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.