Chinese Journal of Communication

ISSN: 1754-4750 (Print) 1754-4769 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjc20

How perceived control affects advertising

avoidance intention in a skippable advertising
context: a moderated mediation model

Bin Li & Shimin Yin

To cite this article: Bin Li & Shimin Yin (2020): How perceived control affects advertising
avoidance intention in a skippable advertising context: a moderated mediation model, Chinese
Journal of Communication, DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2020.1776743

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2020.1776743

Published online: 11 Jun 2020.

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Chinese Journal of Communication, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2020.1776743

How perceived control affects advertising avoidance intention in a

skippable advertising context: a moderated mediation model
Bin Lia
and Shimin Yinb

a
Department of Business Administration, School of Management, Huazhong University of
Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; bDepartment of Marketing, Business School of
Anhui University, Hefei, China

Video advertising has become an essential source of revenue for streaming

media websites. Because of the differences between the business models of
Chinese and foreign video websites, in this study, we conducted a survey to
empirically test a conceptual model in the Chinese context. In the model, we
integrated perceived intrusiveness as a mediator and perceived ad content
quality as a moderator to better understand how perceived control affects ad
avoidance intention and whether the form of skippable advertising was
available to Chinese websites. The results of the structural equation model
(SEM) showed that perceived control induced by skippable video advertising
negatively affected ad avoidance intention, and perceived intrusiveness partially
mediated the relationship between users’ perceptions of control and advertising
avoidance intention. The results of the conditional process analysis showed that
perceived advertising content quality moderated the indirect path from
perceived control to advertising avoidance intention. These findings have
positive implications for enriching the research on psychological mechanisms
and the condition of intention to avoid skippable video advertising, which
could help optimize strategies for both advertisers and media websites.
Keywords: skippable video advertising; perceived control; perceived
intrusiveness; perceived ad content quality; ad avoidance intention

Introduction
As the fastest growing form of media, online advertising has become a primary
revenue source for streaming media websites. According to MAGNA (2019),
global advertising revenue has continued to increase for several years, and it
reached about $600 billion in 2019. Advertising demand maintains strong in
countries with favorable economic conditions. The Asia-Pacific region is growing
rapidly, especially China, which has the second-largest advertising market in the
world. In China, the advertising market has grown exponentially, and video adver-
tising, which has been a mainstream advertising model, has exceeded $10 billion.
Compared with conventional users, online users are more willing to directly
access video content. When advertising appears, the online experience might be
disrupted, generating negative emotions in users, thus intensifying their avoidance
intention (Redondo & Aznar, 2018). Moreover, combined with the uneven quality
of ad content, the actual effectiveness of advertising does not meet expectations
(Rodgers & Thorson, 2000). About 30% of viewers use advertising blockers, and

Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Both the authors contributed equally.

ß 2020 The Centre for Chinese Media and Comparative Communication Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2 B. Li and S. Yin

this phenomenon has become an urgent problem for advertisers and technology
platforms that try to attract users (SocialMediaToday, 2019). Skippable advertis-
ing, which is an innovative form, is catered to lowering avoidance intention in
online users. This new form has had a significant effect on enhancing perceived
control and making users feel that skippable advertising is less intrusive than non-
skippable advertising is (Belanche et al., 2017; Pashkevich et al., 2012). Similarly,
based on the premise of not harming the interests of advertisers or content
producers, offering skippable options can improve users’ viewing experience
(Pashkevich et al., 2012). Although this new advertising model is still in its infancy
in China, the attention to it continues to increase.
In skippable advertising, the “skip-ad” button appears during a short
mandatory clip, allowing users direct access to video content. Advertisers only
need to pay for users who watch for more than 30 s and do not pay for those who
skip (YouTube, 2016). Consequently, advertisers using this form often pay
attention to the overall quality of advertising content, especially the 5 s foreplay,
to increase advertising acceptance. This form, which has a high coverage rate in
foreign websites, has the characteristics of low risk and high return, thus providing
a win-win situation for users, advertisers, and platforms.
However, in China, there are essential differences in the business models that
video operators use compared with foreign ones. They mainly use two advertising
models: (1) users need to watch a large amount of nonskipping advertising to
access video content “for free”; (2) users open a membership to avoid advertising,
and only a few advertisers and video operators jointly offer skippable advertising.
In addition, video websites in China offer high-quality copyrighted video content
that is purchased at high prices, and its revenues depend on advertising and
membership fees. In contrast, YouTube is a video-sharing streaming media
platform without copyright costs, and advertising inventories are bid on based on
display effectiveness. Because of the differences in national conditions and business
models, it may not be feasible to directly graft the results of studies on YouTube,
for example, to Chinese platforms. Thus, it is urgently necessary to investigate the
responses of Chinese users. Their perspective could help in developing a richer
understanding of the phenomenon of skippable advertising avoidance.
Moreover, the gap between the increasing number and duration of advertising
and users’ autonomy has placed Chinese advertisers and video operators in the
dilemma that mandatory displays intensify the degree of exposure but induce
negative emotional responses. Moreover, offering the skippable advertising option
could result in the aggradation of advertising avoidance risk and decrease profit-
ability (Jeon et al., 2019; Pashkevich et al., 2012). Furthermore, users visit websites
to watch video content rather than advertising, so they have the final decision on
whether to skip advertising. Skippable advertising increases users’ feelings that
they are respected, so positive intention and acceptance may be enhanced (Youn
& Kim, 2019). Moreover, high-quality information induces pleasure and flow,
affecting users’ perceptions, attitudes, and intentions, thus lowering the probability
of advertising avoidance (Hwang & Jeong, 2019; Redondo & Aznar, 2018).
At present, although there are several theories and practices of skippable
advertising in foreign countries, relatively few exist in China, which is the largest
developing country in the world. Previous studies have described the factors that
influence advertising avoidance (Belanche et al., 2017; Jeon et al., 2019) but have
not considered different backgrounds and business models. Advertising avoidance
 Chinese Journal of Communication 3

