Too Much Information?

This paper examines the extent to which the level of personalization within advertisements on Instagram affects the privacy concerns of Gen Z users. The study also explores the mediating roles of perceived creepiness and perceived relevance on the relationship between personalization privacy concerns. This study employs a survey experiment method, utilizing a three-level between-subjects experimental design. Here, three conditions were presented to participants as fictitious ads and scenarios, attempting to mimic personalized Instagram ads. These ads were then split into three groups: high, moderate, and non-personalized ads. These levels were constructed using three distinct elements of personalization: interests, location, and age. Where the highly personalized condition portrayed all three elements, the moderate only made use of the middle element, location, and the non-personalized one did not include any. Participants of this survey were asked about their privacy concerns, data sharing behaviors, their perceived creepiness, and perceived relevance after viewing the given scenario and ad. Additionally, they were questioned on some potential confounding variables as well, including their general online privacy concerns, Instagram (brand) trust, and sustainability efforts, as well as certain sociodemographics. To test the relationships between these variables, ANOVA, regression, and PROCESS macro mediation (Model 4) analyses were employed. The study found a positive association between personalization and privacy concerns, with increasing levels of personalization leading to greater privacy concerns. Only high levels of personalization significantly influenced perceived creepiness, which was also positively linked to privacy concerns. The mediating effect of perceived creepiness was partial, present only through indirect effects. Perceived relevance showed partial significance, with only high personalization presenting significant results, while low vs moderate levels did not. Interestingly, perceived relevance did not reduce privacy concerns; instead, it appeared to increase them after participants viewed the ads, suggesting the opposite of what was expected. Following these findings, heightened privacy concerns notably influenced participants' reluctance to share their data. The results indicated a clear tipping point between moderate and high personalization, as most of the differences between these levels were significant, whereas the differences between moderate and low levels were not. Theoretical and societal implications are discussed, along with the study's limitations and future recommendations.