Understanding Consumer Responses To Clickbait Advertising: Evidence From Social Media Users.

Renjitha Rajeev; Girish M C; Janaky N R

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.90037

Understanding Consumer Responses To Clickbait Advertising: Evidence From Social Media Users.

Author(s)	Prof. Dr. Renjitha Rajeev, Prof. Dr. Girish M C, Ms. Janaky N R
Country	India
Abstract	Clickbait advertising has become a widely used digital marketing technique to attract consumers’ attention and encourage interaction with online promotional content. This study examines consumer responses to clickbait advertising on social media, focusing on user engagement, purchase intention, brand trust, curiosity, advertising scepticism, and perceived credibility. The study uses a descriptive, analytical research design and relies on primary data collected from 150 social media users through a structured questionnaire. The study used convenience sampling. The study analysed the collected data using frequency and percentage analysis, descriptive statistics, the Independent-Samples t-test, Welch’s One-Way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings indicate that age, gender, daily social media usage, and the most-used social media platform do not differ significantly in their reported impact on clickbait advertisements. However, curiosity, advertising scepticism, and perceived credibility show strong and statistically significant positive relationships with the impact of clickbait advertisements. The regression model explains 61.9% of the variation in consumers’ overall opinion towards clickbait advertisements, with advertising scepticism emerging as the only statistically significant independent predictor. The study concludes that while clickbait can effectively attract consumer attention, sustained consumer response depends on the credibility and relevance of the information provided after the click. The study recommends that marketers use curiosity-driven advertising ethically and transparently, ensuring consistency between advertising claims and the content delivered to consumers.
Keywords	Clickbait Advertising, Consumer Behaviour, Social Media, Curiosity, Advertising Scepticism, Perceived Credibility, Consumer Response.
Field	Business Administration
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-17
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i05.90037

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Understanding Consumer Responses To Clickbait Advertising: Evidence From Social Media Users.

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