The Impact of IT-Based Lifestyle on the Avoidance of Internet Advertising through Explaining the Moderating Role of Negative Experience and Advertisement Congestion

In this paper, we try to examine a sample of Internet users to determine the impact of electronic-centeredness of the users’ lifestyle, the users’ previous experience of admitting or dealing with advertisement, and the number and the manner of advertising on one webpage on their avoidance of online advertisement. By being involved in the Internet environment, we refer to the use of all pages of websites, blogs, computer software and mobile phones. The study of the effectiveness of these factors on users’ avoidance of internet advertising provides some solutions to strengthen the effectiveness of internet advertising and reduce its avoidance. The present descriptive survey research is applied in nature. In order to analyze the data, the Structural Equation Modeling based on partial least squares method has been explioted using Smart PLS software. The statistical population of this research consists of all the students of Islamic Azad University of Rasht in Guilan province. A randomized simple sampling method was used to select the statistical sample. Using Cochran sampling formula (5% error), the number of sample members was calculated to be 385 people. In addition, data collection was done through field survey using a questionnaire. The results of the hypotheses and the significant coefficients show that all the hypotheses were confirmed at 95% confidence level. The results of analysis of research hypotheses showed that IT-based lifestyle of individuals has a significant negative effect on the avoidance of internet advertising. That is, the more people are affected by the Internet and the so-called Internet user involvement, the less their avoidance of advertising. The congestion of ads on the WebPages affects the level of avoidance of those advertisements and the users avoid advertising messages on the Internet because of such bustle and clutter. Moreover, the users’ previous negative experience of online advertising was found to be effective in avoiding advertising within the Internet. The results of this study showed that the users’ perceived congestion of advertising is effective on avoiding Internet advertising. The high number of ads on a single webpage makes the visitor frustrated by such clutter and bustle. If the user has adopted an Internet-based lifestyle that makes him/her spend more hours using the Internet, then this situation will annoy him/her more than the others. An IT-based lifestyle user will probably do a lot of the work related to his job with the Internet for example he uses the Internet in banking, as well as for many entertainment, shopping or accessing the information. Therefore, the existence of an element that circumvents or disturbs them from these goals affects the relationship between IT-based lifestyle and the avoidance of advertising, and exacerbates that relationship which leads to an increase in avoiding advertising. Based on the results of the research, the previous negative experience can also affect the relationship between the user and the internet-based lifestyle and avoidance of internet advertising. Having a negative experience makes it possible for a user with an Internet-based lifestyle to feel that he does not consider advertisement improve his performance on the Internet, or even lower the attractiveness of advertising for him. Accordingly, advertisers and marketers must be aware of all these prevailing conditions in digital environment and they should be moving toward purposeful advertising by building trust and understanding of their customers’ IT-based lifestyles.