Personalised Display Advertising and Online Purchase Intentions: The Moderating Effect of Internet Use Motivation

Abstract

Personalized ads are increasingly used by marketers to promote product and service brands; however, the effect of ad personalization on consumer perceptions and online purchase intention has received limited research attention, particularly in different media usage situations. To address this gap, data were collected in four sub-Saharan African countries through an online survey to test the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that perceived ad personalization influences online purchase intention, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived relevance and fully mediated by perceived intrusiveness. No effects were found for privacy concern. Notably, internet use motivation moderated the relationships between the predictor and the outcomes. Specifically, the effect of ad personalization on perceived intrusiveness was only significant among paratelic users; its effect on purchase intention was also stronger among paratelic users, and its effect on perceived relevance was more pronounced among telic users.