It Is All in the Name: A Study of Consumers' Responses to Personalized Communication

Personalized communication is believed to be an effective persuasion strategy. However, few studies have examined the underlying processes responsible for its effects. This study investigates the role of perceived personalization as a mediating process. Three personalization strategies are compared: raising expectation, identification, and contextualization. The results confirm that perceived personalization mediates the effects of personalized advertising on attention, cognitive responses, and attitude toward the message. The increased attention caused by perceived personalization stimulates both positive and negative thoughts about the message. The findings imply that personalized advertisements have stronger effects when receivers are aware of the personalization elements.