A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL VS DIGITAL ADVERTISING IMPACTS ON CONSUMERS’ PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

The study undertook a comparative analysis of traditional versus digital advertising on consumers’ purchase behavior in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. While the traditional advertising has relied on mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, billboards and magazines to reach the target audience, the digital  advertising goes through online platforms such as social media, search engines, mobile apps, websites, and many more. There have been arguments on which of these two strategies would serve modern businesses more, hence, this research. The specific objectives were to: assess the impact of traditional advertising, influence of digital advertising, and the effectiveness of traditional versus digital advertising in driving consumers’ purchase-behavior. The study adopted a descriptive and comparative survey research design. Face and content validity were used to confirm the instrument’s consistency, while the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient method was used for the reliability, getting a value of 0.81, which indicated an acceptable level of internal consistency. Data analysis was through independent t-tests and ANOVA, using the SPSS software. The results reveal that while traditional advertising remains influential due to its credibility and wide audience reach, the digital advertising provides interactivity, personalization, and measurable outcomes, which significantly shape modern consumer behavior. That is, younger consumers are more responsive to digital media, while older consumers tend to trust traditional platforms. The analysis, however, confirmed that an integrated digital and traditional advertising approach yields optimal consumer response and brand performance.