Ethical Boundaries of Online Behavioral Targeting : A qualitative Study exploring the Impact of Privacy Concerns on Consumer Engagement and Advertising Avoidance on Instagram.

Abstract: Online behavioral targeting (OBT) are customized ad messages based on personal information to enhance advertising effectiveness. Greater personalization typically increases relevance but is also told to cause privacy concerns. This study examines the constructs of advertising engagement and advertising avoidance on Instagram. Using the Critical Incident Technique, it identifies a typology of the three antecedents of both engagement and avoidance: relevance, degree of personalization and traceability of data source. While a high degree of personalization and relevance was found to be prevalent in both engagement and avoidance scenarios, tractability of data source was identified as an ethical boundary for research subjects and a decisive criterium in whether privacy concerns were being raised. The results propose common trigger combinations for both engagement and avoidance scenarios, yet there are cases falling outside the norm with suggests that acceptance and reactions to OBT is a highly complex construct were many external variables and as well as personal character traits might be at play.