Advertising in Freemium Services: Lack of Control and Intrusion as the Price Consumers Pay
研究免费增值服务中广告的控制特征（如选择观看时机和倒计时提示）如何降低消费者的侵扰感和心理抗拒，进而影响广告效果。
Freemium services such as music streaming, video sharing, and mobile games are often supported using advertisements, whereby consumer attention to these advertisements can be considered a proxy form of payment for using the service. The current research develops and empirically tests a conceptual model underpinned by cognitive appraisal theory, examining the influence of control features within freemium services, such as offering consumers choice over when to view advertisements and timing prompts (countdowns indicating length of advertisement). This research considers the influence of these control features on perceived advertising intrusiveness and psychological reactance, as well as the impacts on the advertising outcomes of brand recognition and attitudes toward the advertisement, toward the freemium platform, and toward the brand advertised. Three experimental studies (n = 178, n = 123, n = 224) showed control features significantly decrease perceived advertising intrusiveness. Results revealed that when control features are not provided, there is a significant indirect negative effect on advertising outcomes (recognition and attitude) via the mediators of advertising intrusiveness and psychological reactance. This research is one of the first studies to demonstrate both theoretical and empirical understanding of how control provided to consumers via choice and timing prompts can mitigate the negative effects of advertising within freemium services.