Purpose

Individuals only click on a very small fraction of the in-app advertisements (ads) they are exposed to. Despite this fact, organizations spend generously placing in-app ads without theoretical knowledge of how the structure and the semantics of in-app ads influence individuals’ clicking behavior. This study aims to identify how the processing of structural and semantic factors leads to clicking behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the limited capacity theory, this paper proposes that the sequential processing of structural and semantic factors leads to clicking behavior. To mirror the sequential process, this paper applies a process-oriented configurational approach and performs a two-step qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using 262 incidents of exposure to in-app ads.

Findings

The results support the proposed sequential processing and show that neither structural nor semantic factors alone lead to clicking behavior. This paper reveals four different paths of sequential processing of in-app ads that lead to clicking behavior. The results show that individuals click on non-animated in-app ads even though these are perceived as irritating or privacy-concerning. When the in-app ads are animated, individuals do only click on them when these are not irritating, privacy-concerning and personalized.

Research limitations/implications

Organizations can use these findings to improve their in-app ads and generate more clicks. This study recommends that organizations place in-app ads in a prominent location, design them similar to the design of the app and use bright colors. The advertising message needs to have new and relevant information in a credible and entertaining way. Depending on the degree of personalization, organizations should use different sizes of the in-app ad and only use animation if it is unlikely that the in-app ad caused irritation or privacy concerns.

Practical implications

Organizations can use these findings to improve their in-app ads and generate more clicks. This paper recommends that organizations place in-app ads in a prominent location, design them similar to the design of the app and with bright colors. The advertising message needs to have new and relevant information in a credible and entertaining way. Depending on the degree of personalization, organizations should use different sizes of the in-app ad and only use animation if it is unlikely that the in-app ad caused irritation or privacy concerns.

Originality/value

From the in-app ad perspective, this study is the first to theoretically develop and empirically show the sequential processing of structural and semantic factors of in-app ads. From the methodological perspective, this study applies an advanced configurational two-step QCA approach, which is capable of analyzing sequential processes and is new to marketing research.

中文翻译：

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应用内广告：两步定性比较分析以解释点击行为

目的

个人仅点击他们所接触的应用内广告（广告）中的一小部分。尽管有这个事实，组织却花了很多钱来投放应用内广告，而没有关于应用内广告的结构和语义如何影响个人点击行为的理论知识。本研究旨在确定结构和语义因素的处理如何导致点击行为。

设计/方法/方法

基于有限能力理论，本文提出结构和语义因素的顺序处理会导致点击行为。为了反映顺序过程，本文采用了面向过程的配置方法，并使用262个应用内广告曝光事件进行了两步定性比较分析（QCA）。

发现

结果支持拟议的顺序处理，并表明结构和语义因素都不单独导致点击行为。本文揭示了导致点击行为的应用内广告顺序处理的四种不同路径。结果表明，即使个人认为非动画应用程序内广告具有刺激性或与隐私相关，也可以点击它们。当应用内广告具有动画效果时，只有在这些广告没有刺激性，与隐私相关且没有个性化的情况下，用户才点击它们。

研究局限/意义

企业可以利用这些发现来改善其应用内广告并产生更多点击。这项研究建议组织将应用程序内广告放置在醒目的位置，并设计与应用程序设计相似的广告，并使用鲜艳的色彩。广告消息需要以可信和有趣的方式获得新的相关信息。根据个性化程度，组织应使用不同尺寸的应用内广告，并且仅在不太可能引起应用内广告引起烦恼或隐私问题时才使用动画。

实际影响

企业可以利用这些发现来改善其应用内广告并产生更多点击。本文建议组织将应用程序内广告放置在醒目的位置，并设计与应用程序设计相似且色彩鲜艳的广告。广告消息需要以可信和有趣的方式获得新的相关信息。根据个性化程度，组织应使用不同尺寸的应用内广告，并且仅在不太可能引起应用内广告引起烦恼或隐私问题时才使用动画。

创意/价值

从应用内广告的角度来看，这项研究是第一个从理论上发展并凭经验显示应用内广告的结构和语义因素的顺序处理的研究。从方法论的角度来看，本研究采用了一种先进的配置性两步QCA方法，该方法能够分析顺序过程，并且是市场研究的新手。