Reactance to personalization: Understanding the drivers behind the growth of ad blocking
Abstract
Fueled by advancing technologies that continually expand Web data tracking and aggregating capabilities, online advertising has become increasingly personalized and pervasive. This trend is largely responsible for a growing number of consumers (more than 615 million worldwide) choosing to install ad-blocking software on their computers and mobile devices. As a result, U.S. publishers and advertisers estimate that ad blockers cost them more than $28 billion in revenue in the first half of 2017, and this figure is forecast to exceed $35 billion by 2020. Rooted in a theoretical foundation of psychological reactance theory (PRT), the present study examines key cognitive and affective factors driving consumers to reject personalized advertising messages and install ad-blocking software. A structural equation analysis reveals privacy-related threats, along with benefits rooted in relevance and rewards, moderated by the type of data being used to personalize advertising messages, are contributing to this shift in consumer attitudes and behaviors. Based on these findings, the authors propose important theoretical extensions to PRT along with useful practical implications for advertisers.
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Personalized advertising has been shown to lead to reactance, ad avoidance, ad blocking, and less trust.
“Additionally, personalized advertising has shown to lead to reactance, ad avoidance, ad blocking, and less trust (e.g., Bleier and Eisenbeiss 2015;Bol et al., 2018;Brinson, Eastin, and Cicchirillo 2018;Ham 2017).”
From When is personalized advertising crossing personal boundaries? How type of information, data sharing, and personalized pricing influence consumer perceptions of personalized advertising (2021) · cites this paper as Brinson, Eastin, and Cicchirillo 2018
The practice of data collection and sharing has been shown to lead to an increase in the use of ad-blocking software.
“The practice of data collection and sharing has also been shown to lead to an increase in the use of ad-blocking software (Brinson et al., 2018).”
From When is personalized advertising crossing personal boundaries? How type of information, data sharing, and personalized pricing influence consumer perceptions of personalized advertising (2021) · cites this paper as Brinson et al., 2018
Cites
Aguirre, E., Mahr, D., Grewal, D., de Ruyter, K., & Wetzels, M. (2015) · Journal of Retailing · doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2014.09.005 · Cited by 868 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…thousands of website users ’ interactions (collected both overtly and covertly) has enhanced advertisers ’ efforts to tailor ads to individual consumers based on an increasing number of data points and online behaviors (Aguirre, Mahr, Grewal, de Ruyter, and Wetzels 2015; Bucklin and Sismiero 2009).”
BackgroundThe Importance of Trust for Personalized Online Advertising
Bleier, A., & Eisenbeiss, M. (2015) · Journal of Retailing · doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2015.04.001 · Cited by 529 · see citing works
The nature of psychological reactance revisited: A meta-analytic review
Rains, S. A. (2013) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2012.01443.x · Cited by 511 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In this context, PRT purports that if a personalized advertising message threatens the recipients ’ expected level of privacy (stimulating reactance), the receivers will be motivated to restore their autonomy by ignoring or blocking the source (Bleier and Eisenbeiss 2015; Rains 2013).”
BackgroundGetting Too Personal: Reactance to Highly Personalized Email Solicitations
White, T. B., Zahay, D. L., Thorbjørnsen, H., & Shavitt, S. (2008) · Marketing Letters · doi:10.1007/s11002-007-9027-9 · Cited by 365 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…advertising in a variety of contexts (e.g., Baek and Morimoto 2012; Maslowska, Smit, and van den Putte 2016; Van Doorn and Hoekstra 2013; White et al. 2008), insights related to the key factors that strengthen or weaken these attitudes (and, in some cases, lead to the installation of ad…”
BackgroundConsumer Privacy Concerns and Preference for Degree of Regulatory Control
Okazaki, S., Li, H., & Hirose, M. (2009) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.2753/joa0091-3367380405 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
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Hayes, J. L., Brinson, N. H., Bott, G. J., & Moeller, C. M. (2021) · Journal of Interactive Marketing · doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2021.01.001 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Self-citationBoerman, S. C., Kruikemeier, S., & Bol, N. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100144 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
“The practice of data collection and sharing has also been shown to lead to an increase in the use of ad-blocking software (Brinson et al., 2018).”
MethodMcKee, K. M., Dahl, A. J., & Peltier, J. W. (2024) · Journal of Consumer Behaviour · doi:10.1002/cb.2199 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Chen, X., Sun, J., & Liu, H. (2022) · Journal of Consumer Behaviour · doi:10.1002/cb.1947 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Dark Patterns in Data-Consent Disclosures and Consumer Reactance to Online Behavioral Advertising
Ju, I., Ham, C.-D., & Yel, E. (2026) · Journal of Advertising · doi:10.1080/00913367.2025.2593666 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“In personalized advertising, this autonomy is closely tied to consumers’ desire to protect their privacy from entities that track online behavior for targeted promotions (Brinson, Eastin, and Cicchirillo 2018).”
- Authors
- Brinson, N. H., Eastin, M. S., & Cicchirillo, V. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Alabama (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Saint Xavier University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brinson, Nancy H.
- Venue
- Journal of Interactive Advertising
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-07-03
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 136-147
- ISSN
- 1525-2019 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2809555830
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6
- FWCI
- 16.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Interactive Advertising (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Center for Identity
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Keywords
- ad blocking, personalized advertising, psychological reactance theory, consumer attitudes toward advertising, privacy risks
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