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Shield & Phippen (2016) “To what extent does Online Targeted Marketing become Invasive for the Consumer?” JRSBM: 2/1 pp131-150
To What Extent does Online Targeted Marketing Become Invasive for the Consumer
Jessica Shield
Andy Phippen
Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, UK
Abstract
This paper looks at online advertising and the impact and influence it has over consumers. This research
focuses on consumers aged 18-24 years old and seeks to find out how they feel about this form of advertising: if
they find it useful, annoying or intrusive. This research uses existing literature and frameworks as support to
primary data collected through a questionnaire. The paper has concluded that this age group of consumers do
not find online advertising hugely useful and the majority find it annoying and intrusive.
Keywords
Digital marketing, marketing ethics, targeted advertising
Introduction
This paper sets out to discuss the implications of retargeting through online channels and to what extent does
this practice become an invasion of privacy for the consumer. In order to achieve this a literature review will be
conducted to analysis existing research and draw from existing frameworks and findings in order to identify
potential gaps. Secondly, the paper will identify how primary research will be used to collect data through a
questionnaire and identifies the potential limitations. The findings and discussion follow and conclusions are
drawn on what the consumer opinions are on this form of digital marketing, in particular by identifying if they
feel these are intrusive methods.
The digital age is greatly upon us and there is little escape from the internet. Digital marketing techniques are
quickly being adopted by companies of any size in order to improve their online presence (Mulhern, 2009).
Targeting and retargeting techniques are a personal way for a company to communicate with their customers
and are adopted in order to enhance the consumer-brand relationship (Chaffey & Chadwick, 2012). A company
that heavily uses this activity is ASOS; they are a large online business who have a substantial presence on
social media and actively use targeted techniques to encourage customers to return to their site.
Literature Review
In order to complete this literature review, I will be analysing four main research areas. These are: the
movement from traditional marketing to digital, digital marketing and social media as a lever for customer
relationship management, the extent to which research suggests that targeted advertising is effective and what
research has found with regards to marketing ethics.
Marketing and Ethics
Traditional marketing, as defined by the American Marketing Association (2007) is "the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large”. Traditional marketing has been criticised for lack of targeting
consumers that are truly interested in the brand and it's shown that digital marketing techniques can reduce this
wasted and 'intrusive marketing' (Taylor, 2013).
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Intrusive marketing is an issue that is becoming an increasing concern for consumers and raises potential issues
with regards to marketing ethics. Ethics, as defined by Blythe (2005) is essentially the principles that define
right and wrong. Marketing ethics, is focused around the “terms of information regarding a product… may get
to influence our values and behaviour” (Chauhan & Rathore, 2014, p45). Blythe (2005) goes on to say that there
is an extent to which these terms of information, otherwise known as advertising ‘puff’, marketers can use that
is acceptable before it is concerned with manipulation, deception and misleading. However this extent of ‘puff’
is not clearly defined nor have clear measures been advised for companies to follow and as a result, the level to
which is acceptable is dependent on each circumstance. Some researchers suggest that companies can overcome
this by creating ‘corporate marketing ethics policies’ which define behaviours the company needs to follow to
achieve ethical practice (Kotler et al, 1999). Research suggests that consumers are concerned with companies
using their information excessively for marketing means and feel that they use it to their advantage to
manipulate buying behaviour (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007; Kotler et al, 1999). Marketers are often criticised for
encouraging consumers to indulge without guilt and encouraging materialism amongst consumers (Brassington
& Pettitt, 2007). However, utilising consumer information can be mutually rewarding for both parties; the
consumer gets better offers and company gets more sales (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007).
Digital Marketing
In recent years, digital marketing (DM) has been highlighted as a key area for research and implementation in
businesses. Research has shown a large shift in marketing tactics used by organisations (Mulhern, 2009).
Parsons et al (1998) defines digital marketing (DM) activity as creating new ways to interact with the customer,
by optimising the unique capabilities of new interactive Medias. The Digital Marketing Institute proposes an
extended definition which offers benefits of DM; “the use of digital technologies to create an integrated,
targeted and measurable communication which helps to acquire and retain customers while building deeper
relationships with them” (Smith, 2007). Identifying DM as leverage for creating better relationships with
customers is a breakthrough for many marketers; Bright & Daugherty (2012) identified that finding tools that
connects customers to markets is highly sought after.
Targeted Marketing
Dholakia & Dholakia (2013) found that personalisation and mass customisation are the best way to enhance
customer-centricity. A key DM technique that is widely used is targeted or retargeted advertising, also referred
to as dynamic targeting (Chaffey & Chadwick, 2012). Targeted marketing relies on the information collected
from mining data and through a process of assortment, customers can be identified as valuable targets. Dynamic
targeting exhibits the opportunity to offer personalised adverts to consumers who return to their website and
uses consumers' browsing history on that website in order to target specific adverts (Lambrecht and Tucker,
2013). Behavioural Targeting Blog (2010, as cited in Lambrecht & tucker, 2013) reports that ‘personalized
retargeted ads are six times more effective than standard banner ads and four times more effective than generic
retargeted ads’ (p562). Foley (2016) states that because a company has access to this technology, there are no
excuses for them to provide materials that do not provide ‘good and relevant customer service and
communications’ to consumers. A common example of retargeting is when a consumer views a product on a
firm's website but decides to leave, the firm then chooses to show adverts of that product or other product
recommendations in real time to that consumer either on their site or on an external site (Lambrecht and Tucker,
2013). Alternatively, another example is Amazon's ability to recommend products using an algorithm that
analyses consumer preferences (Mulhern, 2009). Chaffey & Chadwick (2012) explains that targeting can use
cookie technology which is a data file that sits on a computer and can map the actions taken by the user on that
device. They go onto explain the benefit of using cookies; that there is no interference with the user and the
cookies do not collect personal data about the customer (Chaffey & Chadwick, 2012). The cookies simply track
the actions of the user and thereby allow the business to use this information to serve adverts to selective people.
