Customizing persuasive messages; the value of operative measures

Purpose: This paper aims to examine whether estimates of psychological traits obtained using meta-judgmental measures (as commonly present in customer relationship management database systems) or operative measures are most useful in predicting customer behavior. Design/methodology/approach: Using an online experiment (N = 283), the study collects meta-judgmental and operative measures of customers. Subsequently, it compares the out-of-sample prediction error of responses to persuasive messages. Findings: The study shows that operative measures – derived directly from measures of customer behavior – are more informative than meta-judgmental measures. Practical implications: Using interactive media, it is possible to actively elicit operative measures. This study shows that practitioners seeking to customize their marketing communication should focus on obtaining such psychographic observations. Originality/value: While currently both meta-judgmental measures and operative measures are used for customization in interactive marketing, this study directly compares their utility for the prediction of future responses to persuasive messages.