The Influences of Ad-Targeting on Teen Purchasing Decision Autonomy

Abstract

Due to an increased awareness and adherence to the social comparison theory, where individuals have a fundamental need to be liked and ranked amongst their peers, teens fall victim to the wishful identification phenomenon potentially leading to long-term dependence on materialism for fulfilment in life. Influencers derive their social powers from wishful identification because of their seeming relatability, often presenting themselves as ordinary and relatable the status of an influencer appears more commonly achievable than the fame of the typical, mainstream celebrity, microcelebrity audiences, “followers,” often demonstrate a greater desire to emulate and achieve the status of these “micro-celebrities,” in comparison to an A-list celebrity. Knowing this, the following study utilized a quantitative, quasi-experimental method to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted advertisements. To begin, the personality of an influencer was matched with the personality of a female teenage subject using the 5 Factors of Personality Test. After matches were made, everyone was presented with two influencer advertisements – one with the best personality match and mismatch – and an online survey evaluated whether the individual would buy the presenting product and why or why not, depending. Ad-targeting does prove to be successful in making impactful marketing matches for teen female subjects in influencer marketing; this boost is only noted where there is great enough personality resonation between the subject in the influencer in both introverted and extroverted traits to be able to establish the wishful identification connections needed to spur the persuasive forces of influencer marketing.