The Competitive Function of Online Advertising. An Empirical Evaluation of Companies’ Communication Strategies in a Digital World

摘要

Online advertising is a significant instrument of companies’ rivalry, competing for buyers and their attention, shaping brand preferences and affecting buying decisions. A rapid development of information and communication technologies provides firms with a wide range of advertising tools in a digital World. They enable advertising to perform its informative, persuasive as well as competitive functions. The paper aims to identify and empirically evaluate the significance of online advertising in developing corporate competitive strategies in the world of online advertising. A quantitative research study was conducted in January 2020 on a sample of 103 Polish enterprises. The analysis was based on random-quota sampling among the population of all Polish companies. The results of the analysis indicate that companies make a conscious use of online advertising in sectoral market competition; they monitor and analyse competitors’ advertising activities, creating the content that has a major impact on consumer behaviour. The intensity of sectoral competition encourages companies to take advantage of their information superiority over consumers and creates a moral hazard in advertising messages and the process of building competitive advantage.