Attitude of Portuguese youth towards contemporary advertising: an analysis of the characteristics and effects of the advertising phenomenon

Abstract

People often express ambivalent feelings about the influence and impact of advertising on our contemporary society. In this quantitative study, we aim to analyze the audience’s attitude towards advertising, based on the model proposed by Pollay e Mittal (1993), using a sample of 210 Portuguese young men and women. We verified that, in general terms, participants have a positive attitude regarding publicity. Results show that they generally believe that advertising conveys information about products and that at the same time it is a source of entertainment for consumers. In socio-economic terms, there is a strong belief that advertising is positive for the development of the economy but that, on the other hand, it can be detrimental to society, particularly in the corruption of values, the encouragement of materialism and the transmission of misleading messages. Based on a linear regression, we find that it is possible to predict the attitude towards advertising through four factors: the informative role of advertising, its hedonic role, the benefits of advertising for the economy and the corruption of values by advertising. We also find that the attitude towards advertising has an impact on the purchase decision.