International Students’ Perceptions of Printed Form of Outdoor Advertising

Advertising is one of the most important elements in the promotion of products and services. Whether in developed or developing countries, advertising is the first tool used when companies want to promote their brands. Print advertising, broadcast advertising, out-of-home advertising, and new media advertising are all alternatives used by a company to reach their audience. Outdoor, transit, and kiosk advertising are specific types of out-of-home media advertising in practice today. This research tries to analyze the impacts and aspects of out-of-home advertising in urban cities on the level of people’s perceptions using the case study of Famagusta, North Cyprus. Since Famagusta is a university city, students from different nationalities constitute a significant percentage of the city’s population. Salamis is one of the most important streets in Famagusta, which has changed drastically during the last decade. Since this street is a main access road for students attending the university, there are many shops and restaurants located on it. Outdoor advertising, therefore, is used by these companies to reach this population with their ads. Since companies are spending a lot of money for these advertisements, the main aim of this study is to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of these out-of-home advertising tactics on the international students’ perception levels. As the theoretical framework for this study, the communication theories of persuasion, perception, and visual attention were used. Quantitative methods and survey methodology were also used in this study. With the convenience sampling method, 350 international students from different age groups and educational levels were chosen. These respondents were carefully selected to meet the requirements for participation in this study. Keywords: international students, Famagusta, out-door advertising, perception