IRGA 2024 - PERS&PHONE

Traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death among young people aged 18–24, and one way to prevent some of these is to reduce cell phone use while driving, a major factor contributing to inattention. At the same time, the business model underlying smartphone apps relies on displaying ads that users must view in order to continue using the app for free. As such, ads within apps provide an ideal platform for reaching young people. Moreover, this channel allows for interactivity, which could enhance the effectiveness of communication. In the context of e-commerce websites, it has been shown that offering users choices improves the perceived image of the company in question as well as purchase intent. This is why it seems relevant to explore how the effectiveness of a message delivered via an app could be optimized by allowing users to choose which ad to view. To the best of our knowledge, no study has demonstrated, on the one hand, the benefits of allowing mobile users to choose which ad to view and, on the other hand, has proposed this approach in the context of preventive communication.

To that end, the primary objective of this project is to study the effect of choosing which advertisement to view on a smartphone on attitudes and behavioral intentions to seek information and act on the recommended course of action.

The second objective is to examine the mediating mechanisms that help explain the main effect. In this regard, psychological reactance could help explain why individuals are more likely to accept an advertisement they have chosen from among several options. Another mediating variable could be telepresence—that is, the extent to which individuals are immersed in the app. In this case, the effect of choice could be negative on respondents’ cognitive and affective reactions, as well as on their attitudes and behavioral intentions, since having to choose the advertisement would further disrupt their immersive experience. Finally, it would be relevant to combine the ad selection condition with a variable related to the ad’s source (ad agency vs. artificial intelligence), as individuals might react negatively to the perception that an AI is controlling their data and generate greater psychological reactance, leading to more negative attitudes and intentions.

To achieve these objectives, three studies will be conducted in a real-world setting involving an immersive game that respondents download onto their smartphones. While a respondent is playing, they will be shown an advertisement—either with or without a choice. After viewing the ad, they will finish the game and then complete a questionnaire about their reactions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. A sample of the French population aged 18–25 will be recruited through a panel provider. Beyond being an innovative project in the field of preventive communication, we are advancing research on mobile advertising models—a field that has received little attention to date.