The (In)Effectiveness of Psychological Targeting: A Meta-Analytic Review
Perla and colleagues present the first meta-analysis of psychological targeting, in which machine learning predicts consumer personality from digital footprints and persuasive messages are then tailored to it. They evaluate its two core components, inferring personality from digital footprints and the impact of personality-tailored messages on consumer outcomes, along with the combined end-to-end effectiveness. The meta-analysis draws on dozens of studies across disciplines.
Perla and colleagues present the first meta-analysis of psychological targeting, in which machine learning predicts consumer personality from digital footprints and persuasive messages are then tailored to it. They evaluate its two core components, inferring personality from digital footprints and the impact of personality-tailored messages on consumer outcomes, along with the combined end-to-end effectiveness. The meta-analysis draws on dozens of studies across disciplines.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
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Perla, R., Maran, T., Bagci, B., Kraus, S., Kanbach, D. K., & Bouncken, R. B. (2026). The (In)Effectiveness of Psychological Targeting: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychology & Marketing, 43(3), 575-590. doi:10.1002/mar.70073.