Multitasking and location-based advertising: effects of perceived intrusiveness, location proximity, and product durability on avoidance

Location-based technology enables marketers to identify the consumers who pass by their stores and send them mobile advertisements or coupons. While location-based advertising (LBA) has garnered both professional and academic interest, research on the responses of consumers to LBA is still scarce. Moreover, previous studies have not evaluated consumers’ situational factors as reaction constraints to LBA. This study attempts to identify (1) the effect of consumers’ multitasking on the avoidance of LBA, (2) the mediating role of the perceived intrusiveness between consumers’ multitasking and avoidance of LBA, and (3) the moderating roles of location proximity and product durability in the relationship between consumers’ multitasking and avoidance of LBA. Three experiments show that consumers who multitask tend to avoid LBA and perceived intrusiveness mediates consumers’ avoidance of LBA. Furthermore, this study reveals that LBA from close stores and advertising of durable goods increases the perceived intrusiveness and ad avoidance of multitasking consumers. This study contributes to the literature on LBA and suggests new directions for mobile marketers and retailers wanting to use LBA.