The technology that enables marketers to target consumers is difficult for individuals to avoid. Hoofnagle et al
(2012) found that many people try to avoid being tracked online by blocking or deleting cookies. Deleting
cookies breaks the link between the identifier assigned to a computer and the tracking mechanisms of a system.
However, cookie technology can increasingly match new identifiers with old users, thereby having the capacity
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to circumvent cookie deletion. Hoofnagle et al (2012) believe that this development in technology has been
instigated by marketers who think that the benefits of being tracked outweigh consumer preferences and wants.
Social Media
Social media is a popular platform that allows companies to communicate with consumers. Businesses have the
ability to promote products and services, provide instant support, and/or create an online community of brand
enthusiasts through all forms of social media (Zarella, 2010, as cited in Erdogmus & Cicek, 2012). Mangold &
Faulds (2009) discusses social media as a new component of the promotional mix due to its multiple
opportunities to influence purchasing decisions. Social media allows a company to communicate with and
promote products to a wide online audience at a minimal cost (Manolescu & Laghaeian, 2008). Research by
Vollmer & Precourt (2008) found that consumers are increasingly turning to types of social media to conduct
their product and service research prior to making decisions; therefore an active presence on social media is a
must for companies. In 2011, research by Van Belleghem et al (2011) found that over 50% of social media users
follow brands on social media. Social media gives companies the grounds to improve customer loyalty beyond
the traditional methods and is an effective use of time and resources (Jackson, 2011; Akhtar, 2011).
Social media advertising allows a company to communicate with users on an individual and personal level. Sites,
in particular Facebook, offer extensive tools that offer ways to segment the market through attitudes, needs,
interests, buying patterns and preferences (Maurer & Wiegmann, 2011). The access to this information allows
them to reach wide audiences and target certain individuals who have the desired characteristics or who have
interacted with their brand. These tools allow companies to provide tailored content and advertising to each
customer, which can result in customer loyalty (Maurer & Weigmann, 2011; Laudon & Traver, 2008).
Gangadharbatla (2008) found that Facebook ads are extremely relevant to users because they are so highly
targeted. As discussed by Williamson (2015) the quality of engagement with ads is more important than the
number of people it reaches. Often targeting the wrong people may consequence in consumers avoiding a
company’s website, or generating negative word-of-mouth (Chauhan & Rathore, 2014).
IBM conducted research in 2010 around companies on social media and how consumers interact with them.
They identified that due to the worldwide explosion of social media usage, businesses feel pressured to engage
in this sector and congregate where their customers are (Baird & Parasnis, 2011). They also found that social
media held high potential for companies to get closer to customers, but it raises new challenges in the customer
relationship management. Their research found that over half of consumers they surveyed said they do not
engage with brands via socials media; popular reasons why included ‘privacy concerns’ and ‘spam’ (p.33).
Despite this consumers said they are willing to interact with companies if they believe there is a benefit to them
such as discounts (Baird & Parasnis, 2011). Research by Erdogmus & Cicek (2012) agrees with this, as their
study showed that ‘advantageous campaigns’ on social media were the most significant drivers of brand loyalty
(p.1358).
Online marketing practice for the consumer
Research by Brandweek (2007) looked into the impacts of different online marketing medias and how they
influenced the decisions of 3,000 customers. They identified that display adverts were effective during the
information-gathering stage and the purchase-consideration stage of the buyer decision process which identifies
the value of these adverts in reminding the customer of the brand during high and low level decision making.
The customer buying behaviour is different when conducted online in comparison to offline as there is increased
information available allowing the consumer to make better informed decisions (Heijden et al, 2003).
Brandweeks's research also concluded that online advertising was least effective in engaging consumers and
influencing a purchase (2007). This conclusion contradicts a lot of research which suggests targeted and
retargeted marketing encourages a consumer to purchases.
Similarly, research by Lambrecht & tucker (2013) concluded that generic online adverts were more effective for
consumers who have not sought out product information yet and were in their research phase. They found that
targeted adverts are better after the consumer has conducted product research. They believe that consumers will
respond to adverts dependent on their progress in different stages of the decision process.
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Reflecting on online targeting overall, Chen & Barnes (2007) found that familiarity with companies when
purchasing online reduces the perceived risks a customer faces, thereby the use of targeted adverts on existing
customers is likely to have a more positive outcome. There has been much research to support this including,
Park & Kim (2003) who found that adverts are more effective if the customer has previously purchased from the
firm. Chaffey & Chadwick (2012) devised a model that identifies the level to which a customer is involved in
with the band. The stages are as follows: first-time visitor, return visitor, newly registered visitor, registered
visitor, purchased one time, purchase inactive and purchase active. The stages illustrate the customer following
a journey in which trust and familiarity in the brand is gained.
Chen & Barnes (2007) research suggests that targeted advertising is more likely to be effective when customers
at stages 3, newly registered, and above are targeted. In the case of retargeting, the user has previously
registered an interest in the brand by either visiting the brand's website or specific product pages which suggest
the user is more likely to convert. Chaffey & Chadwick's (2012) model should help reduce unrelated
information in targeted adverts being served to the consumer. Targeting using this means a user should only
receive information that is relevant to them and avoids serving them with unrelated adverts (Pons, 2006).
This method of communicating with the consumers follow the principles of customer relationship management
(CRM), which Swift (2001, p12) defines as the ‘‘enterprise approach to understanding and influencing customer
behaviour through meaningful communications in order to improve customer acquisition, customer retention,
customer loyalty, and customer profitability”. Swift's definition touches on CRM as a tool for acquiring and
retaining customers. However, Rosenberg & Czepiel (1984) identified that acquiring new customers is a higher
cost than to retain and concluded that in order to successfully pursue sales, a balance between these needs to be
obtained. Recent research suggests there is a stronger focus on maximising the value of customers by creating
long term relationships and exhorting loyalty (Ngai et al, 2009). Keiningham et al (2012) research supports this
and is determined that customer loyalty is most important and states that loyal customers will help drive profits
through years of devotion, becoming an advocate to the brand and recommending friends to the company.
