The interplay of advertising choice and involvement on psychological reactance, attitudes, and intentions in the context of online video advertising

Online video ads interrupt users’ online video watching experiences, and can exert a significant negative impact on changes in attitudes. Allowing users to choose which ads they prefer to watch is known as the ad selector, and advertisers seek to reduce the negative impacts of ads. However, few studies have examined whether or not, and how, the ad selector works. The present study examined how ad choice and involvement independently and interactively impact users’ psychological reactance, attitudes toward the ad, attitudes toward the brand, and purchase intentions in the context of online video advertising. Employing a 2 (ad choice: yes vs. no) x 2 (involvement: high vs. low) between-subject experimental design, we revealed that ad choice interacted with involvement on the attitudes toward the ad and the brand, whereas independent effects were also found on reactance and purchase intention. In particular, users’ psychological reactance played a significant mediating role in the impact of each independent variable on attitudes toward the ad. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.