Now you see me: a quantitative study on the effects of ad blocker usage on users’ brand perception

Abstract

An increasing amount of Web users is turning to ad blockers to avoid ads, which Web users perceive as annoying, an invasion of privacy, or as slackening their Web experience. Ad blocker users still encounter online advertising on their Web journey although using ad blockers. While there has been significant research into factors driving ad blocker adoption, the effects of online advertising on brand perception for ad blocker users are not well understood. To approach this white space, we conduct an online survey. We build two groups, ad blocker users and non-users. We then check for significant differences in likeability toward and perceived positive image of the brands the groups saw online ads. In our analysis, we did not find any significant difference neither in the first nor in the second variable between ad blocker users and non-users for when they see online advertising. We conclude that ad blocker users remain interesting targets for advertisers.