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Past Event Highlights
Article

ATTENTION 2025

Industry leaders gathered at ATTENTION 2025 on June 5 to explore the evolving science of attention measurement in advertising. This event featured new research from advertisers, agencies, and academics, including preliminary findings from Phase 3 of the Attention Measurement Validation Initiative. Attendees gained actionable insights into scalable attention metrics, their role in optimizing creative and media strategies, and how brands can better identify and engage audiences to drive results.

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Targets & Segments
Article

Brand Strategy in Uncertain Times: How to Build Trust and Relevance

ARF
Knowledge at Hand

When the world is thrust into turbulent times, understanding how consumers respond to uncertainty is essential for brand resilience. This report from the ARF explores enduring behavioral patterns, recent shifts in consumer expectations and actionable strategies for marketers to sustain trust and relevance in volatile times.

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Audience & Media Measurement
Article

Tracking the Why Over Time: A New Era of AI-Powered Advertising Research

ARF
Journal of Advertising Research

A new framework for measuring advertising impact over time—“intensive longitudinal mediation”—uses AI and big data to reveal when and why ads work. This approach helps marketers capture psychological shifts in real-time, going beyond static analysis to uncover how advertising drives behavior over days or weeks.

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Research & Data Quality
Article

The ARF Metrics Survey: Insights into Advertising Strategies

The ARF Metrics Survey explores critical trends in advertising strategies, including budget allocation, metric usage and targeting solutions. Drawing on insights from agencies and brand-side advertisers, the findings reflect shared priorities, notable differences and challenges in evaluating and optimizing campaign performance. The study highlights the dominance of digital channels, with high-priority channels such as digital video, social media, SEM and television receiving significant budget allocations.

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Research & Data Quality
Article

Alternative Explanations: Can AI Rethink Its Own Reasoning?

Can AI challenge its own conclusions rather than merely reinforcing them? In this ARF experiment, researchers explored whether large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can go beyond efficiency and exhibit deeper critical thinking skills. By prompting AI to evaluate and compare hypotheses—including its own—this study reveals how LLMs can serve as interpretive collaborators in research and theoretical reasoning.

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Creative & Branded Content
Article

Designing with Machines: A Co-Creative Model for Generative AI in Advertising Agencies

ARF
Journal of Advertising Research

A new study uncovers how advertising agencies are attempting to integrate generative AI into their creative workflows, and the repercussions of that process. Based on interviews and field data, the research presents a four-phase model—readiness, co-creativity, validation and execution. Although the study reveals certain anxieties surrounding this integration, in the end both human and AI elements together are required to boost and enliven the creative process.

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