Forging the Future of Work
Tracking-Based Advertising After Apple's App Tracking Transparency: Firm-Level Evidence and Policy Implications
TechREG CHRONICLE, November 2025
We discuss the impact of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency's (“ATT”) on targeted, online advertising. We overview the empirical results of Aridor, Che, Hollenbeck, Kaiser & McCarthy (2025) that measured the impact of ATT on e-commerce firms. The results point to a large reduction in the efficacy of targeted advertising and subsequently large revenue losses, borne primarily by smaller firms. We discuss the competition policy implications of this by highlighting the potentially anticompetitive implications of privacy measures implemented by private firms and the lack of substitutability between advertising networks, despite a large exogenous shock in the efficacy of Meta advertising.
Aridor, Guy: Assistant Professor of Marketing, Northwestern University
Hollenbeck, Brett: Associate Professor of Marketing, UCLA
McCarthy, Daniel: Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Maryland
The Impact of App Crashes on Consumer Engagement
Journal of Marketing
The authors develop and test a theoretical framework to examine the impact of app crashes on app engagement. The framework predicts that consumers increase engagement after encountering a single crash due to their need-for-closure and curiosity, yet reduce engagement after experiencing repeated and concentrated crashes, primarily because of frustration and perceived task unattainability; the recency of crashes moderates these effects. Field data analysis reveals that while a crash truncates a session and reduces content consumption, it increases page views in the following session. However, this increase in page views does not compensate for the loss during the crashed session. Frequent and more concentrated crashes curtail engagement. Three experiments in which crashes are exogenously manipulated in a different context support the validity and generalizability of these findings, confirm the proposed mediators, and demonstrate how to lessen the negative impact of repeated crashes with post-crash messages. The research adds new dimensions to the task pursuit literature and provides managers with a framework to quantify the economic impact of crashes, analyze content substitution behavior, and assess the bias of a transactional view of crash incidents. Additionally, it offers insights into targeted feature release to more tolerant users and strategic design of post-crash messages.
Savannah Wei Shi, Associate Professor of Marketing & J.C. Penney Research Professor, Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University
Seoungwoo Lee*, Assistant Professor, Yonsei School of Business, Yonsei University Seoul
Kirthi Kalyanam, L.J. Skaggs Distinguished Professor Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University
Michel Wedel, PepsiCo Chaired Professor of Consumer Science, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Transforming Products into Platforms: Unearthing New Avenues for Business Innovation
NIM Marketing Intelligence Review, October 2024
It is impossible for brands to ignore digital platform opportunities. Network effects are one of the strongest sources of power and defensibility ever invented and underlie some of the most valuable businesses in the world. Managers and entrepreneurs can leverage the power of platforms by adding some platform elements to their existing products or services, by distributing their brands via existing platforms or by developing their own new platforms. By using one’s own brands as platforms requires creativity but can help businesses unlock new value and build resilient ecosystems around their products. There are three key methods. The first is to invite third-party sellers to enhance existing products. Examples include selling advertising space around products or creating app stores to extend offers. The second is to connect one’s customers by enabling interactions among users to add value. Third, brands might reach out to customers’ customers by enhancing the end-user experience in a way that benefits both themselves and their direct customers. If thoughtfully implemented, any platform strategy will create self-reinforcing feedback loops sparking growth and keeping competitors at bay.
Andrei Hagiu, Associate Professor of Information System, Boston University; Bobby Zhou, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Maryland