Alternatively, Kincaid (2003, p41) viewed CRM as ‘‘the strategic use of information, processes, technology,
and people to manage the customer’s relationship with your company...across the whole customer life cycle”.
Kincaid's version identified the need for information in order to manage the customer relationship and this
information can be acquired through data mining whereby useful information is extracted from large data sets in
order for marketers to make better informed decisions (Hand et al, 2001). For CRM, data mining allows the
marketer to pull useful information about the customer's behaviours and interactions with the brand which can
help identify the more profitable and valuable customers (Ngai et al, 2009; Chang et al, 2009). However data
mining does not come without limitations and the data collected is only helpful if organisations are able to
transform it into useful trends and themes of information (Berson et al, 2000). McKinsey & Company (2013 as
cited in Dholakia & Dholakia, 2013) expanded on this to say that the managerial challenge is determining
‘which data to use, how to source it and how to get it together into an integrated form’. If the organisation is
successful, one of the decisions it can help with is choosing which marketing platform to use to communicate
with different segments of customer (Ngai et al, 2009).
Ethics in DM
The use of data mining and exploitation of consumer data raises concern with regards to digital marketing
practice and if marketers are taking advantage of the information available. A key component of online
marketing is gaining permissions of consumers you communicate with and with these companies should honour
if consumers wish to ‘opt-out’ (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007). Without a consumer’s permission to contact them
or use their data, the company does not have the right to us it. Cannon (2002) discusses consumer permissions
and privacy, and suggests that these two components contribute to a consumer’s trust in an organisation; if a
company misuses this then the consumer is likely to leave. If the trust is honoured, then a company can
potentially achieve a long term relationship with the consumer.
There is a growing concern from consumers with regards to trust and privacy when they see these forms of
online advertising. Chaffey & Chadwick (2012) explain that many customers’ fear their personal details are
captured by companies without their permission and feel that viewing particular online advert types have a 'big
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brother' effect (p169). They say that the likely impacts of these perceived risks and annoyance for customers is
that they will create negative associations with the brand. These views causes concern to marketing ethics and
whether this practice is perhaps too close to the customer. Research conducted by Heath & Chatzidakis (2012)
looked into how customers feel about marketers as a positive role in society and they found that customers often
viewed marketing as manipulative. For example, using Facebook as a platform for targeted marketing holds
many advantages and although the consumers of Facebook freely put information on their profiles, to what
extent do they may or may not know or understand that it can be shared with third parties is a concern (Roberts,
2010). This information can then be used at the third parties’ advantage and the concept of using this to motivate
customers purchasing behaviour is a key area of ethical concern (Klein & Phillips, 2008).
Collecting data on consumers can potentially violate consumer privacy. Consumers fear that their information
can get up in the wrong hand and be used for malicious means (Ur et al, 2012). Ur et al (2012) conducted
research on 48 participants, questioning them about behavioural targeting to which comments including ‘freaks
me out’ and ‘it’s creepy’ were brought up. When the participants were asked how cookies work, none of them
could explain which concluded that consumers are not fully educated by companies about how and what
information is collected.
Doorn & Hoekstra (2013) identified a tension between the effectiveness of personalisation and targeted
marketing with feelings of intrusiveness. Personalisation and achieving the right ad fit to the ‘consumer’s need
leads to higher purchase intentions’ (Doorn & Hoekstra, 2013, p341). However, their research suggested that as
personalisation becomes more distinctive for the individual, feelings of intrusiveness increase, which negatively
affects the consumer’s purchase intentions. They created a conceptual model which identified the impacts of
personalisation: “a consumer’s purchase intentions should be negatively affected by the perceived intrusiveness
of the offer and positively affected by the offer’s fit” (p343). The model suggests that the use of customisation
leads to intrusiveness for the consumer. This is identified as a privacy concern which will impact the purchase
intention for the consumer. Their research identifies the need for balance between using consumer data to offer
more fitted adverts and using the data wisely so their activity is not invasive to consumers.
The degree of privacy concerns an individual has may vary from one individual to another (Larose & Rifon,
2007) and research shows conflicting consumers opinions. Interviews conducted by the BBC found that many
people were not fans of this form of targeted advertising nor other online methods; one girl referred to it as
'creepy' and one guys said that he thinks marketers know too much about a customer and shouldn't be able to
contact individuals like this (BBC, 2013). Another view as presented by Helft & Vega (2010) summarised that
consumers found targeted adverts intrusive and annoying and in an interview a lady referred to the adverts as an
"unleashed a persistent salesman who wouldn’t take no for an answer". This research is supported and built on
by many professionals including Taylor (2013) who found that although online advertising appears appealing to
marketers, they more often cause annoyance than the desired activity. Despite these negative comments, one girl
stated 'it catches my eye and I might come back to it later, so yes, it does work' (BBC, 2013). This suggests a
concept called the halo effect, whereby these adverts may not directly contribute a sale but they may help
remind the consumer of the brand when they are at the stage to purchase (Chaffey, 2009). For this reason,
companies continue to exercise the targeted techniques.
Justification for Study
From conducting this research, it is clear there are strengths and weaknesses for the use of targeted advertising
online. However, age specific research has not yet been considered nor how the largest users of the internet feel
about this practice. ONS statistics (2015) inform us that the heaviest users of the internet are aged from 18-24
years, with 99% of this user group having used the internet. These users are most comfortable with using the
internet and this may impact the extent to which online advertising is perceived and how the ethics of the
practice is viewed. The above research arises particular questions including:
1.