Figure 1. Research model.

is probably influenced by cultural differences between individualism and collectiv-

ism, and the different developmental stage of skippable advertising. Therefore, in
this study, we examine users’ avoidance intention in China, which might reveal
psychological mechanisms and provide guidelines for the transformation of skip-
pable video advertising.
From the perspective of skippable video advertising, we explore how perceived
control affects perceived intrusiveness and advertising avoidance intention, and we
identify the mediating role played by perceived intrusiveness plays. Finally, we
conduct a conditional process analysis to investigate the moderating effects of per-
ceived advertising content quality on the indirect relationship between perceived
control and advertising avoidance intention.

Literature review and research framework

Based on our review of the relevant literature, we developed a model and defined
the relationship between the variables (Figure 1). This study explores the effects of
the perceptual factors in Chinese users on avoidance intention, including perceived
control, perceived ad intrusiveness, and perceived quality of advertising content
quality. Therefore, we assumed that three factors affect ad avoidance intention. In
the following sections, we review the literature on advertising avoidance intention
and influential factors and then state our research hypotheses.

Ad avoidance intention
The behaviors of ignoring, skipping, and eliminating advertising are caused by
psychological reactance, which is induced by the increasing duration or quantity
of advertising. Users are overwhelmed, which results in advertising avoidance:
users reduce the related behavior of receiving advertisements at different levels
(Speck & Elliott, 1997). Advertising avoidance reduces the possibility of exposure
and hinders regular contact between advertisements and users, which is considered
a major challenge to advertisers (Fransen et al., 2015). Most video operators in
China currently use cost per mille (CPM) billing rules, which forces users to watch
advertisements, thus ensuring the effectiveness of the display. However, users have
become disgusted with long-time playback and low-quality advertising, so they
have adopted different strategies to cope with the forced exposure to such adver-
tising (Jeon et al., 2019; Redondo & Aznar, 2018).
According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), behavioral intention,
which is defined as the psychological process that an individual undergoes before
4 B. Li and S. Yin

taking action, is an essential antecedent of actual behavior (Ajzen, 1991).

Advertising avoidance intention is based on a decision made before the behavior
appears, and it can be used to predict the actual behavior of skippable video patch
advertising. Therefore, following previous studies, we apply the concept of ad
avoidance intention. Van den Broeck et al. (2018) explored the impact of different
advertising placements on avoidance intention, which was consistent with Okazaki
et al. (2012). They proposed an avoidance model of mobile advertising from the
perspective of user perception, focusing on advertising avoidance intention.
McCoy et al. (2008) constructed a conceptual model of online ad intrusiveness,
exploring users’ behavioral intention to avoid advertising from the perspectives of
ad content and user control. Previous studies found that advertising avoidance
was induced by the significant predictors of demographic characteristics, advertis-
ing features, and users’ subjective perceptions (Cho & Cheon, 2004; Redondo &
Aznar, 2018; Speck & Elliott, 1997). However, regarding skippable advertising, the
users first perceived a feeling of control, which is caused by the “skip-ad” option,
and ad intrusiveness was not a sufficient reason for users to avoid advertising.
Moreover, because skippable advertising uses advertising content as a carrier, the
quality of this content is a factor that should be considered (Hwang &
Jeong, 2019).

Perceived control
Perceived control, which is a psychological need, refers to the cognitive condition
of the individual’s ability to control a specific environment (Quick & Stephenson,
2007). For example, the skip-ad option offers online video users active control
rather than passive control provided by advertising blockers. The decision, which
users choose to avoid, is more likely to occur when individuals realize that the
choice will have a favorable effect on their interests (Gerbasi & Prentice, 2013).
The self-selection option is intended to motivate users to take the initiative (Jung,
2011). When goal-oriented users are forced to watch advertising, they tend to
experience a psychological state that enables them to restore lost control
(Redondo & Aznar, 2018). In contrast, the skip-ad option allows users to choose
to watch advertising, which induces perceived control.
Perceived control is a variable that affects individual attitudes and behavioral
intentions. When the degree of control is higher, individuals tend to have positive
attitudes and behaviors (Hui & Toffoli, 2002). Behavioral intentions are con-
strained by controlled conditions, such as ability, opportunity, and resources.
Perceived control drives behavioral intention: the more resources and opportuni-
ties an individual has or the more power in performing tasks, the higher the level
of perceived control and the stronger the behavioral intention (Ajzen, 1991).
Moreover, psychological reactance theory is based on the assumption that individ-
uals believe they have the power to make autonomous decisions (Brehm & Brehm,
2013). Compared with forced exposure, providing the skip-ad option probably
increases the endogenous motivation to produce positive intentions when individu-
als’ decisions are not disturbed by other factors (Moller et al., 2006).
In the context of online advertising, perceived control can also affect individu-
als’ responses, and the ability to choose freely increases the enthusiasm for proc-
essing information (Langer, 1975). Video users who lose control intend to resist
 Chinese Journal of Communication 5

