Information Asymmetry in Online Advertising

The book presents an assessment of the forms and range of consumer behaviour manipulation through information asymmetry in online advertising. The work offers a relatively new approach to the role of advertising in the digital world, especially its forms and impact strategies. This is set in three dimensions: cognitive, empirical, and practical.

It presents a specific approach to online advertising, its informative and persuasive functions, as well as the mechanisms of impact on e-consumers' attitudes and behaviours. By presenting studies and research results in the environment of advertising, marketing, and management, it also contributes to the discussion in the theory of economics, including managerial and behavioural economics. The theoretical framework is based on issues related to online advertising, information asymmetry, and social manipulation.

The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 presents a theoretical framework of the problem - the characteristics of online marketing communication and its forms and tools, focusing on reasons for information-related rivalry and the informative dominance of advertisers over e-consumers. It also discusses the issue of information asymmetry in advertising in the context of behaviour manipulation and market decisions.

Part 2 describes the methodology of the empirical research conducted, and Part 3 presents the results of the empirical research, divided into two groups. The first group comprises corporate online advertising strategies - from the point of view of message asymmetry - and entrepreneurs' values in the marketing communication process. In a synthetic approach, these strategies are expressed by the moral hazard index.

The second group relates to e-consumers' perceptions of online advertising in the context of information asymmetry and manipulation of market choices. These issues are synthetically expressed by the advertising manipulation index. Part 4 discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the conducted research and includes recommendations for further research.

Based on an interdisciplinary theoretical approach, empirical research conducted by the authors, the book encourages its readers - marketing communication researchers, as well as experts in economics, sociology, psychology, the media, and business ethics - to find their own answers. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this work, it will be of interest to scholars and researchers within the fields of marketing, economics, psychology, sociology, and ethics.