Research On The Influence Mechanism On The Avoidance Behavior Of Retail Companies’ Online Targeted Advertising-From Consumers’ Perspective

Despite the various uncertain risk factors facing China’s economic development in recent years,China’s online sales have continued to grow against the trend,relying on the huge wave of digital transformation of retail enterprises.As an important promotion tool for online sales,online targeted advertising is widely favored by advertisers for its accurate targeting,but consumers may find it intrusive and avoid it.In addition,with the promulgation of the Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China,the Personal Information Protection Law and a series of other laws and regulations,there has been consistent growth in consumer rights and influence.Consumers have a stronger power to avoid advertising.Therefore,consumer advertising avoidance behavior is gradually attracting the attention of scholars and the business community,and related research and practices are just unfolding,but the factors influencing avoidance have not been adequately studied.The purpose of this paper is to find out the influencing factors that affect consumers’ avoidance of online targeted advertisements of retail enterprises,and to conduct an empirical study on the important factors to provide a reference basis for improving the advertising efficiency of retail enterprises.Based on a literature review and analysis from the perspective of consumer perceptions,this study used rooting theory,snowball sampling method,and semi-structured interview outline to conduct in-depth interviews with 25 respondents who were screened through the importance principle.To develop the components of perceived risk of online targeted advertising and find the factors influencing the avoidance behavior toward advertising in the online targeted advertising environment.The results of the rooting findings revealed that consumers’ avoidance of online targeted advertising by retail companies was mainly influenced by the following four risk dimensions: perceived performance risk,perceived privacy risk,perceived time loss risk,and perceived freedom risk,and was not influenced by physical risk and social risk.At the same time,the risk perceptions formed by consumers can lead to negative emotions,which in turn can influence avoidance behavior.It was also found that perceived privacy risks have different paths of influence on online targeted advertising avoidance behavior than other risks,with some consumers indicating that even though they perceive privacy risks,they do not affect their emotions.While consumers who have negative emotions about online targeted ads indicate that they sometimes accept recommendations from online targeted ads.To further quantitatively analyze the mechanisms of the various dimensions of perceived risk(including perceived performance risk,perceived privacy risk,perceived time loss risk,and perceived freedom risk)on advertising avoidance behavior,and to explore what factors intervene in the effect of consumers’ negative emotions on advertising avoidance behavior.This study constructed a conceptual model based on Stimulus-Organism-Response(SOR)theory,Approach-Avoidance Theory and Brand Avoidance Theory to investigate the influence mechanism of consumers’ perceived risk on the avoidance behavior of online targeted advertising via an online survey.Collected 436 validated data was analyzed through structural equation method in SPSS and AMOS statistical software.Results showed that the positively influenced advertising avoidance,and negative emotions mediated the relationship between perceived performance risk,perceived time-loss risk,perceived freedom risk and advertising avoidance,but perceived privacy risk did not influence advertising avoidance through negative emotions.Perceived usefulness moderates the effect of negative emotions on advertising avoidance.This study combines qualitative and quantitative analyses to identify some unique influences and significant mechanisms of action that are applicable to the online targeted advertising environment.The SOR theory is extended to form a new paradigm "cognitive-organism(psychological)-behavioral" integrated model,and the developed perceived risk dimensions and perceived usefulness are systematically analyzed for their influence on online targeted advertising avoidance,and scientifically proposes a strategy for online targeted advertising.The research results have certain reference value for retail enterprises to mitigate consumers’ risk perceptions of online targeted advertising,so as to promote mutual benefits for both brands and users.