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Mark Lett (2013) 24:339351
DOI 10.1007/s11002-012-9222-1
Jenny van Doorn & Janny C. Hoekstra
Published online: 8 January 2013# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract This study examines the trade-off between tailoring an ad to an individual consumers needs and the demand for personal data required to do so, which is inherent in targeted online advertising. Two scenario-based studies in two different industries reveal the extent to which using personal information with greater distinctiveness affects consumers sense of intrusiveness and purchase intentions. We also manipulate ad fit to each consumers needs and the presence of a discount to investigate whether feelings of intrusiveness mitigate the potential positive effects of fit and discount. Higher degrees of personalization, such as adding personal identification or transaction information to browsing data, increase feelings of intrusiveness, and negatively affect purchase intentions. These negative effects are not compensated for by offering discounts but can be partly mitigated by presenting an ad with a high fit to consumers current needs. The positive effect of tailoring the ad is weakened at higher levels of intrusiveness though. Furthermore, high fit may lead to not only higher purchase intentions but also higher perceived intrusiveness levels. Presenting a consumer with a customized ad can thus be a double-edged sword, leading to higher purchase intentions but also greater perceived intrusiveness, which then negatively affects purchase intentions.
Keywords Intrusiveness . Online advertising . Customization . Personalization . Targeting
The use of customized advertising on the Internet based on personal information about a customer, beyond just information gathered through his or her browsing history, is becoming more and more common, though it also has come under increased public scrutiny. For example, recent plans by the two largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, to use information about their customers shopping
The authors thank VODW, Leusden, and the Customer Insights Center, Groningen, both in The Netherlands, for supporting this research project. They also gratefully acknowledge the three anonymous ML reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments.
J. van Doorn : J. C. Hoekstra (*)
Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Marketing, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlandse-mail: [email protected]
Customization of online advertising: The role of intrusiveness
340 Mark Lett (2013) 24:339351
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