rather than obey, which leads to avoiding advertising, thus hindering communica-
tion between advertisements and users and defeating the purpose of advertising
(Edwards et al., 2002; Moller et al., 2006). Hence, this study is conducted to reveal
the importance of perceived control in skippable ad avoidance intention based on
Chinese video websites. Previous studies in the literature showed that returning
users’ control restored the freedom lost by ad intrusiveness and reduced negative
emotional responses (Jeon et al., 2019; Okazaki et al., 2012; Redondo & Aznar,
2018). Furthermore, the skip-ad option made users feel respect and freedom,
which lowered their avoidance intention (Youn & Kim, 2019). Therefore, we pro-
pose the following hypotheses:

H1: Perceived control caused by skippable video advertising negatively affects ad

avoidance intention.

Perceived intrusiveness
The term perceived intrusiveness refers to the psychological state caused by disrup-
tion to the individuals’ continuous cognitive process. The term is used to explain
audiences’ negative perceptions of advertising in a goal-oriented state (Hairong
et al., 2002). Previous studies showed that perceived intrusiveness was induced by
perceived goal impediment, advertising skepticism, and negative experience, mainly
based on unidirectional and forced advertising (Cho & Cheon, 2004; Edwards et al.,
2002; Kelly et al., 2010). Some researchers found that perceived intrusiveness was
induced by an interrupted target, information overload, or low relevance (Ha &
McCann, 2008; Jung, 2017). In the context of online video websites, advertising
intrusiveness was found to disrupt viewing goals, which could be aggravated when
exposure was forced. It has been confirmed that online advertising is more intrusive
than conventional advertising is (Hairong et al., 2002). Indeed, users were found to
be annoyed by video advertising because it interfered with their viewing experience,
which increased their perceptions of high intrusiveness (Cho & Cheon, 2004).
Regarding users who patronize platforms to watch video content, long-time and
low-quality unauthorized advertising might be perceived as an invasion of their pri-
vate space, which leads to the loss of perceived control, resulting in perceived intru-
siveness (Bailey et al., 2001; Kelly et al., 2010). Moreover, McCoy et al. (2008)
indicated that users who lacked the ability to remove control perceived higher intru-
siveness when advertising obscured the viewing content, leading to negative attitudes
and intentions. Youn and Kim (2019) used Facebook as an example, showing that
users felt a higher sense of autonomy and control if they could freely choose
whether to watch advertising, thereby lowering the perceived intrusiveness associated
with negative emotions and behaviors, such as irritation and avoidance.
According to the flow theory, when individuals exert all their mental power
into an activity, they are in a state of high concentration and excitement
(Csikszentmihalyi & LeFevre, 1989). However, the purpose of patch advertising is
to divert the attention from video watching to advertising, which breaks the nor-
mal flow. Moreover, being forced to watch advertising for a long time was found
to potentially increase internal anxiety (Belanche et al., 2017; Lee, 2011).
Moreover, in response to loud advertising noise, users allocated limited attention
selectively, thus inducing negative emotions (Ha & McCann, 2008). Indeed, as an
6 B. Li and S. Yin

essential predictor of advertising avoidance intention, perceived intrusiveness may

enhance the attractiveness of threatened free behaviors and lead to advertising
avoidance (Edwards et al., 2002; Youn & Kim, 2019).
Driven by commercial interests, Chinese operators have begun to use patch
advertising, continually increasing the number and duration. High-intensity adver-
tising displays might lead to a perceived threat to freedom, thereby increasing ad
irritation and perceived intrusiveness (Edwards et al., 2002; Jeon et al., 2019;
McCoy et al., 2008). Nevertheless, offering the skip-ad option might make users
feel more autonomous (Moller et al., 2006; Youn & Kim, 2019). At present, users
can choose to watch advertising on their own, thereby weakening their perceived
intrusiveness and lowering advertising avoidance intention. Thus, we hypothesize
the following:

H2: Perceived intrusiveness mediates the path from perceived control to ad

avoidance intention.

