Algorithmic Burnout and Digital Well-Being: Modelling Young Adults’ Resistance to Personalized Digital Persuasion

Stefanos Balaskas (), Maria Konstantakopoulou, Ioanna Yfantidou and Kyriakos Komis
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Stefanos Balaskas: Department of Physics, School of Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Kavala Campus, 65404 Kavala, Greece
Maria Konstantakopoulou: Department of Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Ioanna Yfantidou: Department of Business and Management, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
Kyriakos Komis: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece

Societies, 2025, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-33

Abstract: In an era when AI systems curate increasingly fine-grained aspects of everyday media use, understanding algorithmic fatigue and resistance is essential for safeguarding user agency. Within the horizon of a more algorithmic and hyper-personalized advertising environment, knowing how people resist algorithmic advertising is of immediate importance. This research formulates and examines a structural resistance model for algorithmic advertising, combining psychological and cognitive predictors such as perceived ad fatigue (PAF), digital well-being (DWB), advertising literacy (ADL), and perceived relevance (PR). Based on a cross-sectional survey of 637 participants, the research employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and mediation and multi-group analysis to uncover overall processes and group-specific resistance profiles. Findings show that DWB, ADL, and PR are strong positive predictors of resistance to persuasion, while PAF has no direct effect. PAF has significant indirect influences through both PR and ADL, with full mediation providing support for the cognitive filter function of resistance. DWB demonstrates partial mediation, indicating that it has influence both directly and through enhanced literacy and relevance attribution. Multi-group analysis also indicates that there are notable differences in terms of age, gender, education, social media consumption, ad skipping, and occurrence of digital burnout. Interestingly, younger users and those who have higher digital fatigue are more sensitive to cognitive mediators, whereas gender and education level play a moderating role in the effect of well-being and literacy on resistance pathways. The research provides theory-informed, scalable theory to enhance the knowledge of online resistance. Practical implications are outlined for policymakers, marketers, educators, and developers of digital platforms based on the extent to which psychological resilience and media literacy underpin user agency. In charting resistance contours, this article seeks to maintain the voice of the user in a world growing increasingly algorithmic.

Keywords: digital persuasion; resistance to advertising; algorithmic advertising; digital well-being; advertising literacy; ad fatigue; perceived relevance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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