents in the selected faculties often
receives online pop-up adverts when connected to the Internet.

Table 12: What form of pop-up adverts do you usually receive when you are
browsing the internet?
Frequency Percentage (%)
Picture pop-up 204 51
Video pop-up 113 28.25
Both 83 20.75
Total 400 100

The data in the above table shows that response of respondents on what form of
pop-up adverts do you usually receive when you are browsing the Internet. 51% of
them being 204 in number count said they receive Picture pop-up, 28.25% gotten
from 113 number count of respondents said they receive Video pop-up, while 83
representing 20.75% said they receive both picture and video pop-up adverts.

Table 13: How do you feel when you receive an internet pop-up advert?

Frequency Percentage (%)

Excited 0 0
Annoyed 297 74.25
Indifferent 103 25.75
Total 400 100

47
Data in the table 12 above, presents the response of the respondents on how they
feel when they receive an Internet pop-up advert. None of the respondents feel
excited when they receive online pop-up adverts, 297 (74.25%) said they feel
annoyed while 103 (25.75%) said they feel indifferent. The results shows that a
greater number of the respondents feel upset when they receive an Internet pop-up
advert.

Table 14: What do you do when you receive an internet pop-up advert?

Frequency Percentage (%)

Click on it 0 0
Read or watch the content 158 39.5
Close it 242 60.5
Total 400 100

The data in Table 13 above shows that none of the respondents click on the
Internet pop-up adverts when they receive it, 158 (39.5%) read or watch the
content while 232 (60.5%) close it whenever they receive it. The result shows that
a greater number (more than half) of the respondents close the online pop-up
adverts when they receive it.

Table 15: How appealing does the Internet pop-up adverts you receive look?

Frequency Percentage (%)

Very appealing 8 2
Barely appealing 72 18
Not appealing 320 80
Total 400 100

Table 14 shows that 8 respondents representing 2% thinks the pop-up adverts they
receive looks very appealing, 72 (18%) thinks they are barely appealing while 320

48
respondents representing 80% said the pop-up adverts they receive are not
appealing. This shows that a greater number of the respondents thinks online pop-
up adverts are not appealing.

Table 16: How annoying is the Internet pop-up adverts you receive?

Frequency Percentage (%)

Very annoying 322 80.5
Barely annoying 63 15.75
Not annoying 15 3.75
Total 400 100

Table 15 shows that 322 respondents representing 80.5% thinks the pop-up adverts
they receive looks very annoying, 63 (15.75%) thinks they are barely annoying
while 15 respondents representing 3.75% thinks the online pop-up adverts they
receive are not annoying. This shows that a greater number of the respondents
thinks online pop-up adverts are very annoying.

Table 17: Has Internet pop-up adverts helped you to patronize/purchase a

product you like?
Frequency Percentage (%)
Yes 42 10.5
No 296 74
Maybe 62 15.5
Total 400 100

The data in table 16 above shows that 42 respondents (10. 5%) said Internet pop-up
adverts has helped them patronize/purchase a product they like, 296 (74%) of them
said internet pop-up adverts has not helped them patronize/purchase a product they
like while 62 (15.5%) are not sure whether or not it has. The result shows that

49
Internet pop-up adverts has not helped a greater number of the respondents to
patronize/purchase a product they like.

Table 18: How often do you purchase products you see in Internet pop-up
adverts?

Frequency Percentage (%)

Very often 12 3
Barely 309 77.25
I have not all 79 19.75
Total 400 100

The data in table 17 above shows that 12 respondents (3 %) said they have
purchased a product they see on Internet pop-up advert very often, 309 (77.25%) of
the respondents said it barely do, while 79 (19.75%) said they have not purchased a
product they see on Internet pop-up advert at all. The result shows that a greater
number of the respondents barely purchase products they see in online pop-up
adverts.

Table 19: To what extent do you think online pop-up advert influence young
people (students)?