Perceived ad content quality

The perceived quality of advertising content is based on the subjective evaluation
of whether the advertising content meets individual utility (Chandrasekaran et al.,
2018). In the present case, it refers to users’ expectations for advertising and
emphasizes their involvement in information content. The assessment of content
quality is mainly objective, but it is affected by subjective factors. When the qual-
ity of advertising content is perceived as favorable, informative advertising weak-
ens users’ perceived intrusiveness and tends to induce positive intentions
(Goodrich et al., 2015; Redondo & Aznar, 2018).
Previous studies found that ad content was related to advertising exposure.
When advertisements were considered worthy and useful, users tended to have a
positive experience and a low avoidance tendency (Becker & Murphy, 1993; Li &
Huang, 2016). However, users might choose to skip or stop viewing an advertise-
ment with low-quality content, such as those deemed less entertaining or irrelevant
(Elpers et al., 2003; Jung, 2017). Indeed, advertising content has been found to
influence advertising avoidance (Wilbur, 2016). Moreover, high quality has been
found to evoke positive engagement and pleasure, which benefits trust and belief,
thereby lowering advertising avoidance (Isaac & Grayson, 2017). Carroll et al.
(2007) indicated that message content without permission affected mobile advertis-
ing attention and acceptance, and high-quality content and the advertiser’s altruis-
tic motivation relieved the cognitive load required to process information and
induce favorable attitudes and intentions (Becker-Olsen, 2003).
The limited capacity model of attention assumes that an individual’s cognitive
ability is limited at any point in time, and the attentional capacity allocation to
specific tasks is different (Kahneman, 1973). The more attention that is divided to
process the primary task, the remaining attention processes the spare task
(Kahneman, 1973; Lynch et al., 1982). Video patch advertising is a type of prod-
uct placement that is usually processed as background information (Bhatnagar &
Wan, 2011). When perceived quality is high, users may allocate more attention to
advertising content and not focus on the existence of patch advertising, which
ensures that they do not skip advertising. On the contrary, low-quality content
 Chinese Journal of Communication 7

leads to focusing more attention on advertising intrusiveness, which is treated as

focal information that induces avoidance intention.
Compared with the forced exposure to nonskippable advertising, when per-
ceived content quality is higher, users may watch advertising, stop clicking the
skip-ad button, and thus relinquish the power to control. This decision is consist-
ent with delayed gratification; that is, individuals are willing to abandon immedi-
ate gratification in favor of valuable long-term interests. High-quality content
would induce users to perceive weakened negative irritation, thus reducing the
activation of persuasive knowledge (Hwang & Jeong, 2019). Moreover, individuals
tend to process information when they are in a positive state: the higher the per-
ceived quality of content, the higher the flow experience and the greater motiv-
ation to process information (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Wang & Sun, 2010).
Under the prevailing nonskippable advertising model, users may perceive the
goodwill of the enterprise when few advertisers and video operators employ skip-
pable advertising, and the belief in enlightened self-interest drives them to stra-
tegically consider the interests of others (Frooman, 1997). According to this
model, users watch video advertising voluntarily, which benefits content publishers
so that stakeholders continue to improve advertising content, ultimately serving
users’ interests. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

H3: Perceived ad content quality moderates the strength of the mediated relationship
between perceived control and advertising avoidance intention.

H3a: The relationship might be relatively strong when perceived advertising content
quality is low.

H3b: The relationship might be relatively weak when perceived advertising content
quality is high.

Method
Data collection method and participants
Considering that Internet video users are generally young and familiar with skip-
pable advertising, we applied convenience sampling to select college students as
the participants in the study. The survey was divided into three parts. The first
part investigated the contact condition of video patch advertising to eliminate col-
lege students who had not experienced it. In the second and main part, 13 items
were developed according to the four variables in the model. The third part was
designed to elicit personal information. The data collection was conducted accord-
ing to standard requirements (Kline, 2015). We employed the structural equation
model (SEM) in the data analysis.
The final sample consisted of 302 subjects (117 males and 185 females); 79.14%
were aged between 18 and 22 years; 85.76% were educated undergraduates; and
25.50% spent more than two hours online each day.
According to the usage habits of most Chinese netizens, we listed the existing
video website platforms (e.g. Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent Video) to satisfy the plat-
form usage requirements of the subjects to the greatest extent. Then we applied a
one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to determine whether different types of
video website platforms affected these three factors. The results showed no
8 B. Li and S. Yin

variance among the different platforms in perceived advertising content quality (F

(6,295) ¼ 1.410, p > 0.05) and ad avoidance intention (F (6,295) ¼ 1.342, p > 0.05).
However, the results showed a significant variation in perceived control (F (6,295)
¼ 2.258, p ¼ 0.038 < 0.05). This result may have been because some Chinese plat-
forms offer skippable options while others do not. Previous research found that
prior experience affected both perception and intention (Lee & Ma, 2012). In add-
ition, there were disparities in the duration and number of advertisements placed
on different platforms, which have caused the variation.

