IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormksc/v30y2011i3p389-404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Online Display Advertising: Targeting and Obtrusiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Avi Goldfarb

    (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada)

  • Catherine Tucker

    (MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142)

Abstract

We use data from a large-scale field experiment to explore what influences the effectiveness of online advertising. We find that matching an ad to website content and increasing an ad's obtrusiveness independently increase purchase intent. However, in combination, these two strategies are ineffective. Ads that match both website content and are obtrusive do worse at increasing purchase intent than ads that do only one or the other. This failure appears to be related to privacy concerns: the negative effect of combining targeting with obtrusiveness is strongest for people who refuse to give their income and for categories where privacy matters most. Our results suggest a possible explanation for the growing bifurcation in Internet advertising between highly targeted plain text ads and more visually striking but less targeted ads.

Suggested Citation

  • Avi Goldfarb & Catherine Tucker, 2011. "Online Display Advertising: Targeting and Obtrusiveness," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 389-404, 05-06.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:30:y:2011:i:3:p:389-404
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1100.0583
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1100.0583
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mksc.1100.0583?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luc Wathieu & Allan Friedman, 2009. "An empirical approach to understanding privacy concerns," ESMT Research Working Papers ESMT-09-001, ESMT European School of Management and Technology, revised 14 Jan 2009.
    2. Noort, Guda Van & Kerkhof, Peter & Fennis, Bob M., 2008. "The persuasiveness of online safety cues: The impact of prevention focus compatibility of Web content on consumers’ risk perceptions, attitudes, and intentions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 58-72.
    3. Campbell, Margaret C & Kirmani, Amna, 2000. "Consumers' Use of Persuasion Knowledge: The Effects of Accessibility and Cognitive Capacity on Perceptions of an Influence Agent," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(1), pages 69-83, June.
    4. David Godes & Dina Mayzlin, 2009. "Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: Evidence from a Field Test," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 721-739, 07-08.
    5. Friestad, Marian & Wright, Peter, 1994. "The Persuasion Knowledge Model: How People Cope with Persuasion Attempts," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-31, June.
    6. Alessandro Acquisti & Hal R. Varian, 2005. "Conditioning Prices on Purchase History," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 367-381, May.
    7. Horrace, William C. & Oaxaca, Ronald L., 2006. "Results on the bias and inconsistency of ordinary least squares for the linear probability model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 321-327, March.
    8. Morwitz, Vicki G. & Steckel, Joel H. & Gupta, Alok, 2007. "When do purchase intentions predict sales?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 347-364.
    9. Patrali Chatterjee & Donna L. Hoffman & Thomas P. Novak, 2003. "Modeling the Clickstream: Implications for Web-Based Advertising Efforts," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 520-541, May.
    10. Anindya Ghose & Sha Yang, 2007. "An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search and Cross-Selling in Electronic Markets," Working Papers 07-35, NET Institute, revised Sep 2007.
    11. Heckler, Susan E & Childers, Terry L, 1992. "The Role of Expectancy and Relevancy in Memory for Verbal and Visual Information: What Is Incongruency?," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 475-492, March.
    12. Benjamin Hermalin & Michael Katz, 2006. "Privacy, property rights and efficiency: The economics of privacy as secrecy," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 209-239, September.
    13. Russell, Cristel Antonia, 2002. "Investigating the Effectiveness of Product Placements in Television Shows: The Role of Modality and Plot Connection Congruence on Brand Memory and Attitude," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 306-318, December.
    14. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    15. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    16. Avi Goldfarb & Catherine Tucker, 2011. "Search Engine Advertising: Channel Substitution When Pricing Ads to Context," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 458-470, March.
    17. Janice Y. Tsai & Serge Egelman & Lorrie Cranor & Alessandro Acquisti, 2011. "The Effect of Online Privacy Information on Purchasing Behavior: An Experimental Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 254-268, June.
