WEB USERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD POP-UP ADVERTISEMENTS IN WESTERN PROVINCE OF SRI LANKA

Advertisers have been able to expose to modern channels and modern platforms of advertising. This enables to create an immediate global presence and generate greater value to the companies. Among these modern platforms, the internet act as a communication medium that allows companies to create awareness, provide information, and influence others. Therefore companies increasingly saw the internet as an important medium through which advertising messages can be directed towards consumers. Using a self-administered questionnaire, a survey study was conducted, and data were collected from 360 university students of four major universities in Western Province. The findings of the study revealed that only entertaining and irritating factors impact on attitude toward pop-up ads. While entertaining factor positively impacts on attitude, irritating factor negatively impacted on the attitude towards pop-ups. Critical consideration by companies before choosing a pop-up as their advertising mode is needed as web users' negative attitude towards it can impact adversely. Further, it will be helpful for advertisers to create more attractive and user-friendly pop-up advertisements.