Explaining the effectiveness of advertising with Laswell's communication model on social networks

Introduction: Beyond facilitating personal and friendly communications, social media platforms provide a valuable opportunity to connect brands with customers. Today, brands are essentially born on social media and continue their growth and sales through advertising on these platforms. Social media advertising enables companies to connect with customers, target specific audience, and customize advertisements. This capability also provides real-time feedback, making advertising more effective. Social media advertising is a type of social media marketing where you use paid media to promote your business on any of its many channels. This media comes in many formats and placements and supports a range of creative, from images and video to immersive experiences. Not only does social media enable businesses to connect with customers in previously impossible ways, but there is also an extraordinary range of avenues to connect with target audiences—from content platforms (like YouTube) and social sites (like Facebook) to microblogging services (like X). Businesses invest significantly in advertising on these popular social platforms. However, despite considerable spending and presence on these networks, the effectiveness of advertising strategies remains debatable. This study examines key factors influencing the effectiveness of social media advertising in Iran using the Lasswell Communication Model.
Methodology: This study adopts an inductive approach in terms of implementation logic, is applied in its purpose, and is qualitative in nature. It employs thematic analysis based on the approach proposed by Attride-Stirling (2001), which involves three stages: basic themes, organizing themes, and overarching themes. All the articles published on the Comprehensive Humanities Portal (www.ensani.ir) from 2012 (the year of Iranians’ initial adoption of Instagram) to June 2024 (the time of this study) were analyzed.  In this study , all relevant articles were reviewed through a complete enumeration approach. A total of 71 relevant articles were extracted and coded using MAXQDA 2020 software. To ensure the reliability of the study, an inter-coder agreement method was used. In addition to the primary researcher who conducted the initial coding, another researcher re-coded 10% of the articles. The similarity between the two sets of coding indicates agreement and reliability. A kappa coefficient of 76% was calculated, demonstrating acceptable reliability. After reviewing the extracted articles focusing on criteria affecting advertising effectiveness, thematic analysis was conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software. The coding process, data analysis, and thematic network mapping were carried out accordingly.
Discussion and Results: The purpose of this study is to identify the key criteria for the effectiveness of social media advertising in Iran, based on the Lasswell Communication Model, through qualitative thematic analysis. Using a coding process, 60 basic themes were extracted, which were grouped into 30 organizing themes and 4 overarching themes derived from the Lasswell Communication Model. The overarching themes include the advertiser (message sender), the content of the advertising message, the social media platform, and the user. To enhance the effectiveness of social media advertising, marketers, experts, and advertising companies must focus on the Lasswell Communication Model when designing and presenting advertising messages. Simultaneously, they should consider the audience (user), the content of the advertising message, the characteristics and features of the medium (social media platform used), and the attributes of the message sender. By leveraging knowledge, awareness, and effective management of advertising messages based on communication elements outlined in this study, they can aim to maximize advertising effectiveness in this new global media landscape.
Conclusion: One of the most prominent characteristics of advertising is its "unsolicited nature," meaning that media audiences generally show little interest in being exposed to advertisements. The technological revolution in information and communication has transformed advertising and marketing, shifting social media advertising from mass to more personalized approaches. The findings of this study, drawn from a wide range of research articles, outline the factors influencing the acceptance of social media advertising based on the Lasswell Communication Model. So, the results are highly beneficial for advertising companies, marketers, and social media advertising professionals to create more appealing and engaging advertisements tailored to their target audiences and responsive to user needs.
Based on the study’s findings, key factors in designing effective advertising messages include:

Considering the user, who is no longer a passive recipient but an active and immediate participant as a message sender.
Acknowledging the features and attributes of this new global media landscape, which offers unique opportunities for creating appealing advertisements.
Emphasizing the content of the advertising message and the attributes of the message sender.

These elements play a significant role in enhancing the effectiveness of social media advertising.