Role of Big Five Personality Traits in Shaping Gen-Z’s Attitude Towards Personalized Digital Advertising: Evidence from Madhya Pradesh

The rapid proliferation of digital advertising, underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, has fundamentally transformed how brands communicate with consumers. Personalized digital advertising, which tailors content based on individual behavioural, demographic, and psychographic data, has become a dominant strategy across platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and ecommerce portals. Despite its widespread use, consumer responses to personalized advertising vary considerably, suggesting that individual-level psychological factors play a critical role in shaping perceptions and attitudes. This paper investigates the role of the Big Five personality traits—Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism—in shaping Generation Z’s attitude towards personalized digital advertising. The study is contextualized within Madhya Pradesh, India, a region witnessing rapid digital adoption among young consumers, yet significantly understudied in the domain of digital advertising psychology. Drawing upon the Big Five Inventory (BFI), Self-Congruity Theory, and the Personalization-Privacy Paradox framework, the study employs a quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire administered to 350 Gen-Z respondents aged 18–27 years. Perceptions on six important dimensions were examined including relevance, informativeness, trust, entertainment value, privacy issues, and purchase intent. In this study, it was believed that both Openness and Extraversion will have a positive effect on advertising attitude whereas Neuroticism will increase privacy issues and decrease acceptance of advertisements. The results of this study will add value to the existing empirical studies conducted in India about advertising perception influenced by personality traits of the respondents.