Frequency Percentage (%)

To a large extent 14 3.5
Barely 354 88.5
Not sure 32 8
Total 400 100

Table 18 present the response of the respondents on the extent of influence of

online pop-up adverts on young people (students). 14 respondents representing
3.5% believes online pop-up adverts influence on young people to a large extent,

50
354 of them representing 88.5% believes that online pop-up adverts barely has an
influence on young people while 32 representing 8% of the respondents are not
sure whether online pop-up adverts has an influence on young people or not. The
results stipulates that a greater number of the respondents believe that online pop-
up adverts barely has any influence on young people.

Table 20: What influence do you think online pop-up adverts have on young
people?

Frequency Percentage (%)

It makes them develop 50 12.5
liking for products
It makes them purchase 39 9.75
products
It makes them indifferent 199 49.75
Not sure 112 28
Total 400 100

From table 19 above, 50 (12.5%) of respondents thinks online pop-up adverts

influence young people by way of making them to develop liking for products, 39
(9.75%) of the respondents thinks it influences them to purchase products, 199
(49.75%) thinks it makes the young people indifferent about the products, while
112 (28%) are not sure if online pop-up adverts have any of the above influence on
the young people. The result shows that a greater number of the respondents are
not influenced to take any action by online pop-up adverts.

4.3 Analysis of Research questions

This study has three specific objectives namely:

51
 1. To find out if Nnamdi Azikiwe University Undergraduate students receive
online pop-up adverts online.
2. To find out the reaction of Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate
students to online pop-up advertisement
3. To find out if undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University are
influenced in their product purchase by online pop-up advertisement
The research questions posed in this study revolved around these objectives.
Research Question 1: To what extent do Nnamdi Azikiwe University
undergraduate students receive online pop-up advertisement?
In answering this question, the researcher refers to tables 6-11. In Table 6, 57.75%
of respondents have smart phones, 24.25% have computers that is internet enabled
and 18% of the respondents have both smart phones and computer that is internet
enabled. In table 7, 14.5% of the respondents spends between 1 to 3 hours a day
browsing the internet, 50.75% spends between 4 and 6 hours browsing in a day
while 34.75% spends 7 hours and above surfing the internet a day. In table 8,
80.25% of the respondents knows about online pop-up adverts very well, 14.25%
knows about online pop-up advert well enough and 5.5% only barely knows about
it. In table 9, 95. 5% respondents receives online pop-up adverts when they browse
the internet while 4. 5% respondents do not receive online pop-up adverts when
they browse the internet. In table 10, 7.75% of the respondents rarely receive
online pop-up adverts when they browse the internet, 47% of the respondents
receives online pop-up adverts very often when they browse the internet, while
45.25% of the respondents receives online pop-up adverts every time they browse
the internet. In table 11, 51% of the respondents receives picture pop-up form of
online pop-up adverts, 28.25% of the respondents receives video pop-up form of

52
online pop-up adverts while 20.75% of the respondents receives online pop-up
adverts in both picture pop-up and video pop-up forms.

Research Question 2: How do Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate

students react to the pop-up adverts they receive?
In answering this research question, the researcher referred to tables 12-15. In table
12, none of the respondents feel excited to receive internet pop-up adverts, 74.25%
feels annoyed to receive online pop-up advert, while 25.75% feel neither excited
nor annoyed to receive online pop-up advert, they are just indifferent. In table 13,
no one clicks on the advert when they receive online pop-up adverts, 39.5%
respondents read or watch the content of the online pop-up advert they receive,
while 60.5% of the respondents close the pop-up adverts when they receive it. In
table 14, 2% of respondents believes that the internet pop-up adverts they receive
are very appealing, 18% believes the pop-up adverts they receive does not are
barely appeal, while 80% feels they are not appealing at all. In table 15, 80.5% of
the respondents believes the pop-up adverts they receive are very annoying,
15.75% believes that the pop-up adverts are barely annoying, while 3.75% believes
the pop-up adverts they receive are not annoying at all.