Measures
The variable scales were adopted from previous studies to ensure reliability and
validity. Before applying the scale, we used standard methods of translation and
back translation (Brislin, 1980). First, professional translators were invited to
translate the English scale into Chinese and then back into English. After the com-
parison, the scale was modified to ensure measurement equivalence. We also
altered the semantic structure of many items to adapt to skippable advertising in
the Chinese context.
According to the research purpose, the four latent variables were measured.
All items were rated on a seven-point Likert scale (from 1 ¼ completely disagree to
7 ¼ completely agree).
Perceived control. A four-item scale was adopted from previous studies (Jewell
& Kidwell, 2005; Youn & Kim, 2019), including “I feel I have the ability to skip
advertising,” “I feel I have a lot of control over skipping advertising.” Cronbach’s
a was 0.913, indicating that the reliability of perceived control performs well.
Perceived intrusiveness. Based on Hairong et al.’s (2002) original scale,
Redondo and Aznar’s (2018) was applied. Four items were designed, including
“Video patch advertising disturb my viewing experience,” “Video patch advertising
distracts my attention.” Cronbach’s a was 0.950, indicating that the reliability of
perceived intrusiveness performs well.
Perceived ad content quality. A two-item scale adapted from Hwang and Jeong
(2019) was applied, including “Video patch advertising provide sufficient information,”
“Video patch advertising contains necessary information.” Cronbach’s a was 0.844,
indicating that the reliability of perceived ad content quality performs well.
Ad avoidance intention. We measured using three items on Van den Broeck
et al.’s (2018) scale, including “I would immediately click the skip-ad button,” “I
would avoid watching video patch advertising.” Cronbach’s a was 0.733, indicat-
ing that the reliability of ad avoidance intention performs well.
Control variables. Previous research showed that gender influenced anxiety per-
ception and avoidance intention (Rojas-Mendez et al., 2009). Moreover, age, edu-
cation level, income, and online duration were also shown to be influential factors.
Therefore, we treated them as control variables.

Results
The hypotheses were tested using Amos 25.0 and SPSS PROCESS Macro (v3.3)
(Hayes, 2017). SEM should be used in a two-step procedure (Anderson &
Gerbing, 1988). First, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to
 Chinese Journal of Communication 9

Table 1. Results of confirmatory factor analysis.

Models Factors ₂v2/df GFI RMSEA IFI TLI CFI
Four-factor model PC; PI; PCQ; AAI 2.741 0.926 0.076 0.969 0.958 0.968
Three-factor model III PC; PI; PCQ þ AAI 4.400 0.872 0.106 0.936 0.919 0.935
Three-factor modelII PC; PI þ PCQ; AAI 8.113 0.802 0.154 0.865 0.830 0.865
Three-factor modelI PC þ PCQ; PI; AAI 8.129 0.799 0.154 0.865 0.829 0.864
Two-factor model PC þ PI; PCQ þ AAI 17.871 0.633 0.237 0.670 0.596 0.669
One-factor model PC þ PI þ PCQ þ AAI 24.248 0.525 0.278 0.538 0.443 0.536
Note: N ¼ 302, perceived control (PC), perceived intrusiveness (PC), perceived ad content quality
(PCQ), ad avoidance intention (AAI).

process the model comparison and determine whether the variables were independ-
ent of each other. When the various fitting indicators achieved the standard
requirements, a path analysis was performed.

Measurement model
The maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method was employed to measure
internal consistency, discriminant validity, and convergent validity. The compari-
son of different factor models (Table 1) showed that the four-factor model was the
most suitable (v2/df ¼ 2.741, GFI ¼ 0.926, RMSEA ¼ 0.076, CFI ¼ 0.968,
SRMR ¼ 0.077) and achieved the standard values (Kline, 2015). First, the min-
imum CR value of internal consistency was 0.765, which was greater than the crit-
ical value of 0.6 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Second, the minimum AVE value of
discriminant validity was 0.530, which exceeded the critical value of 0.5 (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981). All AVEs were larger than the MSVs and ASVs (Table 2). The
correlations were from –0.694 to 0.400, below the square root of AVE, and signifi-
cantly less than 1.0 (Bagozzi et al., 1991). Finally, the standardized factor loading
of each latent variable was between 0.61 and 0.98, thus reaching the recommended
cutoff values (Hair et al., 2013).

Structural model assessment

The results of the variable analysis are shown in Table 2, including the correla-
tions, mean, SD, CRs, AVEs, MSVs, and ASVs. The skip-ad option affected the
degree of perceived control, and perceived control (range ¼ 1–7, M ¼ 5.247, SD ¼
1.549) was higher than advertising avoidance intention (range ¼ 1–7, M ¼ 2.504,
SD ¼ 1.252). Because there was a significant correlation between the variables, the
hypotheses were tested.

Mediation analysis
The mediating effect was tested using the SPSS PROCESS Macro (Model 4).
Table 3 shows the results of the regression analysis of the mediating effect.
Perceived control negatively affected advertising avoidance intention (H1; b ¼
0.323, p < 0.001). Moreover, the negative effect of perceived control on perceived
10 B. Li and S. Yin

Table 2. Correlation, CR, AVE, MSV, and ASV.

