Examining the Role of Advertising Value Perceptions in Driving Engagement: A Framework for Assessing Hotel/Restaurant Paid Advertising Effectiveness on Facebook

Drawing on the uses & gratifications theory (UGT) and Ducoffe’s advertising value model, this study aims to present a comprehensive framework for assessing Facebook paid advertising effectiveness, incorporating antecedents of Facebook advertising value and the effect of this advertising value on advertising engagement. The data were collected through an online questionnaire survey, and the final sample consisted of 290 young respondents in Sri Lanka, who had the experience of using Facebook and being exposed to hotel/restaurant paid advertisements embedded on Facebook for the past year. The conceptual framework was tested with a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach using AMOS 21.0. The results indicated that perceived informativeness, entertainment, credibility, and interactivity of hotel/restaurant Facebook paid advertising were positively related to advertising value, which in turn affected advertising engagement. Interestingly, the findings highlighted that credibility was the strongest predictor of advertising value, with interactivity in second place. The study emphasizes the importance of meeting customer perceptions in driving engagement with the paid advertisements embedded on Facebook. Accordingly, in order to optimize Facebook paid advertising, marketers should employ strategies to provide customers with informative, entertaining, credible and interactive advertising content. While providing novel insights into both academics and Facebook marketers, this study highlights the importance of determining Facebook advertising campaign success with respect to its ability to influence both customer perceptions and online behaviors. As such, the novelty of this paper is that its focus on both customer perceptions and engagement in assessing Facebook paid advertising effectiveness.