Targeted Online Advertising: Using Reciprocity Appeals to Increase Acceptance among Users of Free Web Services
Open accessAbstract
The Internet is dominated by free web services that depend on advertising revenues and powerful marketing tools to support their business models. Targeted online advertising enables websites to increase their advertising revenues by selectively displaying advertisements according to users’ browsing behavior, sociodemographics, and interests. Yet targeting also creates negative consumer reactions, and websites confront increasing regulatory pressures to inform consumers about their practices. It is critical for such advertising-supported websites to address those challenges proactively. In one scenario experiment and two field studies, the authors show that a normative reciprocity argument is generally more effective than the current industry practice of using a utilitarian argument related to advertising relevance to increase acceptance of targeted online advertising. However, in some cases, this dominance switches depending on specific website characteristics such as website utility and level of user-generated content. Managers of free websites should remind their users of the free services they enjoy when asking permission to target them online or to use their personal information.
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Personalization works best when it meets consumer expectations without feeling intrusive.
“This approach resonates with previous findings that personalization works best when it meets consumer expectations without feeling intrusive (Schumann et al., 2014).”
From Feeling Watched: A Phenomenological Exploration of Consumer Discomfort and Data Privacy Concerns in E-Commerce Personalized Email Marketing (2025) · cites this paper as Schumann et al., 2014
Personalization is effective only when it aligns closely with consumer interests; otherwise, it can have the opposite effect, making consumers feel monitored or pressured.
“Previous studies emphasized that personalization is effective only when it aligns closely with consumer interests; otherwise, it can have the opposite effect, making consumers feel monitored or pressured (Schumann et al., 2014).”
From Feeling Watched: A Phenomenological Exploration of Consumer Discomfort and Data Privacy Concerns in E-Commerce Personalized Email Marketing (2025) · cites this paper as Schumann et al., 2014
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“…more accurate identity graphs that allow companies to market products and services more efficiently and effectively by, for example, targeting people with the right content at the right time (McAfee & Brynjolfsson, 2012; Schumann, von Wangenheim, & Groene, 2014; Spangler, Hartzel, & Gal-Or, 2006).”
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Rahayu, T. A., Purnamasari, V. F. W., Rizky, M. A., Rahyadi, I., & Mani, L. (2025) · PaperASIA · doi:10.59953/paperasia.v41i1b.313 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Previous studies emphasized that personalization is effective only when it aligns closely with consumer interests; otherwise, it can have the opposite effect, making consumers feel monitored or pressured (Schumann et al., 2014).”
- Authors
- Schumann, J. H., von Wangenheim, F., & Groene, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Passau (DE)
- Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zärich
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schumann, Jan H.
- Groene, Nicole
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-01
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 59-75
- ISSN
- 0022-2429 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7185
- OpenAlex
- W2014952300
- Cited by
- 287
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 30.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
- 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
- consumer acceptance, consumer privacy, user-generated content, consumer information disclosure
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