Variables PC PI PCQ PAI
Perceived Control (PC) 0.860 0.196 0.032 0.191
Perceived Intrusiveness (PI) –0.443

0.912 0.033 0.160
Perceived Content Quality (PCQ) 0.178

–0.181

0.855 0.482
Ad Avoidance Intention (AAI) –0.437

0.400

–0.694

0.728
Mean 5.247 2.747 4.831 2.504
SD 1.549 1.754 1.406 1.252
CR 0.917 0.951 0.845 0.765
AVE 0.740 0.831 0.731 0.530
MSV 0.196 0.196 0.482 0.482
ASV 0.140 0.130 0.182 0.278
Note: The square root of AVE – on the diagonal. Correlation – below the diagonal. The square of
correlation – above the diagonal.

Significance at 0.001.

Table 3. Results of regression analysis.

Bootstrap 95%CI
Effect b Boot SE t-value Lower Upper
PC!PI –0.583


0.063 –10.283 –0.696 –0.450
PI!AAI 0.135


0.052 3.120 0.035 0.241
PC!AAI –0.323


0.053 –7.539 –0.423 –0.215
Note: All estimated values shown are nonstandardized coefficients. Because of limited space, the
regression effects of the control variables were not reported; 5,000 (resamples), 95% (confidence level),
and


significance at 0.001.

Table 4. Results of mediation effects.

Product of coefficients Bootstrap 95%CI

Path PC!AAI Index SE Z Lower Upper
Total effects –0.323 0.043 –7.512 –0.408 –0.239
Direct effects –0.244 0.049 –4.980 –0.341 –0.147
Indirect effects –0.079 0.031 –2.548 –0.143 –0.021

intrusiveness was the most significant (b ¼ 0.583, p < 0.001), and perceived intru-
siveness positively affected advertising avoidance intention (b ¼ 0.135, p < 0.001).
To test the mediation effect, we conducted a bootstrapping analysis, which is
the mainstream method currently used, to determine the effects of perceived intru-
siveness on the relationship between perceived control and advertising avoidance
intention. The results were as follows (see Table 4). The mediating effect was
–0.079 (CI ¼ [–0.143, 0.021]), which indicates that the mediating effect of
“perceived control ! perceived intrusiveness ! ad avoidance intention” was sig-
nificant. Moreover, the confidence interval of direct effect was from –0.341 to
–0.147, indicating that the direct effect was significant. These results indicated that
perceived intrusiveness played a partial mediating role in the indirect path. Thus,
H2 is supported.
We also employed Amos 25.0 to analyze the path of the structural model to
further verify the hypotheses. The results showed that perceived control and
 Chinese Journal of Communication 11

Table 5. Results of conditional process analysis.

Moderated mediation Conditional process analysis
Index SE LLCI ULCI Effect SE LLCI ULCI
Indirect 0.048 0.022 0.009 0.096 M-1SD –0.139 0.046 –0.233 –0.051
effect M þ 1SD –0.003 0.030 –0.056 0.066
Contrast 0.136 0.062 0.024 0.270
Direct –0.066 0.036 –0.144 0.002 M-1SD –0.063 0.076 –0.216 0.084
effect M þ 1SD –0.249 0.060 –0.383 –0.147
Contrast –0.186 0.102 –0.404 0.061

perceived intrusiveness had significant effects on advertising avoidance intention.

Perceived control negatively affected perceived intrusiveness (b ¼ 0.466,
p < 0.001) and advertising avoidance intention (H1; b ¼ 0.319, p < 0.001).
Perceived intrusiveness positively affected ad avoidance intention (b ¼ 0.231,
p < 0.001). Moreover, the mediating path from perceived control to advertising
avoidance intention was –0.107 (CI ¼ [–0.192, 0.049]), where the confidence
interval of direct effects was excluded zero. Thus, H2 was further supported.

Moderated mediation analysis

We conducted a conditional process analysis to answer this question (Hayes,
2017). The variables were placed in the corresponding positions, and model 15
was performed using 5,000 resamples. The bootstrapping method was employed
by observing the bias-corrected 95% confidence interval. The grouping condition
was plus or minus one SD to form lower and higher values, respectively, based
on the mean of the moderator. The fitting indicators of the model were F
(10,291) ¼ 28.566, MSE ¼ 0.818, and R2 ¼ 0.495, indicating that 49.5% of the
variation in advertising avoidance intention was caused by perceived control,
perceived intrusiveness, perceived advertising content quality, and the con-
trol variables.
The results are shown in Table 5. The left half of the table shows that the
index of moderated mediation was 0.048, with a confidence interval between 0.009
and 0.096, excluding zero, indicating the existence of a moderated mediation
effect. Moreover, perceived advertising content quality negatively affected the posi-
tive relationship between perceived intrusiveness and advertising avoidance inten-
tion (b ¼ 0.083, p < 0.01), and it positively affected the negative effect of
perceived control on ad avoidance intention (b ¼ 0.066, p < 0.05). The right part
of Table 5 shows that when perceived advertising content quality as low, the indir-
ect effect of perceived control on ad avoidance intention was –0.139. Therefore,
H3 is partially supported.
The moderated mediation effect involved in this study was a linear function of
the moderating variable. Previous test methods, such as subgroup analysis and dis-
criminant analysis, presented the indirect effects under two different values of the
mediator, and they did not fully reflect the indirect effects of the moderator vari-
able. To overcome this shortcoming, we applied the analysis method used by
recent scholars (Hayes, 2017), and we employed the Johnson-Neyman procedure
(J-N) to present the conditional indirect effect under the continuous value of the
12 B. Li and S. Yin

