Online advertising is a social phenomenon that, due to its interdisciplinary nature, has attracted the attention of scholars and experts in various fields. As a result of the advances in the information and communication technologies, online advertising has quickly become a major form of advertising products and services. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of online advertising, information content of online advertisements, as well as related ethical issues. In order to answer the research questions, a survey was conducted among students attending Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek. A tailor-made questionnaire was used to collect the data. Statistical and other scientific methods were applied in the analysis to draw conclusions. The study found that students rarely pay attention to online advertisements and that in most of the respondents such ads do not stimulate interest in the product and service advertised or a desire to purchase them. Quite the contrary, online advertisements are predominantly perceived negatively. The results also suggest that there is almost no relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of students and the ability of online advertising to influence them, but this finding should be taken with caution. The study further revealed that students generally agree that online advertisements often make false or deceptive claims about products and services, do not provide sufficient information to make the right and rational decision, contain claims that cannot be verified and proven and, consequently, do not fulfil their informative function. In addition, the research highlighted a number of issues associated with the failure to adhere to ethical standards in online advertising. Overall, the study provides a better understanding of how the student population in Croatia perceive online advertising and adds to the existing body of knowledge in the field of marketing, information and communication sciences, and ethics.
