The Influence of Advertisement on Media Users: Empirical Evidence from Three Generational Differences in Malaysia

This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of users’ preferences on media contents and channels toward the sustainability of mass media as a business model. The aim of the study is to find out whether or not users prefer to access information via the Internet; to examine whether users prefer to use traditional, new, or social media; and to determine the relative influence of advertisement on traditional, new, or social media. This study is based on the primary data that were gathered from questionnaires distributed to 109 people in Klang Valley, Malaysia, which consist of three generations: Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z. The study showed that the majority of people still prefer to use traditional media channels. It also was found that advertisements in traditional media highly influence Gen X but not other generations. However, advertisements in new media influence all generations. In terms of obtaining information, Gen X prefers to obtain information from traditional media, while Gen Y and Gen Z prefer to obtain information from social media. All generations have similar behavior in which they are inclined to spend most of their time using social media compared with other forms of media.