Confused, Frustrated, and Angry: Consumer Responses to Promotional Messages in Online Service Transactions

Promotional nesting in online services, such as offering music downloads when purchasing concert tickets, is increasingly commonplace. In a goal-driven service transaction, consumers cannot simply avoid unwanted promotional messages as they are unsure of the promotional content’s goal-relevance. An online study shows that nested promotions confuse and frustrate web novices, who are unsure if promotion participation is necessary to continue the central service transaction. Experts find nested promotions frustrating when they are on the same page as service content; promotions on separate (interstitial) pages elicit anger. While immediate compliance with promotions appears high, actual consumer follow-through expectations are very low.

Citation:

S. Adam Brasel (2009) ,"Confused, Frustrated, and Angry: Consumer Responses to Promotional Messages in Online Service Transactions", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 837-837.