Content is King? The Effectiveness of Message Content, Personalization, and Location in Mobile In-Store Advertising

Smartphones have become a vital part of our lives, a personal assistant helping us as customers mastering everyday tasks. For example, the new stationary supermarket Amazon Go implements customers’ smartphones as an integral part for completing the grocery shopping process (e.g. used to check-in, for payment). As in-store communication over smartphones becomes increasingly important, retailers pay their attention to mobile in-store advertising, which offers them new perspectives to interact with customers at the point of sale. In this study, we therefore investigate the effectiveness of mobile in-store advertising by empirically examining which combination of message content is most effective for different in-store locations. Drawing on Construal Level Theory, we conduct an online choice experiment, using a simulated supermarket shopping task. Results show that personalization in combination with price promotions are most effective regarding the choice of the target product when spatially close to the product. Moreover, personalization strengthens the impact of ad content at the shelf, representing an amplifying effect on product choice