Factors Affecting Internet Advertising Adoption in Ad Agencies

The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting adoption of Internet advertising in advertising agencies. The paper provides preliminary insights into why ad agencies are reluctant to recommend Internet advertising to their clients. A theoretical framework was developed by scrutinizing the body of literature. The gathered date was verified by 294 academic and practical experts in the field of marketing and advertising. In pursuing this goal, a questionnaire was designed to validate factors affecting the adoption of Internet advertising. Results indicate that 18 variables in the form of three key factors, namely “technical knowledge of account manager,” “e-commerce readiness of country” and “agencies' ability of Internet adoption” affect adoption of Internet advertising in ad agencies. It was found that e-commerce readiness of a country is the critical factor in adopting internet advertising in ad agencies. This is the first study which addresses the adoption of Internet advertising in ad agencies. This study reports that while government does not provide infrastructure required for the advancement of e-commerce (readiness), the ad agencies still will recommend previous ad channels to their clients.