Consumer Scepticism toward Personalized Advertising: A Quantitative Analysis of Urban Social Media Users

Abstract

Targeted advertising has transformed online marketing through the use of user information for targeted content delivery. Yet, its increased prevalence on digital media has created heightened consumer distrust. This study explores psychological and behavioural aspects of scepticism towards personalized advertising among urban social media users between 18 and 45 years of age. The research centres on influential antecedents ad relevance, repetition, intrusiveness perception, and trust towards advertisers and its effect on consumer scepticism and related behaviours, such as ad avoidance, purchase intention, and brand attitudes. Utilizing a systematic quantitative approach, responses from 100 participants were gathered and analysed through regression and correlation methods. Findings substantiate that intrusiveness and repetition are key drivers of scepticism, whereas relevance and trust reduce scepticism. Consumer scepticism was substantially positively correlated with ad avoidance and negatively correlated with purchase intent and brand perception. The results underscore the urgent need for ethical and user friendly personalization strategies. This research adds to academic knowledge by offering empirical findings on the reasons and effects of advertising scepticism and making recommendations that marketers can act upon to restore trust and maximize ad performance in an age of privacy concerns.