Decoding Consumer Responses to Personalized Marketing: An Empirical Study within the Stimulus–Organism–Response Framework

Personalized marketing is widely used to engage consumers in digital commerce environments, supported by advances in artificial intelligence and data analytics that allow firms to create communication aligned with individual preferences. At the same time, concerns around the handling of individuals’ personal information continue to grow, and the psychological processes through which such communication affects purchase intentions (PI) are not yet clearly understood. This study uses the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework to examine how personalized marketing messages (PMM) influence online PI through consumers’ internal states. Perceived personalization (PP) and consumer trust (TR) are considered as mediators, while privacy concerns (PC) are examined as a moderator. A quantitative approach was adopted using data from 195 online shoppers in India with prior exposure to personalized marketing. The proposed relationships were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling with SmartPLS 4. The results show that PMM significantly improve PP and TR, which in turn increase PI. Both direct and indirect effects are observed, indicating multiple pathways through which personalization shapes consumer behavior, while the moderating role of PC is not significant. The study offers a clearer understanding of personalization effects in digital settings and provides useful insights for designing effective and trustworthy marketing strategies, especially within developing markets such as India.