Proceeding of the Global Conference on Business, Economics and Social Sciences 2013 (e-ISBN 978-967-12022- 0-3) 25-26 June 2013, Kuala Lumpur. Organized by: WorldResearchConference.com 208 055 - Proceeding of the Global Conference on Business, Economics and Social Sciences ( GBSR 2013 ) ATTITUDE OF MARKETING AND NON-MARKETING STUDENTS TOWARDS ADVERTISING Ernest Cyril de Run*, Hiram Ting Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia drernest@feb.unimas.my, hiramparousia@yahoo.co.uk ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine general attitude towards advertising from the perspective of marketing and non-marketing students. Beliefs of students towards advertising are investigated so as to determine what contributes to attitude and behavioral intention. This allows similarities and differences between the two groups of students to be examined. Quantitative approach by means of questionnaire based survey was administered at a government university. 388 usable copies, 191 were from marketing students and 197 copies non-marketing students, were collected. Descriptive and inferential analyses were subsequently used. Findings show that both groups believe that advertising provides information, pleasure, and is good for economy. They also believe this social phenomenon is causing the society to become more materialistic. However the beliefs pertaining to its image role, hedonic aspect and value to society are what set them apart, with marketing students having stronger responses. As a result attitude and behavioral intention of marketing students towards advertising are also significantly different from non-marketing students. This study therefore articulates students’ present view about advertising, and implication as to how marketing and non-marketing students respond to advertising. Keywords: Advertising, attitude, belief, intention, marketing, university student *Corresponding author ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION Advertising is an important component in marketing and of modern life. It is regarded as an essential social phenomenon because it stimulates economic activities, and shapes life-styles and values (Pollay & Mittal, 1993). As technology continues to develop rapidly, consumers are ever more exposed to various advertisements, thus making the whole matter more intricate (Tai, 2007). This has intensified the interest of researchers and marketing practitioners to further delve into the study of advertising in contemporary times. While much research has been dedicated to investigating public’s attitudes toward advertising, the importance of assessing student attitudes toward advertising has also been recognized (Dubinsky & Hensel, 1984; Larkin, 1977; Munusamy & Wong, 2007). University students, in particular, represent a meaningful and substantial segment of the general public, and as such it requires definite attention (Beard, 2003). Therefore this study is set up to investigate the current view of university students towards advertising. More specifically it aims to assess the responses from marketing and non-marketing students. It is believed