Beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours toward advertising on social media in the Middle East: a study of young consumers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

As social media continues to attract global users, many international advertisers seek to use social media as a venue for their advertising messages. This study examined social media usage as well as beliefs, attitudes and behaviours towards advertising on social media in the UAE. Specifically, this study extended Pollay and Mittal’s (1993) advertising beliefs and attitudes model by applying it to advertising on social media. The context of this study Dubai, UAE which has the world’s highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as well as the highest level of internet penetration and social media usage in the Middle East, represents a group of consumers that are of interest to practitioners. The results indicate that beliefs are positively related to attitudes, which consequently predict behaviours toward social media advertising. Demographic factors and levels of usage are also examined. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are presented.