THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN RURAL AND URBAN REGIONS OF NORTH GUJARAT

Abstract

Social media advertising has emerged as one of the most powerful tools reshaping consumer behaviour across diverse socio-economic and geographic landscapes. This research paper investigates the differential influence of social media advertising on consumer behaviour in rural and urban regions of North Gujarat, India. The study addresses a critical gap in the existing literature: the comparative analysis of social media advertising effectiveness across sharply contrasting digital access environments. Drawing on data collected through a structured 36-item questionnaire administered to respondents from both rural and urban localities in North Gujarat, this study examines key dimensions of consumer response including brand awareness, attitude formation, purchase intention, and post-purchase behaviour. The research integrates mediating factors such as ad relevance, credibility, emotional appeal, and personalization, while also investigating negative consequences including ad fatigue, privacy concerns, and cultural misalignment. Preliminary findings suggest significant urban–rural disparities in ad exposure frequency, platform usage, digital literacy, and responsiveness to various ad formats. Urban consumers tend to engage more with interactive and video-based content, while rural consumers demonstrate stronger responses to culturally localized and static image-based advertisements. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative Likert-scale analysis with qualitative open-ended responses, to generate holistic insights. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is proposed as the analytical framework to test ten hypotheses governing the relationships among advertising inputs, mediating factors, and consumer outcomes. The findings carry significant implications for marketers, digital strategists, and policymakers seeking to bridge the digital divide in semi-urban and rural India, offering region-sensitive advertising strategies rooted in empirical evidence.