title: The effectiveness of personalized e-mail newsletters and the role of personal characteristics.
abstract: Personalizing communication means creating persuasive messages that refer to aspects of a person's self. Although the use of personalization is increasing, research on its effectiveness is limited and the results are mixed. This study examined the persuasiveness of personalized e-mail newsletters in terms of increased attention, cognitive activity, evaluation, attitude, intention, and behavior by means of an experiment (n=109). Participants randomly received either a personalized or a generic newsletter advertising a sports center. Personalization triggered a more positive evaluation of the message; however, it did not influence the other effect variables. The effects were moderated by consumers' need for uniqueness, trust, and privacy concerns, suggesting that personalization is a good strategy to increase message evaluation only among individuals who have a high need for uniqueness.
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. e.h.maslowska@uva.nl
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maslowska
authors.forename: Bas van den
authors.initials: Bv
authors.lastname: Putte
authors.forename: Edith G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Smit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires