Impact of Digital Advertising on Consumer Sentiments in the Indian Footwear Market

Abstract

Over the past decade, mobile data penetration in India has skyrocketed, leading to tremendous growth in e-commerce and in the usage of internet and social media. Owing to the vast amount of digital content in circulation, consumer brands are having to get creative with digital advertising to attract consumers. This study strives to examine the nature of relationship between digital advertising and the ensuing sentiments of Indian consumers. For this study, a survey was conducted in the Indian city of Bangalore,followed by a testing of hypothesis using 117 convenient samples using the Chi-Square test. The analysis revealed that brands using digital advertising comprising of the variables such as “audiovisuals”, “storytelling” and recognizable “personalities” evoked sentiments of “attention” and “interest” amongst respondents while creating a “desire” to learn more about the products depicted with an aspiration to “purchase” them. The findings help brands understand the variables that impact consumer sentiment and aids their incorporation in future digital promotional content. The study heightens a marketer’s knowledge of the Indian consumer sentiment and highlights the impact that digital content and advertising have on critical dependent consumer behavior variables.