Is There an On-line Advertisers’ Dilemma? A Study of Click Fraud in the Pay-Per-Click Model
Tamara Dinev, Qing Hu, and Ali Yayla
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 13, Number 2, Winter 2008-09, pp. 29.
Abstract: This study develops a theoretical model, based on the theory of reasoned action and the concept of behavioral calculus, for understanding on-line advertiser behavior. Structural equation modeling and survey data are used to test hypotheses on how beliefs about on-line pay-per-click advertising shape the attitudes and subjective norms that lead advertisers to advertise on-line. The roles of trust, third-party tools, and support from search engine providers are explored. The study confirms that attitudes and subjective norms significantly influence intention to advertise on-line using the pay-per-click model, but trust in search engine providers and third-party monitoring and filtering tools are also found to have central roles. Trust can significantly increase the perceived benefits, in addition to its direct positive impact on attitude and subjective norms. The perceived effectiveness of third-party tools has a positive impact on attitude and trust, and thus on intention to advertise on-line.
Key Words and Phrases: Calculus of behavior, click fraud, individual behavior, on-line advertising, pay-per-click.