To what extent have these users experienced targeted activity?
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H0: 18-24 year old consumers are highly exposed to targeted advertising activity
H1: 18-24 year old consumers do not experience targeted activity
2.
What do they think/feel about these methods of marketing?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers find targeted adverts useful
H1: 18-24 year olds consumers do not find targeted adverts useful
3.
Do they feel these methods of targeting are intrusive?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers feel that targeted marketing techniques are intrusive
H1: 18-24 year old consumers do not feel these adverts impact them
4.
Do they have any concerns about privacy online?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers are highly concerned about their privacy online
H1: 18-24 year old consumers do not worry about their privacy online
By exploring these questions, research can be conducted to identify suggestions for best practice and analyse the
impact of this practice on users. There are potential limitations to this research including lack of statistics to
show the effectiveness of targeted advertising from the company's point of view. Therefore this paper will focus
on exploring the consumer perception and how this information can help companies to improve their activity.
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Methodology
The analysis is largely positivist whereby the information collected is quantitative and the research is being
carried out to achieve an objective view on the effectiveness of targeted advertising. The research conducted is
of a confirmatory approach and aims to collect data which will draw conclusions on the relationships between
targeted marketing, marketing ethics and consumer opinions. Whilst the research is heavily secondary and
literature based, primary research in the form of a survey is needed. A questionnaire, as said by Saunders et al, is
a widely used method for collecting large quantities of data (2009; 2012). DeVaus (2002) defines a
questionnaire as a set of questions in a structured order that is given to an appropriate person to complete.
Saunders et al (2009:2012) identifies questionnaires that can be self-administrated or interview-administrated.
This research uses self-administrated questionnaires because the user completed the questionnaire alone which
allows the respondent to feel more anonymous (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). This method is shown to encourage
respondents to give more honest answers as they are less likely to give 'socially desirable' responses which often
occur under the pressure of interviewer-based questionnaires (Dillman, 2007). The questionnaire will be
constructed online using a survey provider called Qualtrics; the use of an internet-based questionnaire enables a
wider geographical range and increases the ease of gaining a large response due to the feasibility of sharing it on
social media (Jankowicz, 2005). Qualtrics also assists the process of organising respondent data which makes it
easier to administrate (Saunders et al, 2009; 2012; Jankowicz, 2005). Albert et al (2009) warns the length of
survey may increase the drop-out rate and suggests that online surveys should not take longer than 10 minutes to
complete. The survey had an average completion time of 4 minutes.
The population to be targeted for this research will be UK residential individuals, of any gender and between the
age of 18-24 years old. This age group is well suited to this research as they are the most frequent users of the
internet and are therefore more likely to be exposed to targeted advertising (ONS, 2015). This sample group was
selected through purpose sampling as it is a population relevant to the topic area and through quota sampling to
use a handful of this population to represent it (Jankoqicz, 2005).
The language used in this survey needed to appropriately match this age group and needed to be easy to
understand so not to disadvantage the survey due to lack of interviewer competence. The use of open-questions
offers the respondent to give opinions and unique answers which can give great detail to the survey (Roberts et
al, 2014). However, the uses of these are difficult, although not impossible, to quantify and measure (Roberts et
al, 2014). Therefore the uses of this question style were kept to a minimum and Likert scale questions were used.
McNabb (2002) describes Likert scales as questions that measure the subjects’ agreement to a given statement
and it allows them to score between a positive and negative attitude. Although these questions encourage
subjects to give answers that side towards agreeing to the statement or disagreeing, there is conflicting opinions
on the use of a no-opinion or ‘neither agree nor disagree’ option. Some researchers say that subjects may use
these options to avoid thinking about the question (Oppenheim, 1992 as cited in Vannette, 2015) and thereby
produce untruthful results, however the use of this answer allows the subject to choose this if they felt they had
no opinion about the question. Despite the controversy, the survey for this research was conducted using an
option ‘neither agree nor disagree’.
To ensure the questionnaire worked correctly, it was tested on a small sample of the population in an
interviewer-based structure in order to gain feedback on the questionnaire (Oppenheim, 2000).
Limitations to methodology
There are limitations to this proposed method which need to be considered. As defined by Saunders et al, (2012)
limitations are ‘potential shortcomings or inadequacies of the study’. By identifying the potentials it has possible
to reduce the impacts.
Firstly, although respondents are encouraged to answer honestly, it cannot be guaranteed that the results will not
suffer from bias. Rogelburg & Stanton (2008) said that even with the highest response rate, data may not be
non-bias. Although it is near impossible to sure of avoiding non-truthful responses, Kanazawa (2005) provides
comfort in that this is often out of the researcher’s control. A control measure was put in place to ensure that the
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subjects were within the age bracket desired, however this cannot be evidenced due to the anonymous means of
the survey.
Secondly, the questionnaire may suffer from a lack of knowledge or understanding from the respondents about
the topic area which may lead them to guess answers, also known as uniformed responses (Saunders et al, 2009).
This raises the issue that self-administrated questionnaires suffer from lack of interviewer assistance in being
able to explain questions or concepts (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). In order to overcome this, the questionnaire
needs to be effectively designed and offer a clear introduction to avoid respondents completing a questionnaire
they do not understand (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).
Thirdly, the nature of this research is limited to time and capital. Due to the nature in which the survey was
shared to subjects, it is likely the results take advantage of the researchers learning environment. However, since
the objective is non-dependent on geographic representation, there is no reason against doing the survey in one
area.