Research Question 3: To what extent does purchase decisions of Nnamdi

Azikiwe University undergraduate students influenced by online pop-up adverts
they receive?
In answering this question, the researcher referred to tables 16-19. In Table 16,
10.5% of the respondents have been helped by online pop-up adverts to
patronize/purchase a product they like, 74% have not been helped by online pop-up
adverts to patronize/purchase a product they like while 15.5% cannot say for sure
if they have been helped or not. In table 17, 3% of the respondents often purchase a
53
product they see in online pop-up advert, 77.25% barely purchase products they
see in online pop-up advert while 19.75% have not purchased a product they saw
in an online pop-up advert at all. In table 18, 3.5% of the respondents thinks online
pop-up advert influences students to a large extent, 88.5% think online pop-up
adverts barely has any influence on the students, while 8% are not sure whether or
not online pop-up adverts has any influence on the students. In table 19, 12.5% of
the respondents believes online pop-up adverts influence students by way of
developing a liking for products, 9.75% believes it influences the students by
making them purchase products, 49.75% of the respondents believes online pop-up
adverts has little or no influence on student as they believes it makes them
indifferent, while 28% are not sure if online pop-up adverts has any influences on
students.

4.4 Discussion of findings

The first finding of this research is hinged on the first research question: “To what
extent do Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students receive online pop-
up advertisement?” Here, it was found that Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Undergraduate students receives online pop-up adverts to a large extent. The study
revealed that a very large proportion of the students has access to internet for at
least 3 hours a day with their smart phones and computers, hence the exposure to
online pop-up adverts.

The second finding of the study came against the backdrop of the second research
question: “How do Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students react to the
pop-up adverts they receive?” The research found out that a larger proportion of
the Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students believe online pop-up
adverts are not appealing rather annoying, and as a result they close the pop-up
54
adverts when they come up on their screens. Only a few proportion of the students
give few seconds to read or watch the content of pop-up adverts without opening it.

The third finding is hinged on the third research question: “To what extent do
purchase decisions of Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students
influenced by online pop-up adverts they receive?” The research found out that
there are little or no influence on the purchase decisions of Nnamdi Azikiwe
University undergraduate students by online pop-up adverts they receive. Only a
very few proportion of the students are influenced to patronize/purchase a product
by the online pop-up adverts they see.
CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

This research investigated the effectiveness of online pop-up advertising in

inducing product purchase among Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate
students. Hence the study sought to find out level at which Nnamdi Azikiwe
University undergraduate students receive online pop-up advertisement, their
reaction to it and unveil the influence online pop-up advertisement have on their
product purchase decision. The study was designed as survey (quantitative) while
the collected and analyzed data yielded the following findings:

 That there is a high level of awareness and receipt of online pop-up adverts
among Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students as a greater
number of them has smart phone and computers with internet access and
spends at least 3 hours browsing the internet every day.

55
 That a greater proportion of Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate
students feel annoyed when they receive online pop-up adverts because they
don’t find it to be appealing rather annoying. Therefore, they quickly close
the pop-up window when the adverts show up.
 That online pop-up adverts have little or no influence on the product
purchase decision of a larger proportion of Nnamdi Azikiwe University
undergraduate students.

56
5.2 Conclusion

The study reveals that Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students have
negative attitude towards online pop-up adverts mainly because of its annoying
nature. As a result, the adverts are not positively influencing their product purchase
decision. In other words, the products/services advertised through online pop-up
adverts do not appeal to Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students.
Based on the result obtained from the study, it can be concluded that online pop-up
adverts are not effective in inducing product purchase among Nnamdi Azikiwe
University undergraduate students.

5.3 Recommendations

Based on the findings of this research, a number of recommendations are found

relevant towards an increased positive influence of pop-up adverts on product
purchase decision of Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students:

1. Improve pop-up adverts: Advertisers and managers should pay particular

attention to pop-up adverts that are user friendly and less obstructive. In
order for pop-up ads to be useful for advertisers/marketers its effectiveness
must be improved. To achieve this there is the need for pop-up ads to be
designed in such a way that it provides valuable information to online users.
Advertisers have to use pop ups wisely because pop-ups can damage brands
by creating a poor online user experience and this can have a detrimental
effect on the entire brand.
2. Advert quality: Seeing that visuals/aesthetics are the primary elements that
enhance the patronage of online adverts, companies/ advertisers are intend to

57
 have to strive to keep on improving the quality of by improving pixel quality
of the interactive elements on the adverts such as the images and videos,
adding of vibrant color, balance in content and used in the advert. Also
adverts have to be designed in ways that would be pleasing to online users
so as to be able to grab attention and subsequently induce patronage.
3. Further research: Further research has to be carried out on online pop-up
advert advertising in general so as to taste its effectiveness and to fill the gap
that exists in online pop-up advertising research. It is recommended that this
study be replicated in other universities and other locations to determine
whether regional variations exist in the above findings.

