Retail media networks and commerce media are redefining the data and measurement landscape, creating new opportunities—and complexity—for marketers and researchers alike. At Commerce & Shopper Intelligence 2026, brands, retailers, and researchers revealed how they’re adapting methodologies and frameworks to better understand increasingly fluid, data-rich shopping journeys.
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This ARF Cognition Council guide brings together the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to explain how consumers process and respond to advertising. It outlines a unified framework connecting attention, emotion, memory and persuasion—showing how these cognitive processes interact to drive real-world outcomes, like brand choice and sales. Moving beyond traditional metrics, the guide highlights emerging approaches to measuring attention and emotional engagement and explores how these signals can be linked to business results. It provides a practical foundation for understanding not just whether ads are seen, but how they are experienced, remembered and ultimately acted upon.
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What drives the media momentum behind say binge viewing a TV series on a streaming platform? This MSI working paper introduces “media momentum” as a key driver of binge-watching. It shows how the interaction between narrative complexity and emotional engagement increases both the likelihood of continued viewing and overall satisfaction. The findings offer a predictive framework for identifying truly “binge-worthy” content and optimizing release strategies.
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As generative AI becomes a key part of how consumers discover and evaluate products, a new question emerges for marketers: how can they ensure their brands show up in AI-driven recommendations? This ARF and MSI experiment, the second phase of the seventh study in the Psychology of Gen AI series, reveals that even small changes in prompt wording can significantly influence which brands appear—helping non-market dominant brands carve out visibility by aligning with specific product attributes rather than competing broadly for “best” status.
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Live sports remains one of the most powerful marketing platforms in today’s fragmented media environment—combining scale, attention, emotion and cultural relevance. This CMO Brief and Knowledge at Hand report explores how different sports deliver distinct value for brands and why the most effective strategies go beyond media buys to create connected, cross-platform fan experiences that drive engagement and business results.
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Turns out there isn’t just one type of influencer. Some are content creators, while others focus more on self-presentation. Which type best represents your brand? This MSI working paper introduces a new behavioral framework that can help you decide. It’s for classifying influencers based on communication style and shows how content focus and self-focus shape engagement, reach and marketing effectiveness.
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