    18. Hollis, Nigel, 2005. "Ten Years of Learning on How Online Advertising Builds Brands," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(2), pages 255-268, June.
    19. Yuxin Chen & Chakravarthi Narasimhan & Z. John Zhang, 2001. "Individual Marketing with Imperfect Targetability," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 23-41, November.
    20. P. M. Bentler & Chih-Ping Chou, 1987. "Practical Issues in Structural Modeling," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 16(1), pages 78-117, August.
    21. Anindya Ghose & Sha Yang, 2009. "An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search in Electronic Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(10), pages 1605-1622, October.
    22. C. Clark & Ulrich Doraszelski & Michaela Draganska, 2009. "The effect of advertising on brand awareness and perceived quality: An empirical investigation using panel data," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 207-236, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Avi Goldfarb, 2014. "What is Different About Online Advertising?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 44(2), pages 115-129, March.
    2. Avi Goldfarb & Catherine E. Tucker, 2011. "Privacy Regulation and Online Advertising," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(1), pages 57-71, January.
    3. Peitz, Martin & Reisinger, Markus, 2014. "The Economics of Internet Media," Working Papers 14-23, University of Mannheim, Department of Economics.
    4. Navdeep Sahni, 2015. "Effect of temporal spacing between advertising exposures: Evidence from online field experiments," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 203-247, September.
    5. Jeonghye Choi & David R. Bell & Leonard M. Lodish, 2012. "Traditional and IS-Enabled Customer Acquisition on the Internet," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(4), pages 754-769, April.
    6. Dengler, Sebastian & Prüfer, Jens, 2021. "Consumers' privacy choices in the era of big data," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 499-520.
    7. Miettinen, Topi & Stenbacka, Rune, 2015. "Personalized pricing versus history-based pricing: implications for privacy policy," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 56-68.
    8. Avramova, Yana R. & Dens, Nathalie & De Pelsmacker, Patrick, 2021. "Brand placement across media: The interaction of placement modality and frequency in film versus text," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 20-30.
    9. Budzinski, Oliver & Gänßle, Sophia & Lindstädt-Dreusicke, Nadine, 2021. "Data (r)evolution - The economics of algorithmic search and recommender services," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 148, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    10. Kinshuk Jerath & Liye Ma & Young-Hoon Park & Kannan Srinivasan, 2011. "A "Position Paradox" in Sponsored Search Auctions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 612-627, July.
    11. Gauzente, Claire & Roy, Yves, 2012. "Message content in keyword campaigns, click behavior, and price-consciousness: A study of millennial consumers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 78-87.
    12. Xiuzhi Zhang & Ying Zhang & Zhijie Lin, 2023. "Online Advertising and Real Estate sales: evidence from the Housing Market," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 605-622, March.
    13. Vincent Conitzer & Curtis R. Taylor & Liad Wagman, 2012. "Hide and Seek: Costly Consumer Privacy in a Market with Repeat Purchases," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 277-292, March.
    14. Tucker, Catherine E., 2012. "The economics of advertising and privacy," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 326-329.
    15. Caleb S. Fuller, 2018. "Privacy law as price control," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 225-250, April.
    16. Catherine Tucker, 2011. "Virality, Network Effects and Advertising Effectiveness," Working Papers 11-06, NET Institute.
    17. Yana R. Avramova & Patrick De Pelsmacker & Nathalie Dens, 2018. "How reading in a foreign versus native language moderates the impact of repetition-induced brand placement prominence on placement responses," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(6), pages 500-518, November.
    18. Kireyev, Pavel & Pauwels, Koen & Gupta, Sunil, 2016. "Do display ads influence search? Attribution and dynamics in online advertising," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 475-490.
    19. Monic Sun & Feng Zhu, 2011. "Ad Revenue and Content Commercialization: Evidence from Blogs," Working Papers 11-32, NET Institute.
    20. Qiu-Hong Wang & Kai-Lung Hui, 2017. "Technology Mergers and Acquisitions in the Presence of an Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 46-63, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:30:y:2011:i:3:p:389-404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.