Creepy Marketing: Three Dimensions of Perceived Excessive Online Privacy Violation

Abstract

In this explorative paper we develop three dimensions of a new construct, Creepy Marketing (hereafter CM). First we discuss the impact of online personalized marketing on consumers. Based on this discussion a qualitative study examines both annoying marketing and creepy marketing from a consumer’s perceptive. Results distinguish annoying marketing, defined primarily as tactics, from CM, defined predominately as feelings. Based on the study, CM consists of three dimensions: invasion of privacy, stalking behavior and violation of social norms. Each of these dimensions is discussed and directions for future research are provided.