Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
We investigate the effectiveness of onsite retargeting, including both a retargeted (product that consumers previously interacted with) and a recommended component (recommendations based on the retargeted product). We use data from a randomized field experiment with an online retailer to compare the effectiveness of two types of onsite retargeting, retargeting based on viewed items (view-based retargeting), and retargeting based on items in consumer’s wishlist (wishlist-based retargeting). Drawing on consumer purchase funnel and preference stability theories, we show that wishlist-based retargeting is more effective in attracting clicks and conversions for the retargeted product; however, its incremental effectiveness declines for the recommended products. We further find that onsite retargeting loses effectiveness as time passes, but this negative timing effect is smaller for wishlist-based retargeting than view-based retargeting. Finally, findings suggest substantial heterogeneity across product and consumer characteristics. This work contributes to personalized recommendations and retargeting literature and provides considerable implications for practitioners.
Recommended Citation
Li, Ting; Tsekouras, Dimitrios; and Gong, Jing, "Onsite Retargeting: A Randomized Field Experiment" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 3.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/EBusiness/Presentations/3
Onsite Retargeting: A Randomized Field Experiment
We investigate the effectiveness of onsite retargeting, including both a retargeted (product that consumers previously interacted with) and a recommended component (recommendations based on the retargeted product). We use data from a randomized field experiment with an online retailer to compare the effectiveness of two types of onsite retargeting, retargeting based on viewed items (view-based retargeting), and retargeting based on items in consumer’s wishlist (wishlist-based retargeting). Drawing on consumer purchase funnel and preference stability theories, we show that wishlist-based retargeting is more effective in attracting clicks and conversions for the retargeted product; however, its incremental effectiveness declines for the recommended products. We further find that onsite retargeting loses effectiveness as time passes, but this negative timing effect is smaller for wishlist-based retargeting than view-based retargeting. Finally, findings suggest substantial heterogeneity across product and consumer characteristics. This work contributes to personalized recommendations and retargeting literature and provides considerable implications for practitioners.