Programmatic advertising is a nascent and rapidly growing information technology phenomenon that reacts to, and impacts upon, consumers and their behaviour. Despite its popularity and widespread use, research in the area remains scant and our current knowledge is based upon a preponderance of practitioner-generated literature. This study contributes to our understanding of this technology by unpacking the means by which it functions and interacts with consumers. The study draws upon paradox theory to deconstruct programmatic advertising’s inherent tensions as dilemmas and dialectics. Adopting organizations are faced with the dilemma of pursuing the acquisition of increasingly detailed information in order to provide more personalized offerings, yet doing so increases the likelihood of creating a sense of fear and distrust among consumers. The automation of personalized advertising appears attractive yet presents the dilemma that adverts may be inappropriately placed. Finally, the true cost/benefit of programmatic advertising is unclear, and adopters, platform providers and developers need to engage in dialectic in order to fully understand and communicate its financial implications. Through identifying these fundamental constraints, the study affords pathways for programmatic system actors to ameliorate their, and their customers’ concerns.

中文翻译：

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程序化广告：消费者关注的诠释

程序化广告是一种新兴且迅速发展的信息技术现象，它对消费者及其行为做出反应并产生影响。尽管它很受欢迎和广泛使用，但该领域的研究仍然很少，我们目前的知识是基于从业者生成的大量文献。这项研究通过解开它运作和与消费者互动的方式，有助于我们对这项技术的理解。该研究利用悖论理论将程序化广告的内在张力解构为困境和辩证法。采用组织面临着寻求获取越来越详细的信息以提供更加个性化的产品的困境，但这样做会增加在消费者中产生恐惧和不信任感的可能性。个性化广告的自动化看起来很有吸引力，但也存在广告可能被不当放置的困境。最后，程序化广告的真正成本/收益尚不清楚，采用者、平台提供商和开发者需要辩证地参与，以充分理解和传达其财务影响。通过识别这些基本限制，该研究为程序化系统参与者提供了改善他们及其客户担忧的途径。