Mobile in-app advertising : consumer experience of frequency and targeting

Abstract

This thesis examines consumer attitudes and behaviors towards in-app advertising considering the pillar parameters of digital in-app advertising campaigns, namely targeting and frequency. The thesis suggests how these parameters should be strategically dosed for higher advertising campaign success with higher ad click-through rates (CTR) and higher consumer conversions on advertisers’ e-commerce websites. The research method of the study was quantitative with a survey as the main research instrument. The user survey (online from February 2019 till March 2019) was targeted at Lebanese mobile application users aging 18 to 35. The survey analysis was carried out by using the tools and tests provided by the SPSS software. The results show that better targeting techniques within mobile apps positively affects consumer attitude and behavior toward ads, thus positively affecting clicks on the ad. Moreover, higher ad frequency negatively impacts consumer in-app ad experience, while not positively correlating with higher ad clicks. However, when paired with targeting techniques, higher ad frequency might positively impact consumer attitude and behaviors towards the ad resulting in clicking on the ad. The thesis outcome serves the digital advertising industry by conveying a positive lookout to the mobile advertising industry reflected in app users’ attitudes and behaviors toward targeted ads. It also opens doors for marketers to better frame their mobile ad campaigns by testing several ad placements and formats within different application types. Moreover, this alerts advertisers to be more strategic in the choice of most optimal ad frequency within in-app campaigns through the usage of newest targeting technologies provided by the digital ad industry such as Programmatic Advertising.