Future of Privacy Forum “Icon”Survey:Comprehension of Behavioral

Advertising Disclosures

Prepared byManoj Hastak, Ph.D.

Kogod Scool of BusinessAmerican University

Federal Trade Commission – January 13, 2010

Overview

• Internet Panel Study (N=2604) • Tested 14 level-1 disclosures:– 2 symbols: “power i” and “asterisk man”– 7 phrases: Interest based ads, Custom ads,

AdChoice, Your choice, Your info and ads,Why did I get this ad?, Sponsor ads (control phrase)

• Tested one level-2 disclosure:– Your browsing activity at this site is used to select ads

you see here and on other sites.– OPT OUT CHOICE MORE INFO

Approach

• Five part questionnaire:– Part A: Exposure to webpage with level-1

disclosure. Measure recall of level-1 disclosure.– Part B: Re-exposure to webpage with level-1

disclosure. Measure comprehension of level-1 disclosure

– Part C: Re-exposure to webpage with level-2 disclosure. Measure comprehension of level-2 disclosure.

– Parts D & E: Attitudes toward OBA and Privacy

Measures: Comprehension of Level-1 Disclosure

• Comprehension assessed through responses to two questions (Q8 and Q9): – Q8: “As best you can tell, what is the purpose of placing this

symbol and phrase above the ad for Toyota? (5-point definitely-definitely not scale)• Two “correct” items: (1) tell you how this ad was chosen for you, and (2)

tell you that the ad is personalized for you.• Four “decoy” items

– Q9: “To what extent, if at all does this symbol and phrase placed above the ad for Toyota say or suggest the following?” (5-point definitely-definitely not scale)• Four “correct” items: (1) the ads you see here are based on your visits to

this and other websites, (2) this ad is targeted to you based on websites you have visited in the past, (3) this ad has been chosen to be relevant to you, and (4) this website shows you ads that are chosen to match your needs.

• Three “decoy” items.

Results: Comprehension of Level-1 Disclosure (Q8)

• # Phrase Mean Rating Statistically better than:

• 1. “why did I get this ad?” 3.60 3,4,5,6,7• 2. “interest based ads” 3.48 4,5,6,7• 3. “custom ads” 3.33 7• 4. “your info and ads” 3.23 7• 5. “ad choice” 3.13 7• 6. “your choice” 3.13 7• 7. “sponsor ads” (control) 2.64

• Caveat: the phrases “interest based ads” or “why did I get this ad?” received higher ratings for the decoy statements when compared with the phrase “ad choice.”

• Asterisk man produced a marginally higher rating than power i

Results: Comprehension of Level-1 Disclosure (Q9)

• # Phrase Mean Rating Statistically better than:

• 1. “interest based ads” 3.61 4,5,6,7• 2. “why did I get this ad?” 3.59 4,5,6,7• 3. “custom ads” 3.40 6,7• 4. “your info and ads” 3.36 7• 5. “ad choice” 3.22 7• 6. “your choice” 3.17 7• 7. “sponsor ads” 2.68

• No differences in ratings for “decoy” statements• No difference in ratings between asterisk man and power i.

Measures: Comprehension of Level-2 Disclosure

• Comprehension assessed through responses to one question (Q11)– Q11: “To what extent, if at all does this information presented in the

pop-up window say or suggest to you that…(5-point definitely-definitely not scale)• Four “correct” items: (1) your visit to this website is being

monitored, (2) the ads you see here are based on your visits to this and other websites, (3) the ads you see on other websites in the future may be based on activity during your visit here, and (4) this website shows you ads that are chosen to match your needs.

• Three “incorrect” items: (1) everyone who visits this website sees the same ads, (2) this website does not collect any information about your visit here, and (3) this website protects your privacy by not sharing your information.

Results: Comprehension of Level-2 Disclosure (Q11)

• Mean Rating (out of 5)– For correct items: 4.04– For incorrect items: 2.31

Conclusions• Two phrases (“why did I get this ad” and “interest based ads”)

generally do the best on comprehension• Four phrases (“custom ads,” “adchoice,” “your choice,” and

“your info and ads”) don’t do as well, but still outperform the control phrase (“Sponsor ads”)

• In an absolute sense, non of the level-1 disclosures appear to communicate as well as ideally desired, suggesting the need for consumer education

• Asterisk man icon marginally outperforms power i icon on some measures

• The level-2 disclosure communicates key issues effectively