Date of Award

6-2015

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Ken DeBono

Language

English

Keywords

online, advertisements, targeted, advertisement, cognition

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that targeted online advertising is more effective when users have a preexisting interest in a product or service. While technology now allows marketers to track the demographics and behaviors of potential customers, the current research examines online ad-perception at an individual level, specifically focused on differences in need-for-cognition. Participants were asked to read a short online news article and were randomly assigned to view a webpage containing either gender-neutral or gender-targeted advertisements. While it was predicted that advertisement recall would be stronger for targeted than non-targeted advertisements, no such association was found. Additionally, advertisement recall did not differ for as a function of need-for-cognition. Despite insignificant findings it is important to note that individual differences in the perception of online advertisements may exist, and that marketers should consider these factors when placing advertisements online.

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