A Study of Factors Influencing Smart Advertising Avoidance

Abstract

As the Internet becomes intertwined with consumers’ lives but advertising clutter continues to interfere with their online activities, consumers increasingly avoid advertising. With technological advances, advertisers have taken to tailoring their ads to consumers so that the ads are more relevant but less irritating to them. Especially as smart media with new capabilities emerge, advertising capitalizing on so-called smart advertising gains growing attention. As an early form of smart advertising, retargeted advertising collects browsing data and show ads to consumers reflecting their browsing history and implied needs and interests. However, with the benefits of precise targeting and customization also come possible resistances due to the sense of privacy violation triggered by the use of personal data. In this paper, we proposed a model of retargeted advertising avoidance wherein major antecedents with positive and negative impacts are identified. Findings of the empirical testing with online survey data from the U.S. suggest that ad-context congruence, privacy concern, degree of personalization, goal impediment, and advertising values collectively contribute to avoidance of retargeted advertising. Strategic implications and future research directions for smart advertising are discussed.