Mobile Push versus Pull Targeting and Geo-Conquesting

Abstract

This study examines the impact of different mobile content delivery mechanisms on consumers’ coupon redemption behavior. Firms have two distinct content delivery options when engaging with consumers’ mobile devices: mobile push and mobile pull. Mobile push delivers firm-initiated (ad) content directly to consumers, while mobile pull requires consumers to initiate requests for (ad) content. We hypothesize that mobile push delivery increases the likelihood of coupon redemption due to reduced app-specific search costs compared to mobile pull. We further examine how app-specific usage experience and store density influence the heterogeneity of consumer responses. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a large-scale randomized field experiment in a geo-conquesting setting, targeting customers located around competitor retail stores with mobile coupons to drive them to stores of the focal retailer. Our results reveal that mobile push increases coupon redemption rates by 6.0 %, with substantial heterogeneity based on app-specific usage experience and store density. Notably, app-specific usage experience negatively moderates the effect of mobile push delivery on redemptions, likely because both usage experience and push notifications reduce app-specific search costs, thereby acting as substitutes for one another. In areas with higher store density, the positive effect of mobile push delivery on the redemption likelihood is greater, suggesting that push notifications can highlight the focal coupon among alternative store choices, thereby lowering consumer switching costs. These findings have important implications for retailers and brands in creating competitive mobile targeting campaigns that effectively leverage both mobile push and pull delivery mechanisms.

Keywords: location-based advertising, mobile push, mobile pull, geo-conquesting, randomized field experiment, search costs, switching costs