Predicting The Impact of Psychological Ownership of Online Behavioral Advertising on Consumer’s Attitude: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

Purpose: With marketers increasingly monitoring people's online behaviour to collect information, using this information to reach people with individually targeted advertisements, online behavioural advertising (OBA) has emerged as a game changer in the advertising landscape. But often marketers find themselves facing the personalization-privacy paradox. OBA embraces psychological ownership as standard practice. However, research on the role of psychological ownership in online behavioural advertising is still lacking. The study investigates the role of psychological ownership in determining people's affect & cognition regarding online behavioural advertising.

Methodology: The data was collected from 540 respondents with an exposure of OBA. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses.

Findings: The findings showed that psychological ownership enhances customers' attitudes toward online behavioural advertising, thereby reducing the negative impact of privacy concerns. In addition, self-investment, perceived control, and perceived familiarity emerged as significant factors leading to psychological ownership.

Practical Implications: These results can be used by different stakeholders including marketers. Marketers can use methods to improve the psychological ownership of the customers so that the privacy concerns of the customers can be reduced and customers may trust the marketers.

Originality: This paper introduces a novel concept that connects psychological ownership with OBA, offering guidance for future researchers.