Week 12 – Consumer Empowerment
Guest Lecture
Personalized Communication: Societal and Individual Consequences
What is computational advertising?
Broad, data-driven advertising approach relying on or
facilitated by enhanced computing capabilities,
mathematical models/algorithms, and the technology
infrastructure to create and deliver messages and
monitor/surveil an individual's behaviors (Huh &
Malthouse, 2020)
Characteristics of CA
• Personalized
• Data-driven
• Interactive
• Continuous
• Measurable
New advertising ecosystem
What is personalized communication?
The strategic creation, modification, and adaptation of content and distribution to optimize
the fit with personal characteristics, interests, preferences, communication styles, and
behavior. (Bol et al., 2018)
,Personalization process
Circular process that keeps on going
—> Personalization landscape
Difficult to control
Consumer perspective on personalization
• Benefits and concerns
o Calculus model of effectiveness
§ Personalization paradox (Awad & Krishnan, 2006)
§ Privacy calculus (Culnan & Armstrong, 1999)
o But there are more factors that change these calculus
Consumer empowerment in context of data-driven communication
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Transparency and control paradigm
• Ensure appropriate protection for individuals in all circumstances
• Increase transparency for data subjects
• Enhance control over one's own data
• Raise awareness
• Ensure informed and free consent
• Protect sensitive data
• Make remedies and sanctions more effective
, Tight the digital literacy
Transparency and choice = Empowerment?
Empowerment through transparency
EU’s GDPR and U.S> FTC focus on knowledge
—> Performance of self-exams
—> General protective behavior online
—> Protection Motivation Theory
Protection Motivation = Internet users' desire to adjust the settings offered by advertising
platforms so that they do not receive personalized ads
Applied in:
• health communication (Maddux and Rogers 1983; Rogers 1975)
• privacy protection (Boehmer et al. 2015)
- Objective knowledge activates threat and coping appraisal
Explaining empowerment through transparency
Guest Lecture
Personalized Communication: Societal and Individual Consequences
What is computational advertising?
Broad, data-driven advertising approach relying on or
facilitated by enhanced computing capabilities,
mathematical models/algorithms, and the technology
infrastructure to create and deliver messages and
monitor/surveil an individual's behaviors (Huh &
Malthouse, 2020)
Characteristics of CA
• Personalized
• Data-driven
• Interactive
• Continuous
• Measurable
New advertising ecosystem
What is personalized communication?
The strategic creation, modification, and adaptation of content and distribution to optimize
the fit with personal characteristics, interests, preferences, communication styles, and
behavior. (Bol et al., 2018)
,Personalization process
Circular process that keeps on going
—> Personalization landscape
Difficult to control
Consumer perspective on personalization
• Benefits and concerns
o Calculus model of effectiveness
§ Personalization paradox (Awad & Krishnan, 2006)
§ Privacy calculus (Culnan & Armstrong, 1999)
o But there are more factors that change these calculus
Consumer empowerment in context of data-driven communication
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – Transparency and control paradigm
• Ensure appropriate protection for individuals in all circumstances
• Increase transparency for data subjects
• Enhance control over one's own data
• Raise awareness
• Ensure informed and free consent
• Protect sensitive data
• Make remedies and sanctions more effective
, Tight the digital literacy
Transparency and choice = Empowerment?
Empowerment through transparency
EU’s GDPR and U.S> FTC focus on knowledge
—> Performance of self-exams
—> General protective behavior online
—> Protection Motivation Theory
Protection Motivation = Internet users' desire to adjust the settings offered by advertising
platforms so that they do not receive personalized ads
Applied in:
• health communication (Maddux and Rogers 1983; Rogers 1975)
• privacy protection (Boehmer et al. 2015)
- Objective knowledge activates threat and coping appraisal
Explaining empowerment through transparency