Figure 2. Conditional indirect effect. The indirect effect of perceived control on ad

avoidance intention (via perceived intrusiveness) versus the moderator (perceived ad content
quality) in confidence bands. The horizontal line denotes an indirect effect of zero. The
vertical line represents the boundary of the region of significance.

moderator variable clearly and directly (Preacher et al., 2007). In Figure 2, the
straight line represents the moderated mediation effect, and the dotted line repre-
sents the 95% confidence band. When the value of perceived ad content quality
ranged from 1.626 to 5.331—the full seven points—the indirect effect of perceived
intrusiveness on the path from perceived control to advertising avoidance intention
was significant.

Discussion and conclusion

Discussion
This study was conducted to examine the influence of user perception on advertis-
ing avoidance intention by placing skippable video patch advertising in the context
of Chinese streaming media websites. The psychological mechanism in deciding
whether to skip advertising was demonstrated by combining the antecedents and
outcomes of users’ reactance to video patch advertising under alternative condi-
tions. Consistent with previous studies, the empirical results confirmed the validity
of the hypothetical model. Moreover, the structural model explained 49.5% of the
variance in the intention of avoiding skippable video patch advertising, which
exceeded the standard value of R2, thus indicating that the prediction level was
acceptable (Gaur & Gaur, 2006).
First, the results revealed the value of providing the skip-ad option for both
video users and operators in China. Compared with mandatory nonskippable
advertising, skippable advertising might not harm the interests of advertisers and
operators. Instead, when the original goal was interrupted, users could produce a
psychological state that restored lost control. Indeed, users could process active
control effectively to avoid unauthorized advertising through the new delivery
model, which significantly promoted perceived control and then induced a positive
attitude and intention (Belanche et al., 2017). This finding supported H1: Video users
are eager to have autonomous control, which affects advertising avoidance intention.
 Chinese Journal of Communication 13

Second, the mediating effect of perceived intrusiveness was observed in explain-

ing the relationship between perceived control and advertising avoidance intention.
A crucial factor in predicting users’ avoidance intention, perceived intrusiveness,
was emphasized in many previous studies (Edwards et al., 2002; Youn & Kim,
2019). It was found that perceived intrusiveness played a partial mediating role in
path analysis, indicating that perceived control caused by skippable video advertis-
ing not only negatively affected users’ intention to avoid advertising directly but
also through lowering perceived intrusiveness.
In this study, the moderating effects of the perceived quality of advertising
content were tested in the model. The results showed that when the perceived ad
content quality was lower, the indirect relationship between perceived control and
advertising avoidance intention via perceived intrusiveness was relatively strong,
whereas the indirect relationship was not significant when it was higher.
Based on the different stimulus features, dissimilar responses to advertising
might be caused by perceived control and perceived advertising content quality. In
the theoretical framework of the limited capacity model of attention, perceived con-
trol induced by the skip-ad button may lead to automatic processing. When the
advertiser and operators jointly offer the skippable button, users’ perception of con-
trol may be satisfied. Combined with the perceived respect and goodwill, the auto-
matic processing mechanism is delayed. Thus, users may not be in a hurry to click
and avoid advertising. Moreover, users might not require actual control but pursue
the psychological satisfaction induced by the skippable control. Perceived advertis-
ing content quality is caused by a meaning/semantic feature and interrelated with
the cumulative processing of advertising messages. Perception and motivation might
be intensified continuously when users view ad content (Zhang & Mao, 2016).
Hence, highly involved users might tend to pay more attention to processing
advertising content and not choose the skip-ad option (Bang et al., 2018).
However, an unexpected result was that the perceived ad content quality had
no significant moderating effect between perceived control and perceived intrusive-
ness. The reason may be that video users in China have been exposed to nonskip-
pable advertising for a long time, so the demand for control is greatly restored
when advertising can be skipped. In the current study, the direct effect of
perceived control on perceived intrusiveness was highly significant, which might
suppress the effects of perceived ad content quality. Therefore, we conducted a
postanalysis using Model 7. The results showed that the direct effect of perceived
control on perceived intrusiveness was –0.560 (CI ¼ [–0.674, 0.445]), which was
significantly greater than the effect of perceived ad content quality on perceived
intrusiveness (estimate ¼ 0.054, CI ¼ [–0.183, 0.074]). These results indicated
that the moderating effect of perceived ad content quality on the path from
perceived control to perceived intrusiveness was not statistically significant.

