Ads targeted based on individuals online behaviour are not only more effective as a sales tool, but can actually impact peoples perception of themselves.

Thats according to research from Ohio State University, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, which presented a group of 188 students with an ad for a Groupon restaurant deal. Students were given time to browse the web then served the ad, which identified the restaurant as sophisticated, and subsequently told that the ad was targeted based on demographic age and gender data, based on their behaviour during the browsing period, or not targeted at all.

The study found that participants who believed the ad had been targeted based on their behaviour were more likely to make a purchase (rated at an average of 4.18 on a scale of 1-7) than the demographic (3.39) or non-targeted groups (rated at 3.39 and 3.56, respectively).

This isnt too surprising, though it is worth noting that the ads were actually identical, and any targeting was entirely perceived – meaning the study only shows the effectiveness of behaviourally targeted ads as a concept, rather than the accuracy of the targeting itself. “The results of our studies show that a key driver of the effects of behaviourally targeted advertising is consumers’ conscious reflection about the marketers’ tactics in delivering the ad to them,” as the report puts it.

Thats interesting because, aside from the AdChoices icon – which was present in this study but not the only way in which the targeted ads were identified – real ads tend not to flag up to users how theyre targeted. This is something the report authors address in their write-up of the results in the Harvard Business Review: “Given that the ads in our studies were not actually matched to participants’ behaviour – we merely created the perception that they were – we expect that effects may be even stronger in the real world when behaviourally targeted ads are more accurate. If consumers are not aware that an ad has been behaviourally targeted, though, even if it is actually matched to their online actions, they likely won’t perceive the ad as a reflection of the self.”

The research dug into the question of why this awareness matters with another study, which showed an ad for a high-end watch brand – again presented as sophisticated – to a group of 197 and then asked how sophisticated they perceived themselves to be.

Participants who believe the ad had been individually targeted to them were more likely to answer that they saw themselves as sophisticated (averaging 5.15 on a scale of 1-7) than those who believed it wasnt targeted (4.36). This was true even for group which was primed to consider the idea of sophistication before being shown the ad (4.54). This suggests that the idea that they have been targeted by an ad can affect peoples understanding of their own identities.

A third study suggested that this effect applies to behaviours beyond just purchase intention. In this study participants were shown an ad for a speaker, which in some cases highlighted its environmentally-friendly nature. For both versions of the ad, users were either told that it was behaviourally targeted or not targeted at all, and then given a questionnaire that indicated how green their habits were overall.

Of the groups, users who believed the environmentally-friendly creative had been targeted at them scored highest (4.71), beating users who had seen the same creative but did not believe it was targeted (4.44).

The report argues that this means “the adjustments to self-perceptions produced by behaviourally targeted ads may not only improve sales of the featured product at the time of ad exposure, but also future sales of the product and, potentially, of the entire category” and that, in the long term, this could benefit any brands or products which align themselves with the same characteristics identified by behavioural targeting.

“Sales of other related products and services may be expected to increase to the extent that they are consistent with the same label,” the report reads. “Thus behaviourally targeted ads may be more beneficial for a company’s profits than previously believed, especially for category leaders, and analysing click-through rates for behaviourally targeted ads may provide a limited measure of their effectiveness.”

Thats a remarkable claim, especially given that it has nothing to do with how well targeted an ad is, but simply with the fact that viewers know that it was targeted. This was addressed in a final study, which tested a group of 269 adults (with an average age of 35) to find out how interested they were in outdoor pursuits, before showing them an ad for a hot chocolate brand, and finally asking them how outdoorsy they thought they were.

Again, this ad was presented as either behaviourally targeted or not targeted at all, with creative that aligned the brand with either the great outdoors or great indoors. You can see the full results below:

The outdoors-positioned ad caused an overall rise in participants perception of themselves as outdoorsy – whether it was targeted accurately or not targeted at all – with the highest result (6.32 on a scale of 1-7) coming when it was shown to people with a high interest in outdoors products, and they were told it had been targeted based on their behaviour.

Meanwhile, the lowest result (2.23) came from users with a low interest in outdoors products who were shown the accurate ad and believed it to be behaviourally targeted. Theres a stark contrast with this result and that for the same group shown the same ad but told it wasnt targeted (3.71), showing again the importance of knowing an ad has been targeted at them individually.

“It seems likely that perceived accuracy plays an even bigger role than objective accuracy in determining consumer’s acceptance of behaviourally targeted ads as a valid social label,” reads the report, “so marketers could also benefit from informing consumers about the basis of individual behaviourally targeted ads or about the accuracy of behaviourally targeted ads in general.”