IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v69y2023i8p4481-4497.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Theory of Irrelevant Advertising: An Agency-Induced Targeting Inefficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Jiwoong Shin

    (School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520)

  • Woochoel Shin

    (Warrington College of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611)

Abstract

Ad targeting technology has enabled a highly personalized delivery of online ads. Behind this development is the belief that better targeting will lead to more relevant ads. This paper challenges this lay belief by showing that irrelevant advertising can arise not necessarily from technological imperfection but also from the incentive problem embedded in the ad agency-advertisers relationship. We first demonstrate that the ad agency serving multiple advertisers may strategically allocate an ad impression to a lesser-matched, sometimes totally irrelevant, niche advertiser because future impressions can match better with the mainstream advertiser. We further find that, without a contractual obligation to serve both advertisers, the agency may not deliver completely irrelevant ads to consumers. However, another type of inefficiency can arise where the agency may not send any ad to potentially interested consumers who have a strictly positive match probability with advertisers. These inefficiencies arise due to contractual restrictions, either contractual obligations or budget constraints, when the agency serves multiple advertisers. As such, we endogenize the advertisers’ contractual requirement choices and show how the contractual obligation(s) can arise in equilibrium. Finally, we show that irrelevant ads will not disappear simply because more impressions are available in the market. Our analysis suggests that as the number of impressions increases, the irrelevant ads can persist, but the probability of receiving irrelevant ads decreases.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiwoong Shin & Woochoel Shin, 2023. "A Theory of Irrelevant Advertising: An Agency-Induced Targeting Inefficiency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4481-4497, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:8:p:4481-4497
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4605
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4605
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4605?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liang Guo, 2010. "Capturing Consumption Flexibility in Assortment Choice from Scanner Panel Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(10), pages 1815-1832, October.
    2. Ganesh Iyer & David Soberman & J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 2005. "The Targeting of Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 461-476, May.
    3. Dixit, Avinash & Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1997. "Common Agency and Coordination: General Theory and Application to Government Policy Making," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(4), pages 752-769, August.
    4. Kinshuk Jerath & Liye Ma & Young-Hoon Park & Kannan Srinivasan, 2011. "A "Position Paradox" in Sponsored Search Auctions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 612-627, July.
    5. Amin Sayedi, 2018. "Real-Time Bidding in Online Display Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(4), pages 553-568, August.
    6. Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Jiwoong Shin & Zhulei Tang, 2016. "Incentive Problems in Performance-Based Online Advertising Pricing: Cost per Click vs. Cost per Action," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 2022-2038, July.
    7. Alexander Bleier & Maik Eisenbeiss, 2015. "Personalized Online Advertising Effectiveness: The Interplay of What, When, and Where," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(5), pages 669-688, September.
    8. Zsolt Katona & Miklos Sarvary, 2010. "The Race for Sponsored Links: Bidding Patterns for Search Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 199-215, 03-04.
    9. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    10. J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 1994. "Sleeping with the Enemy: Should Competitors Share the Same Advertising Agency?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 190-202.
    11. Wilfred Amaldoss & Preyas S. Desai & Woochoel Shin, 2015. "Keyword Search Advertising and First-Page Bid Estimates: A Strategic Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(3), pages 507-519, March.
    12. Preyas S. Desai & Woochoel Shin & Richard Staelin, 2014. "The Company That You Keep: When to Buy a Competitor's Keyword," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 485-508, July.
    13. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    14. B. Douglas Bernheim & Michael D. Whinston, 1985. "Common Marketing Agency as a Device for Facilitating Collusion," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(2), pages 269-281, Summer.
    15. John W. Walsh, 1995. "Flexibility in Consumer Purchasing for Uncertain Future Tastes," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 148-165.
    16. Kreps, David M, 1979. "A Representation Theorem for "Preference for Flexibility"," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(3), pages 565-577, May.
    17. Woochoel Shin, 2015. "Keyword Search Advertising and Limited Budgets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(6), pages 882-896, November.
