Abstract
In today’s online environment, children inevitably encounter personalized advertising. However, research suggests that children are not yet able to cope with this advertising type. This study therefore investigates whether literacy training helps children recognize personalized advertising. The 2 (personalized versus nonpersonalized ad) × 2 (literacy training versus no training) between-subjects design experiment (N = 166) suggests that personalized advertising decreased children’s (9 to 13 years) brand attitude but increased their purchase intentions. Moreover, training helped children to better recognize personalized ads. Contrary to the expectations, this targeting recognition positively affected brand attitude and purchase intentions.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Thibaut Deman for his extensive work regarding creation of the stimuli, collection of the data, and general research management.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Laurien Desimpelaere
Laurien Desimpelaere (PhD, Ghent University) is affiliated with the Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University.
Liselot Hudders
Liselot Hudders (PhD, Ghent University) is an associate professor, Department of Communication Sciences, and a postdoctoral fellow of the FWO, Marketing Department, Ghent University.
Dieneke Van de Sompel
Dieneke Van de Sompel (PhD, Ghent University) is an assistant professor, Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University.