Ethical Considerations
With regards to ethical practice, the questionnaire will begin with asking the respondent for permission to ensure
they are aware that they are not being pressured to participate in the study (Saunders & Lewis, 2012). Prior to
respondents completing the questionnaire, they will be thoroughly informed on how they are involved in the
research process and the introduction to the questionnaire will clearly state the objectives of the research to
avoid misleading respondents (Cooper & Schindler, 2008). The introduction will also clearly state that the
information will be kept confidential and each respondent will remain anonymous throughout the process. This
information will not be passed onto other parties post research.
Findings & Discussion
This section presents the research findings and discusses the data collected through the questionnaire. The
findings are organised by the written objectives.
Firstly the questionnaire asked respondents for their profile and demographic details, and then it asks about
general characteristics of the respondents with regards to their use of the internet. 102 responses were received
during the questionnaire being active; of these 91 were between the desired segment group of 18-24 years old.
As age was an important element of the research, the 11 respondents that fall out of this age group were
removed from the rest of the questionnaire. There were a total of 63 females and 28 males that completed the
questionnaire. Since the questionnaire was non-dependent on gender preferences, these figures are acceptable
for the needs of the research.
To what extent have these users experienced targeted activity?
Subjects were asked ‘Are you an active user of the internet?’ and were asked to select one of the follow answers:
(1) ‘Strongly agree’, (2) ‘Agree, (3) Neither agree or disagree, (4) Disagree, (5) Strongly disagree. 91% of
respondents chose ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ when questioned on their level of activity on the internet. The
ONS (2015), as identified in the literature, found that this user group were particularly high users of the internet
and as such they are a good match for the research. The trend in internet activity was found to be reflected in
their level of activity on social media. Graph 1.0 shows the distribution of answers; excluding 3 responses, all
subjects chose ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’. Of these users, 93% said they used social media ‘more than once a
day’ and the other 7% said ‘once a day’. The high usage of social media suggests that they are high targets for
social media advertising and other alike online marketing.
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Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor
disagree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Graph 1.0 ‘Are you an active user of social media?’
Graph 2.0 demonstrates the popularity of social media sites amongst the subject group, asking ‘what social
media sites are you active on’? It is clear that Facebook is the favoured site with 98% of subjects holding an
active profile. As the literature identified, Facebook offers a variety of tools that allow a company to target
specific audiences and by so many of the subjects being active on Facebook it is likely they are targets for
online advertising (Maurer & Wiegmann, 2011).
The subjects were then asked if they have received targeted communications from a brand and 82% responded
‘yes’.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Graph 2.0 ‘What social media sites are you active on?’
This information indicates that this group are particularly susceptible to online advertising due to their extensive
use of the internet. This suggests a relationship between usage of the internet and exposure to targeted adverts.
As this user group is highly online, the majority have knowingly been shown adverts from companies that were
targeted to them. As identified above, Facebook is a popular media for targeting consumers (Maurer &
Wiegmann, 2011) and it is likely that the more active users will be targeted.
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The questionnaire asked subjects to arrange popular methods of communications into their preferred order out of:
telephone, email, company website, post and social media. The subjects chose email, social media and the
company’s website significantly above being communicated by post and telephone. Out of 88 responses, 76%
chose telephone as their last answer and 16% chose it as their 4 th answer. And for post, 54% chose it as their 4th
answer and 18% chose it as their 5th option. This information tells us that this age group prefer digital means of
communication and are more likely opt to receive information from companies via these channels. As a result,
these users are likely targets of online marketing and in turn, this may influence opinions regarding experience
with targeted adverts.
What do consumers think/feel about these methods of marketing?
The subjects were asked if they have received targeted communications from a brand and 82% responded ‘yes’.
Of these, the questionnaire asked them to select what that brand was communicating to them about. The
questionnaire offered a list which included: (1) Promotion, (2) Discounts, (3) Information about the company, (4)
New product Information, (5) Previously viewed items and (6) Unknown/non-applicable information. Of their
answers, the most popular reasons were to show promotions and discounts to the user. As presented in the
literature review, Baird & Parasnis (2011) stated that consumers are more likely to engage with these adverts if
they offer the consumer something in return and research by Erdogmus & Cicek (2012) suggested that these
promotional or ‘advantageous campaigns’ on social media were the most significant drivers of brand loyalty.
Therefore it is not surprising that companies are keen to use these as one of their marketing techniques.
Subjects were asked to rate the following statement about online adverts, on a scale of (1) Strongly agree, (2)
Somewhat agree, (3) Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Somewhat disagree and (5) Strongly disagree. The
statement ‘they are useful / informative’: 46 % of subjects chose ‘somewhat agree’, 5% ‘strongly agree’, 19%
‘somewhat disagree’ and 2% ‘strongly disagree’, leaving 28% who ‘neither agree nor disagree’. This
information tells us that the majority of subjects tend to find targeted adverts informative, therefore companies
are likely to be targeting people correctly some of the time.
Using cross tabulation, it was possible to look at these statements with regards to subjects who have experienced
targeted adverts and what messages were displayed. The key messages portrayed in the adverts were identified:
promotions (63 responses), discounts (58), new product information (52) and previously viewed items (43). The
research suggests that of those who selected promotions, 46% ‘somewhat agrees’ to targeted adverts being
useful and 6% ‘strongly agree’. Similarly, of those who selected discounts, 48% ‘somewhat agree’ to targeted
adverts being useful. New product information was selected by 50% people who ‘somewhat agree’ it is useful
and 49% people ‘somewhat agree’ to previously viewed items as useful. This information suggests that subjects
generally find adverts that offer them something in return, i.e. money off the product or service or information
about a new product or previously viewed item, more useful than information about the company.
