Ads that pinpoint customers by their locations often creep out their targets, say researchers.
To offset that discomfort, researchers suggest advertisers invite their customers to help tailor ads they might receive.
While being physically close to a product or shop improved attitudes about local advertisements on their mobile devices, customers felt significantly better about both the advertisement and location-based advertising when they had a hand in selecting the ads, says S. Shyam Sundar, professor of communications at Penn State and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory.
The perceived intrusiveness of the ad being displayed is the one thing that gives customers pause.
