Targeting in the new digital age

A transformation of digital targeting is underway: The widespread adoption of mobile apps and emojis has created unique opportunities for marketers to develop new strategies to target consumers more effectively. As practitioners shift from traditional digital targeting to mobile and emoji targeting, how can they thrive in the new digital age? Throughout two essays, this dissertation explores two such digital targeting issues. The first essay addresses a common pitfall largely neglected in mobile app marketing -over-targeting: With the bombardment of personalized push notifications, marketers are treading a fine line between customer retention and disengagement with the risk of over-targeting. Beyond customizing delivery times, marketers are also interested in personalizing the content of targeted messages. The second essay explores a novel digital skill -emoji targeting: I develop an emoji mining approach and validate its incremental effect on emoji usage in targeted messages across different levels of product involvement.