User Perception of Targeted Ads in Online Social Networks: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation Using the Example of Facebook

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,0, University of St Andrews (School of Management), language: English, abstract: Owing to the phenomenal growth of online social networks and the resulting interest of marketers in this new medium, this thesis investigates user perception of targeted advertisements on Facebook, the world's largest and fastest growing social network. Based on a critical literature review, results of previous research studies, and expert interviews with social media practitioners, the author develops a conceptual framework consisting of seven factors that are theorised to impact on how users perceive personalised ads in a social network environment. This framework is partially verified on an empirical basis by means of an online survey among 97 Facebook users. The results provide novel and useful insights into user perception of targeted ads on Facebook that could be used as guidelines for practitioners and as a starting point for further studies.