Web Personalization: Experience, Antecedents, and Consequences: An Abstract

Abstract

Providing a valuable website experience has become a challenge for marketers (Bodoff and Ho 2016). The rapid growth of content on the Internet and the competition to catch the consumer’s attention lead companies to redefine their action plan. The objective is not only to produce a relevant and adapted content but also to provide a compelling experience on their website. This online competitive context leads companies to show a growing interest in web personalization (Tam and Ho 2006).

Prior research generally focused on the company’s perspective and mainly studied the technological development supporting the automatic adaptation of the website. However, as experience is key in website navigation, it is important to go beyond technical aspects by examining the web personalization experience and its value for consumers.

Our project aims to understand web personalization from the consumer’s perspective by analyzing the web personalization experience, its antecedents, and consequences. We first consider the experience and the value creation process. Is the experience on personalized websites valuable for consumers? Second, we analyze the factors influencing the web personalization experience. Does the company need to point out that their website is personalized? Finally, we examine the outcomes of the web personalization experience by considering both behavioral and relational responses toward the website.

Therefore, this doctoral project consists in three distinct papers. Firstly, a qualitative research has been conducted to have a deep understanding of the web personalization experience and the value creation process. The second paper will further investigative the web personalization experience by examining the antecedents and consequences of the experience through experimentations and quasi-experimentations.

Our research will consequently have both theoretical and managerial contributions. The theoretical contribution will consist of providing a conceptual framework adapted to the consumer’s perspective by deeply analyzing the web personalization experience. The managerial contribution will first include insights on the web personalization experience and the drivers creating a compelling and valuable experience for consumers. Second, it will include the analysis of the impact of the web personalization experience on consumers’ responses toward the website.

References Available Upon Request