5.4 Limitations of study

The researcher in the course of undertaking this research work was faced with
various constraints such as:

1. Time factor: The research work is a time-bound experiment. The researcher

had to beat the deadline to submit and defend the research work, coupled
with other tedious academic activities inherent in final year class.
2. Financial Constraint: The researcher was also faced with economic
challenge. The copies of the questionnaires cost heavily to print, the
transportation fare to and fro the faculties studied in the research was
another huge expense the research battled with, coupled with other activities
in the research that needed money to run.
3. Scarce Literature: there are only few related literatures on the effectiveness
of pop-up adverts on purchase decision among young people to form the

58
 literature review and empirical studies. The researcher visited libraries and
consulted many sites and journals only to get a few materials to that effect.
4. Also the stress of getting the respondents to respond to the questionnaire was
another factor that limited the research work. It was observed that students
were overwhelmed with their academic activities and was busy with
preparations and writing their semester exams. Therefore getting to them
was really a stressful adventure.

59
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 APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dept. of Mass Communication,

Faculty of Social Sciences,
Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State.
30th March
2021.

Dear Respondent,

I am a final year student of the above named department and university. I am

currently conducting a research with the topic: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
ONLINE POP-UP ADVERTISING IN INDUCING PRODUCT PURCHASE
AMONG NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS.

I appeal to you to kindly complete or answer the following questions in the

questionnaire given to you. I assure you that your information will be kept
confidential and used purely for academic purposes.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Yours faithfully,

Umeonaku Elizabeth Chinonyerem

64
65
There are options for you to choose from, please tick against any answer of your
choice.

SECTION A: Demographic Information

1. Gender Distribution (a) Male (b) Female
2. Age range (a) 18-22 (b) 23-26 (c) 27 and above
3. Marital Status (a) Single (b) Married
4. Level (a) 100L (b) 200L (c) 300L & Above

SECTION B
1. What Internet enabled device do you have phone or a computer?
(a) Smart phone (b) Computer (c) both
2. How long (in hours) do you browse the Internet in a day? (a) 1-3hrs
(b) 4-6hrs (c) 7hrs and above
3. How well do you know about online pop-up adverts? (a) Very well
(b) well enough (c) barely
4. Do you receive online pop-up adverts when you are browsing the Internet?
(a) Yes (b) No
5. How often do you receive online pop-up adverts when you are browsing the
Internet? (a) Rarely (b) Very often (c) Every time
6. What form of pop-up adverts do you usually receive when you are browsing
the Internet? (a) Picture pop-up (b) Video pop-up (c) Both A
and B
7. How do you feel when you receive an Internet pop-up advert?
(a) Excited (b) Annoyed (c) Indifferent

66
8. What do you do when you receive an Internet pop-up advert?
(a) Click on it (b) Read or watch the content (c) Close it
9. How appealing does the Internet pop-up adverts you receive look?
(a) very appealing (b) barely appealing (c) Not appealing
10. How annoying is the Internet pop-up adverts you receive? (a) Very
annoying
(b) barely annoying (c) Not annoying
11. Has Internet pop-up adverts helped you to patronize/purchase a product you
like? (a) Yes (b) No (c) maybe
12.How often do you purchase products you see in Internet pop-up adverts?
(a)Very often (b) barely (c) I have not at all
13.To what extent do you think online pop-up advert influence young people
(students)? (a) to a large extent (b) barely (c) not sure
14. What influence do you think online pop-up adverts have on young people?
(a) it makes them develop liking for products (b) it makes them
purchase products (c) it makes them indifferent (d) not sure

67