The influence of product integration on online advertising effectiveness

With a substantial amount of resources being spent on online advertising, examining the effectiveness of online advertising is now an important subject for scholarly investigation. Cross-product integration has become a source of market advantage and a strategic necessity for online advertising. The issue of product integration has not been sufficiently researched in the online advertising effectiveness literature. To fill this gap, this research examines the antecedents of online advertising effectiveness with an emphasis on the influence of product integration. Viewing product integration as a stimulus that influences users' information processing mechanisms, this article proposes a research model and validates it using two studies: one quasi-experiment and one field study. The findings suggest that the integration level influences the strength of the perceived tie between focal and promoted products, like portals and their associated services, which in turn has a significant impact on advertising effectiveness. Product integration level also has a direct impact on advertising effectiveness. This article contributes to both research and practice by advancing the overall understanding of online user behavior as well as by providing important insights regarding online information product promotion design. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.