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Abstract
The present study sought to conceptualize and examine the effects of “mistargeting” – that is, the phenomenon in which consumers are aware and understand how an online behavioral advertising (OBA) is delivered, yet they received an inaccurate ad based on misinterpreted characteristics. The study seeks to test whether consumers’ perception that an ad may be mistargeted leads to more severe cognitive and affective reactance toward the message than when the same personally irrelevant ad is shown without the expectation of targeting. The study builds on PKM as the theoretical basis of the coping process in such mistargeting OBAs, including the concept of attribution theory as the cognitive defense and psychological reactance as the affective side of response. Chapter 1 comprises the introduction section and gives a general overview of mistargeting online behavioral advertising in association with the studies investigated in the dissertation. Chapter 2 reviews the relevant research literature on online behavioral advertising, persuasion knowledge model, and two supplementary theories that covers consumers response. Chapter 3 focuses on the development of research model and hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the details of the research method, including the research procedure, experimental design and administration, and measurement of variables. Chapter 5 details the results of the experiment. In Chapter 6, summary and discussion of the research findings and their implications for both scholars and practitioners are presented.