Secondly, the questionnaire asked if subjects had experienced targeted adverts to which they deemed nonappropriate to them, of which 65% said yes and 21% said maybe. It then asks those who answered yes or maybe
why they felt the ad was not for them. The options were: (1) Never heard of the brand, (2) Not interested in the
products, (3) Information was not useful to me, (4) The ad breached my online privacy. Of these, answer (2) was
selected top with 84% of subjects choosing this; this is concerning as many of the respondents had been targeted
with information on products that were not interesting or suitable for them. In the literature, it warns that
marketers are showing adverts to people who don’t want to see them and as a result they feel annoyed and could
change their perspective on the brand behind the advert. As discussed by Chauhan & Rathore (2014), targeting
to the wrong people can lead them to generate negative word-of-mouth and puts the company at risk of losing a
customer. Answer (3) was the second choice, with 48% selecting this answer, equating to 33 responses. As
discovered in the literature, online targeted adverts are capable of targeting audiences who are more likely to be
interested in the information and who are more likely to buy it (Taylor, 2013). However, the research suggests
that this in not always the case and companies are not giving consumers the information they want.
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70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes
Maybe
No
Graph 3.0 ‘Have you experienced targeted online ads by brands you deem to be non-applicable to you?’
Thirdly, subjects were asks to rate the following statement: ‘all the ads I see on social media are relevant to me’.
Of the 88 responses, 16% ‘strongly disagree and 43% ‘somewhat disagree’, which suggests the majority believe
that a proportion of the ads they see on social media are irrelevant to them. Finally, subjects rated the statement
‘I find ads on social media sites useful’. Out of 88 responses, 14% ‘strongly disagree’ and 36% ‘somewhat
disagree’. This suggests that the majority do not find social media adverts useful.
The research suggests that the subjects differ with regards to opinions in the usefulness of targeted adverts.
When asked directly to state whether a targeted advert is useful, the majority agree that some can be. However
when asked why they thought an advert wasn’t target successfully, a key reason was the lack of relevant
information a company gives. This suggests that adverts which are correctly targeted to the right people and
which offer something to the consumer can be successful in engaging the consumer. However when people are
shown adverts which they think are not useful they categorise them as untargeted and potentially annoying. As
discussed earlier, sites like Facebook can allow a company to target quite specifically (Maurer &Weigmann,
2011; Gangadharbatla, 2008), however the research suggests that there are still companies who target large
groups of people who may or may not be suitable for the advert. This balance between successfully targeted and
otherwise ‘not’ targeted adverts could be explained by Williamson (2015) who says that the quality of adverts
shown to certain consumers is more important than quantity. It is likely that companies aim to reach large
audience with the same ad and therefore are likely to reach individuals who do not find the information useful.
However, the small group of individuals who are attracted to the ad and who go through to purchase, out-weigh
the ‘costs’ of the consumers who don’t.
Do they feel these methods of targeting are intrusive?
Subjects were asked to rate the following statements about online adverts, on a scale of (1) Strongly agree, (2)
Somewhat agree, (3) Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Somewhat disagree and (5) Strongly disagree.
Firstly the statement ‘they are annoying’ was asked for subjects to rate. Out of 85 respondents, 53% ‘somewhat
agree’ that targeted adverts are annoying and 19% ‘strongly agree’. This supports a point raise earlier, in that
mis-targeted adverts leading to annoying the consumer and could lead to negative associations with the brand.
Secondly, the statement ‘they are invasive’ was asked. In the same pool of 85 respondents, 40% ‘somewhat
agree’ that targeted adverts are invasive and 7% ‘strongly agree’, although 29% ‘somewhat disagree’ and 6%
‘strongly disagree’. This suggests that the subjects may have some understanding as to why and how these
adverts are there and thereby understand the logic behind it which may put them at ease when viewing them.
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However, the majority did agree that targeted adverts are invasive which suggests that companies are getting too
close to the consumer with their marketing techniques.
The questionnaire asks subjects to rate the following statement ‘I think ads on social media are intrusive’. Out
of 88 responses, 10% ‘strongly agree’ and 48% ‘somewhat agree’. Referring back to the previous statement, it
appears a similar opinion is given. However, more respondents chose to agree with the statement regarding
social media against the generic statement; this suggests that adverts on social media are perceived differently to
other online targeting methods.
The research suggests that consumers do feel that adverts are invasive and are shown to consumers in areas they
wish not to be. As identified in the literature Taylor (2013) found that although it can be effective, online
activity can more often cause annoyance over the desired response. This problem falls close to Ur et al (2012)
research who found that individuals wanted to have the choice to decide what adverts they want to see. By
putting some control in the consumer’s hands, it is possible to overcome issues regarding annoying adverts.
With regards to Doorn & Hoekstra (2013) conceptual model, Figure 4.0, it is clear the balance between
offerings a consumer a personalised advert and the feeling of intrusiveness, is one that has not been succeeded
yet in many cases.
The subjects’ responses to these statements also question the subjects’ knowledge on targeted adverts and to
what extent do they understand why they are there. As shown in research by Ur et al (2012) the majority of their
participants identified cookies as the means of how companies do this but none of them could explain how they
work. This draws on a lack of education from companies about how they are using the consumer’s information
and this should be communicated.
Do they have any concerns about privacy online?
Subject was asked to rate the following statements on a scale of (1) Strongly agree, (2) Somewhat agree, (3)
Neither agree nor disagree, (4) Somewhat disagree and (5) Strongly disagree.
Firstly, the statement ‘I worry that companies collect too much information about me’ of which 49% of
respondents chose ‘somewhat agree’ and 20% ‘strongly agree’. Next the statement, ‘I trust companies to use my
information appropriately’ which 23% ‘somewhat agree’ however 39% chose ‘somewhat disagree’ and 10%
‘strongly disagree’. The responses to these statements suggest that consumers aged 18-24 years old are
concerned with companies using their information incorrectly and potentially to their advantage. At the end of
the questionnaire, subjects were encouraged to leave a written comment with regards to their experiences with
online targeted advertising. 2 comments were particularly interesting:
“Not comfortable with amount of data being collected about me at times to benefit companies financially but I
also get that its business and profit maximising”
This comment highlights their concern about the amount of information a company can get about individual.
