A Meta-Analysis on Personalization in Marketing Communication

数字信息和通信技术的兴起增加了个性化通信的应用，以通过例如个性化电子邮件或在线重定向广告来解决消费者。个性化被认为是当今市场营销的主要趋势之一。尽管个性化营销传播可以使广告商和营销人员受益，但个性化营销传播也引起了人们的关注，因为它可能会引起消费者的反感，他们认为企业侵犯了他们的隐私。尽管个性化营销传播在营销传播领域内外受到了学术界的关注，但个性化既没有统一的定义，也没有共同的框架。因此，先前的调查结果是异质的，分散的，因此难以比较和评价。关于个性化市场沟通是否会导致积极或消极的消费者反应，以及在何种情况下个性化营销信息会导致积极或消极的结果，研究尚无定论。本研究的目的是通过整合先前的研究结果进行荟萃分析来填补这一空白。元分析进一步应用调节变量并测试营销传播中个性化的影响是否取决于1）用作输入的个人数据类型，2）个性化水平，3）消息格式和渠道，4）不同类型的消费者反应（情感，认知和行为），5）跨消费者，以及6）跨品牌和行业。本研究通过比较产生积极效应和消极效应的条件以及检验个性化水平的非线性效应，首次对个性化-隐私悖论的潜在功能和不同解释的价值进行了进一步的评估，为个性化营销传播效果的检验建立了一个综合框架，指导未来的研究，因为元分析有助于确定在实证研究中需要控制的关键变量，并有助于确定文献和实证研究中的差距，促进进一步制定研究议程。它通过对不同类型的个性化营销传播及其效果的深入了解提供了实际意义，并可以指导为个性化实践投资制定的衡量或关键绩效指标。该项目为社会提供了启示，因为它可能会发现特别容易受到个性化营销传播影响的消费者群体。这反过来又使消费者代表了解消费者扫盲方案，使立法者和监管机构了解特定消费者群体是否应该受到保护，以及制定旨在提高消费者意识和知识的规则和条例是否明智。

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.