Implications
From an economic perspective, China has become the second largest advertising
market compared with the USA. Moreover, video patch advertising is the main-
stream delivery model in China at present. Hence, in this study, we explored the
potential influence of users’ avoidance intention on skippable video patch advertis-
ing. It was beneficial to advertisers and operators to collect data on advertising
14 B. Li and S. Yin

clicks and dwelling time through background management functions, filter user
portraits interested in advertising, and formulate accurate advertising strategies sci-
entifically and effectively. The results of our study have implications for adver-
tisers to improve the quality of advertising content, eliminate poor-quality
advertising, and transform marketing effectiveness.
This study has contributed to the literature on user behavioral intention in both
theory and practice, especially regarding avoidance intention in online video adver-
tising. The results of this empirical research are consistent with previous studies,
thus narrowing the research gap and enriching the theoretical knowledge about
skippable video patch advertising. Moreover, our study is valuable because there
was little previous research on how skippable video advertising, designed as an
interactive media tool, might be recreated in the personal spaces of college students
(Kelly et al., 2010), who are representatives of the net generation, thereby providing
a new perspective and extending the research on online advertising avoidance inten-
tion. Indeed, the original purpose of advertising was to create and distribute persua-
sive information to enable better communication with audiences (Schultz, 2016). In
the context of online video websites, the form of mandatory advertising exposure is
not valid because users want to access video content. In addition, the appearance of
an “unexpected guest” may induce psychological reactance, which is not conducive
to brand preference and the continuance usage intention of platforms. It may even
cause users to avoid advertising, shut down web pages, or use ad blockers.
China’s culture of high-power distance, users might be accustomed to the sta-
tus quo of advertising on video websites, and they rarely voice their opinions.
However, with the awakening of individual consciousness, users are also striving
to initiate power distribution. They intend to have the power to decide rather than
sacrifice their freedom to obtain video content. Hence, it is necessary to give users
a free hand in choosing the number and duration of advertising they watch
according to their needs and preferences. Instead of allowing users to avoid adver-
tising entirely by using ad blockers, video operators should use skippable advertis-
ing with high-quality content. The new model developed in the present study may
arouse the curiosity and favorability of users (Pihlstr€ om & Brush, 2008). High-
quality content also helps to increase pleasure, improve viewing experiences, and
promote acceptance willingness (Chandrasekaran et al., 2018). Our results sup-
ported that perceived control is induced when the skip-ad option is provided, thus
lessening perceived intrusiveness. In addition, combined with high-quality advertis-
ing content, advertising avoidance intention may be reduced.
Users who have experienced skippable advertising in China could be regarded
as innovators although their innovative behavior may be caused by personal char-
acteristics such as curiosity (Pihlstr€
om & Brush, 2008). It is necessary to investi-
gate the early adopters’ intention to avoid advertising because based on their
perception of skippable video patch advertising, we could not only predict the
avoidance intention and behavior of future users but also provide suggestions and
references for Chinese advertisers and video operators to follow the skippable
advertising model or maintain their present model.
Considering different social contexts and business models and exploring the
behavioral preferences for skippable advertising are beneficial for the overall opti-
mization of Chinese video operators as well as the promotion of user growth and
website traffic. Moreover, the findings of the present study have valuable implica-
tions for international video operators that plan to expand their business into
 Chinese Journal of Communication 15

China. These findings could serve as references in formulating advertising strat-

egies and making marketing decisions that lead to long-term success.

Limitations and future research

This study has the following limitations. First is the geographical environment.
Although the findings may be generalized to similar cultural contexts and business
models, they may not fit other countries or regions with different cultural contexts.
Therefore, future research could be conducted to verify the results. Second, this
study focuses on the skip-ad option, not the mode (e.g. sound or graphics) or
other interaction forms (e.g. the number and duration of advertisements). Third,
we explored only perceptions of the quality of advertising content, not the rele-
vance and presentation of content (e.g. anthropomorphic or real-life forms).
Therefore, future research could be conducted to extend and enrich the results of
the present study. Fourth, because advertising congruence and prior attitude
toward the advertised brand may affect viewers’ perceptions, further studies could
consider these factors to better explain the phenomenon. Moreover, future
research could explore the effects of viewers’ emotional status on the response to
skippable advertising. In addition, because of personality traits, the college student
group limited the representativeness of the sample in this study. For example, the
young generation has shown a reactance level that is higher than in the middle age
group (Woller et al., 2007). Further studies could investigate other groups (e.g.
white-collar workers) to compare demographic differences in the Chinese context.
Lastly, this study used a cross-sectional design, which did not consider the time
factor. Future studies could apply a longitudinal design, collect objective data,
and employ experimental methods to enhance the generalizability of the findings.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their helpful
suggestions and comments on the article.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors
Bin Li takes a successive postgraduate and doctoral program in the Department of Business
Administration, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
China. His current research interests include consumers’ cognitive and emotional processing
of advertising, online social support, marketing, and persuasion communications in the
interactive media environment.
Shimin Yin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing, Business School of
Anhui University, China. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Management and an M.A. in
Public Administration from Sichuan University, China. Yin’s teaching and research
interests are focused on basic and applied research in new media marketing, tourism
marketing, and integrated marketing communication.
16 B. Li and S. Yin

ORCID
Bin Li http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3303-7304

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