Modern digital privacy laws, while well-intentioned, carry significant unintended consequences. On September 12, industry experts joined us for a virtual Town Hall and discussed the unintended consequences of privacy regulations on marketers, consumers, the industry and society—as well as shared actionable strategies that can be used to mitigate their impacts.
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During the last five years, we have seen an upswing and change in the inclusion of values in advertising, especially the increase in cause-related marketing (CRM) which includes messages about societal goals such as sustainability, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity/equality and inclusion).
Given marketers’ interest in these issues—ranging from wanting to express support for causes to being concerned about a possible backlash—the ARF has reviewed the research on cause-related marketing as well as related issues, such as ads with more general pro-social and altruistic messages. ARF researchers conclude that ads with cause-related messages can be effective, but many are not. Future research should focus on which kinds of messages are most effective among different consumer groups.
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Highly creative advertising is essential for lesser-known brands, but for familiar ones the effort may backfire, new research shows. If the highly creative ad is perceived as off-brand or forces too much information processing, it can damage consumers’ attitudes toward the familiar brand.
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