This is particularly interesting as they have also considered the need for the information, being for profit
maximising for the company’s benefits. In the literature, using data to identify certain customers who portray
particular behaviours is more profitable and helps companies identify more valuable consumers to communicate
to (Ngai et al, 2009; Chang et al, 2009). However, in experiences when they get it wrong, overdo it or otherwise
are unsuccessful at targeting the right consumers, their opinions on the brand may be influenced (Chauhan &
Rathore, 2014).
The second comment identifies privacy concerns the individual has, in particular around companies sharing data
with third parties:
“Organisations that sell on data without consent should be penalised for it. It’s verging on harassment with how
I’m contacted via email and 2 texts today from 2 different orgs”
Their comment highlights a key concern of when targeting can go wrong; where a consumer is annoyed and
almost feels they are being harassed because of a company’s (or companies) failure to correctly target the right
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consumer in the right way. Chaffey & Chadwick (2012) explain that many consumers fear that companies
capture their details without permissions and often this leads to excessive communications from many
companies across channels. This suggests that there is a failure in companies clearly informing consumers what
they will do with their information and if they will share their data to third parties.
Subjects were asked to rate the statement ‘I am concerned about my privacy when active online’ of which 57%
of respondents chose ‘somewhat agree’ and 14% ‘strongly agree’. With 71% of respondents agreeing to this
statement to some degree, it is clear there is a lot of concern from this group.
Finally, the statement ‘I often click on ads I see on social media’ of which 38% of respondents chose ‘strongly
disagree’ and 38% ‘somewhat disagree’, only 18% chose ‘somewhat agree’ and no one strongly agreed. This
suggests that there is still concern with trusting adverts viewed on social media. Consumers may be hesitant to
click on the advert but instead open the company’s website in another tab and thereby demonstrating the ‘halo
effect’ (Chaffey, 2009). On the other hand, if the adverts are not correctly targeted towards them then it is
unlikely they will want to click on the advert.
Although 18-24 years olds are of the biggest users of the internet and social media (ONS, 2015), it is clear their
concerns for their privacy and safety online is much the same as other age groups. This research identifies a
need for education on how companies gain this information and how individuals can avoid it if they choose to.
However, as marketing technology develops and more companies joining in to these methods of marketing, it’s
becoming more difficult for individuals to avoid it (Hoofnagle et al, 2012).
Further discussion
The research has aimed to provide answers to the following objectives with regards to the predicted hypothesis.
The research as discussed above has helped us arrive at the following conclusions.
Objective 1: To what extent have these users experienced targeted activity?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers are highly exposed to targeted advertising activity
The research suggests that users aged 18-24 years old are highly exposed to online targeting. The results suggest
that there is a relationship between internet usage and expose to online adverts which is of a positive correlation.
This proposal is similar with regards to levels of activity on social media and exposure to online adverts, which
also suggests a positive correlation. These findings allow us to identify 18-24 year olds as key target group for
targeted marketing.
Objective 2: What do they think/feel about these methods of marketing?
H1: 18-24 year olds consumers do not find targeted adverts useful
Contrary to what the literature suggests, most targeted marketing that the research subjects have experienced is
not useful. This informs us that although there can be many benefits to targeting consumers online, such as more
suitable information and personalised service (Foley, 2016), they are of little use to the consumer nor the
company if this activity is being deployed incorrectly. The questionnaire identified that subjects agreed to the
reasons why an advert would not useful and these can help inform where a marketer is going wrong. The
answers: never heard of the brand, not interested in the products and information was not useful to me, suggest
that adverts do not work during the research phase of the consumer. Referring to Chen & Barnes (2007) and
their idea that targeted advertising are more likely to be effective for customers at stages 3 and above (Chaffey
& Chadwick, 2012). These are consumers who have visited the brand’s website and have registered an interest
in the brand; they may have purchased a product or be actively looking on the website. By targeting these
consumers, they will know who the brand is, thereby deactivating the reason ‘never heard of the brand’. The
brand can then offer messages that are aligned to the products they are looking at or similar products in order to
reduce showing the consumer ‘information was not useful to me’ and ‘not interested in the products’. In theory,
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consumers should then receive information that is relevant to them (Pons, 2006). However the current use of
targeted marketing is still wide spread and not successfully targeted.
Objective 3: Do they feel these methods of targeting are intrusive?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers feel that targeted marketing techniques are intrusive
The research suggests that users 18-24 years old do find these forms of advertising intrusive and as a result
consumers’ opinions about them and the brands are largely negative. As discussed by Ur et al (2012) consumers
want the control to choose what adverts they see and from who. By offering this to a consumer, the adverts they
choose to see are likely to be more beneficial and positively related to the company. This may result in
consumers preferring adverts which are predominately advantageous; however, this can benefit both the
consumer and the company. Additionally, a company should look to restrict the number of adverts shown to the
consumer within a time period. This may assist in minimising the number of invasive adverts shown and reduce
irritating the consumer. Doorn & Hoekstra (2013) conceptual model, Figure 4.0, can offer guidance to finding
the balance between targeting a consumer and the consumer feeling intruded. By adopting a more successful
targeting and selection method, and controlling the exposure a consumer receives from one brand, the success in
targeting a consumer may increase.
The difference between social media adverts and other online adverts has been highlighted as a potential factor
influencing the consumer’s perceptions of targeted adverts. As the research suggests, more consumers aged 1824 agree that adverts on social media are invasive in comparison to when they are asked generically about
targeted adverts online. This may be due to the nature of social media sites as they are primarily set up as
platforms to network with friends and family; however as companies increase marketing activity on these
platforms, the focus is taken away from the core value of the sites and moved onto more bombarding marketing
messages. This suggests that marketers should consider social media advertising differently and more personally
in comparison to other online medians. Additionally, they should be careful in their regularity of targeting the
consumer on these platforms, as they appear to be more sensitive.
