A Meta-Analysis on Personalization in Marketing Communication

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The rise of digital information and communication technologies has increased the application of personalized communication to address consumers though, for example, personalized emails or online retargeting advertising. Personalization is considered nowadays as one of the major marketing trends. Though advertisers and marketers can benefit from personalized marketing communication, this communication practice also raises concerns as it can be intrusive and evoke reactance by consumers who believe that a firm violates their privacy.Despite the academic attention on personalized communication in and outside the field of marketing communication, there is neither a unified definition nor a common framework of personalization. As a result, prior findings are heterogeneous, fragmented, and therefore difficult to compare and to evaluate. Research is inconclusive about whether personalized market communication results in positive or negative consumer response and under which circumstances personalized marketing messages lead to either positive or negative outcomes. The aim of the current study is to fill this gap by conducting a meta-analysis that integrates prior research findings. The meta-analysis further applies moderator variables and tests whether the effects of personalization in marketing communication depend on 1) types of personal data that are used as input, 2) levels of personalization, 3) message formats and channels, 4) across different types of consumer responses (affective, cognitive and behavioral), 5) across consumers, and 6) across brands and sectors. By comparing the conditions for positive and negative effects and by testing non-linear effects of the levels of personalization, the study further assesses for the first time the underlying function and the merit of different explanations of the personalization-privacy paradox.The project provides a contribution to science by establishing an integrative framework for the examination of personalized marketing communication effects, guiding future research as the meta-analysis helps to identify crucial variables that are important to control for in empirical studies and helps to identify gaps in the literature and empirical research facilitating the further development of a research agenda. It provides practical implications through insights in different types of personalized marketing communication and their effects and it may guide the measurement or key performance indicators formulated for investments in personalization practices. The project provides implications for the society, as it may uncover consumer groups that are especially vulnerable to personalized marketing communication. This, in turn, informs consumer representatives about consumer literacy programs and law makers and regulators about whether specific groups of consumers should be protected and whether it is wise to create rules and regulations with the aim to increase consumer awareness and knowledge.