What affects users to click social media ads and purchase intention? The roles of advertising value, emotional appeal and credibility

Purpose This study is based on a web-based advertising value model, adding emotional appeal, advertising credibility, advertising clicks, product evaluation and incentive to examine the impact on consumers' product evaluation and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach In total, 313 valid online questionnaires were collected from those who had browsed the social media advertisement. Findings The results show that advertising credibility and emotional appeal have a higher impact on advertising attitude than informativeness and irritation in the original web-based advertising value model. Research limitations/implications The findings strengthen the literature on the antecedents of advertising attitude in social media context, confirming advertising clicks as a predictor of product evaluation, and determining that advertising attitude, product evaluation and incentive play key roles as predictors of consumer purchase intention. Practical implications The findings are particularly relevant to advertising marketing managers. In the context of social media advertising, the advertising credibility of consumers is the key to increasing consumers' willingness to purchase. Advertisers must establish a good advertising reputation to consumers in the social media context. Originality/value This study combines the web-based advertising value model, advertising clicks, product evaluation and incentive to investigate the factors that influence customers' purchase decisions in the context of social media.