Objective 4: Do they have any concerns about privacy online?
H0: 18-24 year old consumers are highly concerned about their privacy online
Although 18-24 years old are the highest users of the internet and are therefore highly comfortably in its use,
their perceptions about online privacy appear to be high too. The research suggests that the majority of subjects
were concerned that they collect too much. Although data is useful for companies in order to provide a better
service and to better understand their consumers, there is still fear from consumers (Doorn & Hoekstra, 2013; Ur
et al, 2012; Chaffey & Chadwick, 2012). As discussed above, Doorn & Hoekstra (2013) identify the need to
balance and justify the need for consumer data and companies should learn the balance before becoming too
intrusive.
The research suggests that consumers have concerns with how companies use their data. Ur et al (2012) found
that consumers feared that their information would be shared with third parties and be used for malicious means.
This questions how informed consumers are about what happens to their information once it is shared with a
company. For example, Klein and Phillips (2008) say that information on Facebook can be shared with third
parties and used by companies to target groups of consumers who share similar behaviours or profiles. For this
research, it would have been interesting to understand the extent of the consumer’s knowledge on how their data
is handled; as suggested by this data, their insight is poor which has resulted in high concern.
These concerns could be overcome with increased education from companies that inform the consumer how
their data will be used. Additionally, improving the opportunity for a consumer to ‘opt-out’ of certain method of
targeting may increase trust in a company as the consumer knows they can choose to ‘opt-out’ if they find the
adverts are too intrusive (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007).
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Conclusion
To conclude, this research confirms that there is a limit to what is acceptable with regards to targeted adverts.
The research is represents 18-24 year olds who are active users of both the internet and social media. The
findings show that this age group is highly exposed to targeted forms of advertising and that in their experiences
the effectiveness and usefulness of these are not hugely positive. It was identified that many of the subjects have
experienced adverts that they disagree was for them and this has resulted in a negative opinion about this form
of marketing. Arguably, this paper has identified that there is a need for companies to educate themselves about
identifying potential consumers and how to reach them. By targeting the right consumers, companies can reduce
costs by avoiding targeting lost cause individuals and avoiding annoying consumers. Also identified is a need
for companies to educate consumers about how they chose to target particular consumers and how the
consumer’s data will be used by the company or potential third parties. By achieving this a company can avoid
crossing onto unwelcome territory and avoid becoming intrusive to consumers.
This research was conformed to a small respondent pool; further research would offer a larger total of
respondents. This would assist to make the research more creditable. When completing the questionnaire, many
respondents chose the ‘neither agree nor disagree’ option, which fell between either a positive or negative
opinion. The findings from this research is largely pulled from the sway of subject opinions and as a result the
subjects' that chose ‘neither agree nor disagree’ as their answers were not considered useful. Future research
would benefit from removing this option and thereby forcing subjects to choose either a positive or negative
answer (Oppenheim, 1992 as cited in Vannette, 2015). Additionally, this research would benefit from a deeper
insight into why the subjects chose their answers. This research has provided possible assumptions and
suggestions that these subjects chose these answers for the identified reasons. However, by including more open
questions in the survey or by incorporating some focus groups the potential to find out why would be more
creditable. A focus group would allow for subjects to offer their opinions outside of the structured survey and
potential identify issues that were previously unconsidered.
Key questions to consider post this research include exploring deeper into how consumers react differently to
social media adverts to other online adverts. This research suggested a more negative opinion towards social
media adverts; therefore it would be interesting to see the results of a focused research on this. Secondly, to
understand why the consumers feel online adverts are invasive and what factors influence their opinions. As
identified above, a focus group could help achieve this objective. Similarly, it would be interesting to see if
their opinions change for adverts from different sectors such as fashion, banking and so on.
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Appendices
Questionnaire
Which age category do you fall into?
- <18
- 18-24
- 25-30
- 31-40
- 41+
Gender
- Female
- Male
Are you an active user of the internet?
- Strongly agree
- Somewhat agree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Strongly disagree
Are you an active user of social media?
- Strongly agree
- Somewhat agree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Strongly disagree
What social media platforms are you active on? Select as many as appropriate.
- Facebook
- Twitter
- YouTube
- Instagram
- Pinterest
- Tumblr
- LinkedIn
- Vine
How often do you use social media?
- More than once a day
- One a day
- Multiple times a week
- Less than once a week
Please rate the following statements: Strongly disagree - disagree - neither agree/disagree - agree - strongly
agree
- I worry that companies collect too much information about me
- I like following companies and brands on social media
- I find ads on social media sites useful
- I trust companies to use my information appropriately
- I think ads on social media are intrusive
- All the ads I see on social media are relevant to me
- I often click on ads I see on social media
- I am concerned about my privacy when active online
- My primary use for the internet is online shopping
- I get to know a brand better when they use social media
How do you prefer a brand to communicate with you? Please rate in order, 1 = top preference.
- Email
- Post
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- Social media
- Own website
- Telephone
Have you experienced targeted or retargeted communications from a brand via social media?
- Yes
- No
- Don't know
When you experienced targeting by a brand what was it about? Select as many as appropriate.
- Promotion
- Discounts
- Information about the company
- New product info
- Previously viewed items
- Unknown/non-applicable information
How you experienced targeted ads by brands you deem to be non-applicable to you?
- Yes
- No
Why did you think this? Select as many as appropriate.
- Never heard of the brand
- Not interested in the products
- Information was not useful to me
When brands show you targeted ads, what do you think? (Strongly disagree - disagree - neither agree/disagree agree - strongly agree)
- Useful/Informative
- Annoyed
- Don’t bother me
- I don’t notice them
- I don’t understand why they are there
- They follow me
- Invasive
- Valued
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