How level of personalization affects the effectiveness of personalized ad messages: The moderating role of narcissism.

ABSTRACT: This study examined the effects of two different levels of personalization strategies (individual-level vs. group-level) on consumers’ visual and attitudinal responses to personalized advertising. The study further investigated the moderating role of recipients’ narcissism in the effect of personalization. Results showed that individuals higher in narcissism pay greater and more frequent attention to advertisements personalized on an individual level than those personalized on a group level. while those low in narcissism had no such differences. Regarding attitudinal responses, consumers with a high level of narcissism tended to have more favorable attitude toward the individual-level personalized ad compared to those with a low level of narcissism while consumers with a low level of narcissism tended to have a more favorable attitude toward the group-level personalized ad compared to those with a high level of narcissism. The study shed light on the underlying mechanism of interaction effect by demonstrating the suppressing mediating role of attention, ad creepiness and ad intrusiveness. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.