Gender Differences in the Effectiveness of Personality-tailored Ads in Social Networks: Evidence from Croatia

This study examines the influence of gender on the effectiveness of advertising messages tailored to personality traits in social media using data from Croatian Facebook users. Building on a psychographic segmentation based on the Big Five personality traits, two quasi-experimental Facebook campaigns were conducted: one to promote a dental clinic in Zagreb and the other to promote Shopaj24, a digital classified advertising platform (hereafter: Shopaj24). Users were segmented based on digital footprint - Facebook Likes associated with Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Openness to new experiences. The results showed significant gender differences in response rates to messages tailored to Extraversion, Neuroticism and Openness, particularly for women. Click-through rate (CTR) analysis revealed higher engagement when the ad content matched users’ personality traits. The study also found that gender significantly moderates the effectiveness of advertising on social media. Women generally responded better to advertising tailored to their personality. These results show how important it is to include the dimensions of gender and personality in psychographic targeting in order to improve advertising effectiveness in social media. Given the increasing amount of digital advertising and user data available, personalized strategies can improve advertising results. Further studies are needed to refine the understanding of these complex interactions to optimize targeted marketing campaigns.