    18. Kaifu Zhang & Zsolt Katona, 2012. "Contextual Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 980-994, November.
    19. Liang Guo, 2006. "Consumption Flexibility, Product Configuration, and Market Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 116-130, 03-04.
    20. Jiwoong Shin & K. Sudhir, 2010. "A Customer Management Dilemma: When Is It Profitable to Reward One's Own Customers?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 671-689, 07-08.
    21. Kursad Asdemir & Nanda Kumar & Varghese S. Jacob, 2012. "Pricing Models for Online Advertising: CPM vs. CPC," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(3-part-1), pages 804-822, September.
    22. J. Miguel Villas-Boas, 1999. "Dynamic Competition with Customer Recognition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(4), pages 604-631, Winter.
    23. Yuxin Chen & Chakravarthi Narasimhan & Z. John Zhang, 2001. "Individual Marketing with Imperfect Targetability," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 23-41, November.
    24. Amin Sayedi & Kinshuk Jerath & Marjan Baghaie, 2018. "Exclusive Placement in Online Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(6), pages 970-986, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wilfred Amaldoss & Jinzhao Du & Woochoel Shin, 2024. "Pricing Strategy of Competing Media Platforms," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(3), pages 488-505, May.
    2. Tommaso Bondi & Omid Rafieian, 2023. "Privacy and Polarization: An Inference-Based Approach," Working Papers 23-09, NET Institute.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amin Sayedi, 2018. "Real-Time Bidding in Online Display Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(4), pages 553-568, August.
    2. W. Jason Choi & Amin Sayedi, 2019. "Learning in Online Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(4), pages 584-608, July.
    3. W. Jason Choi & Amin Sayedi, 2023. "Open and Private Exchanges in Display Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(3), pages 451-475, May.
    4. Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Jiwoong Shin & Zhulei Tang, 2016. "Incentive Problems in Performance-Based Online Advertising Pricing: Cost per Click vs. Cost per Action," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 2022-2038, July.
    5. Li, Sanxi & Sun, Hailin & Yu, Jun, 2023. "Competitive targeted online advertising," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Alex Jiyoung Kim & Subramanian Balachander, 2023. "Coordinating traditional media advertising and online advertising in brand marketing," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(6), pages 1865-1879, June.
    7. Shijie Lu & Yi Zhu & Anthony Dukes, 2015. "Position Auctions with Budget Constraints: Implications for Advertisers and Publishers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(6), pages 897-905, November.
    8. Hana Choi & Carl F. Mela & Santiago R. Balseiro & Adam Leary, 2020. "Online Display Advertising Markets: A Literature Review and Future Directions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 556-575, June.
    9. Jiwoong Shin & Jungju Yu, 2021. "Targeted Advertising and Consumer Inference," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(5), pages 900-922, September.
    10. Amin Sayedi & Kinshuk Jerath & Marjan Baghaie, 2018. "Exclusive Placement in Online Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(6), pages 970-986, November.
    11. Wilfred Amaldoss & Preyas S. Desai & Woochoel Shin, 2015. "Keyword Search Advertising and First-Page Bid Estimates: A Strategic Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(3), pages 507-519, March.
    12. Mohammad Zia & Ram C. Rao, 2019. "Search Advertising: Budget Allocation Across Search Engines," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(6), pages 1023-1037, November.
    13. Harutyunyan, Mushegh & Jiang, Baojun, 2017. "Strategic Implications of Keeping Product Value Secret from Competitor’s Customers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 382-399.
    14. Jan Krämer & Daniel Schnurr & Michael Wohlfarth, 2019. "Winners, Losers, and Facebook: The Role of Social Logins in the Online Advertising Ecosystem," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1678-1699, April.
    15. Esther Gal-Or & Mordechai Gal-Or, 2005. "Customized Advertising via a Common Media Distributor," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 241-253, July.
    16. Wilfred Amaldoss & Kinshuk Jerath & Amin Sayedi, 2016. "Keyword Management Costs and “Broad Match” in Sponsored Search Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 259-274, March.
    17. Flavio Pino, 2022. "The microeconomics of data – a survey," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(3), pages 635-665, September.
    18. Peter Landry, 2021. "Keywords, limited consideration, and organic product listings," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 505-566, December.
    19. Zhenling Jiang & Tat Chan & Hai Che & Youwei Wang, 2021. "Consumer Search and Purchase: An Empirical Investigation of Retargeting Based on Consumer Online Behaviors," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(2), pages 219-240, March.
    20. Xinyu Cao & T. Tony Ke, 2019. "Cooperative Search Advertising," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(1), pages 44-67, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:8:p:4481-4497. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.