Consumer Values as Mediators in Social Network Information Search

Abstract

The expanding presence of mobile devices offers marketers a new advertising channel for reaching consumers. Whereas both real-world practice and academia hail the advantages of personalizing advertising messages with location information, this research probes its negative effects. An exploratory field study that places ads on a social network reveals a sharp drop in advertising effectiveness when an online ad includes location information. To explain these results, a subsequent experimental study demonstrates how location-based personalization can trigger feelings of vulnerability, which hamper online advertising effectiveness.