New data collection methods and processing capabilities facilitate online personalization of advertisements but also challenge youth’s understanding of how these methods work. Teenagers are often unaware of the commercial use of their personal information and are susceptible to the persuasive effects of personalized advertising. This raises questions about their ability to engage in privacy-protecting behaviors. This article examines teenagers’ coping responses to commercial data collection and subsequent personalized advertising, considering their limited knowledge. Ten focus groups with 35 teenagers aged 12–14 were conducted. The findings show that teenagers hold certain folk theories (i.e., incomplete and/or inaccurate representations of reality) about how and why their personal information is being collected for commercial purposes (e.g., commercial data collection is unavoidable or all principles of privacy statements are the same). Their coping responses regarding commercial data collection (e.g., limiting information disclosure or refusing to accept privacy policies) and personalized advertising (e.g., trying to change settings or avoiding interaction) are often based on these folk theories and embedded in their everyday practices. Despite teenagers’ efforts, we argue that their responses might not always be effective. Implications for educators, advertisers, and policymakers are discussed.

Purpose This study aims to explore whether parents perceive themselves as responsible for helping their teenage children (aged 13–17 years) cope with the persuasive effects of personalized advertising and the related process of online data collection. In addition, this study aims to examine how this parental responsibility is shaped. Design/methodology/approach A survey among parents (N = 354) of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 years was conducted. Findings Exploratory analyses showed that parents are highly concerned about their teens’ exposure to personalized advertising and online data collection, and that they consider themselves and the commercial companies behind these practices as responsible for protecting teenagers. Furthermore, the study showed that parents who believe that their children have higher levels of media skills presume less negative and more positive influences of personalized advertising on their children. The presumed negative influences increase parental concerns and responsibility, while presumed positive influences decrease parental concerns and responsibility. Originality/value Most previous studies on personalized advertising and online data collection were conducted among the teenagers themselves or discussed the regulatory framework concerning this topic. This study, however, focuses on one of the most important socialization agents that could help teenagers cope with these practices. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine parents’ views regarding personalized advertising targeting teenagers and it provides insights in how parents perceive their own responsibility.

This study investigates the underlying mechanisms of how young adolescents process social advertising (i. e., advertising on social networking sites which shows how many and which of the user’s friends have ‘liked’ the brand’s page). Particularly, two experiments examined the role of brand trust in adolescents’ attitude formation and how brand trust is predicted by theories of social proof and persuasion knowledge. In addition, the moderating role of brand familiarity and brand value is investigated. The first experiment (N = 142) showed that higher brand trust was induced for social advertising for unfamiliar but not for familiar brands through the principle of social proof. This means that friends’ likes may reduce uncertainty and increase trust in unfamiliar brands through social advertising, something which enhances brand attitudes. Persuasion knowledge could not explain the effects of social advertising. The second experiment (N = 72) showed that social advertisements are more effective for brands that are symbolic (versus non-symbolic). Managerial and policy implications regarding social advertising targeting adolescents are discussed.

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Samenvatting Dit experiment bij 171 Vlaamse jongeren (11-15 jaar) onderzoekt door middel van eyetracking-technologie hoeveel aandacht zij besteden aan sociale advertenties die worden aanbevolen door hun beste vrienden. Daarnaast wordt onderzocht in welke mate dit hun reclameverwerking en merkattitudes beïnvloedt, rekening houdend met de rol van positieve en negatieve reacties op de advertenties in het proces van attitudevorming.