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What Makes People Avoid Ads on Social Media?

  • C. L. Miltgen (Audencia Business School, France), A.-S. Cases (Univ. of Montpellier), and C. A. Russell (Pepperdine Univ.)
  • JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
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Summary

An empirical study of Facebook data has broad implications for advertisers on social media platforms. This research found a link between users’ response to ads and their perceptions about intrusiveness and privacy concerns—as well as whether they were using a computer or mobile device.

Among the findings:

  • Trust in Facebook emerged as a key driver of advertisement acceptance, but was lower on mobile devices than on PCs.
  • On mobile devices, privacy concerns and need for control were linked to perceptions of ads as more intrusive and invasive of privacy.
  • Evidence of avoidance behavior in terms of privacy protection was stronger among PC users.
  • Distinguishing between advertising’s intrinsic value and its social value reveals differences in how value emerges as a function of the primary device used to access Facebook.
  • Advertisements’ intrinsic value surfaced as a central driver in the mobile world: To be valuable to mobile users, an advertisement must provide a real service in facilitating ease of localization and access.
  • Surprisingly, Facebook ads had greater social value for those users who consulted the network on their PCs than mobile users.

Caroline Lancelot Miltgen (clancelot@audencia.com) is a professor of marketing at Audencia Business School, Nantes, France. Her research investigates the impact of technology on society, consumption, and consumers, with a specific focus on privacy.

Anne-Sophie Cases (anne-sophie.cases@umontpellier.fr) is a professor of digital marketing at IAE University of Montpellier, France. Her work explores the impact of digital technology on marketing in the context of consumer behavior and on customer-relationship management.

Cristel Antonia Russell (cristelrussell@fulbrightmail.org) is a professor of marketing at Graziadio Business School, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. Russell’s research intersects entertainment and marketing communications, with a special focus on the health and societal implications of marketing practice.