Issue Summary
June 2026 (Vol. 66, Issue 2)
Editor’s Desk
Did You Write This? Rethinking Authorship in the Age of AI
In the June issue, JAR Editor-in-Chief Colin Campbell challenges conventional thinking about AI-assisted writing, arguing that the key question is no longer whether AI was used, but whether the human author remained actively responsible for the work. Drawing on a framework developed through discussions at a recent academic workshop on AI and research, Campbell contends that writing has always involved collaboration with tools and other contributors, from editors to coauthors. He introduces a new model of authorship that distinguishes between low-engagement AI use and a “Director” approach, in which researchers use AI extensively while retaining ownership of the ideas, arguments, judgments, and verification behind the work. Rather than viewing authorship as a tally of who wrote each sentence, Campbell argues it should be defined by accountability and intellectual stewardship. He calls for greater openness about AI use, clearer disclosure norms, and stronger training for researchers to ensure AI enhances rather than replaces scholarly judgment, ultimately encouraging the field to focus less on how writing is produced and more on the quality, integrity, and originality of the resulting research.
When AI-Powered Personalization Becomes Too Personal
Generative AI is giving advertisers unprecedented ability to personalize creative content, including the use of AI-generated faces that closely resemble individual consumers. But this research suggests that more personalization is not always better. Across two studies, the authors find that facial similarity has an inverted U-shaped relationship with advertising effectiveness: consumers respond more positively when an AI-generated face is somewhat similar to them, but purchase intentions decline when the resemblance becomes too strong. The findings introduce a new “too-similar-to-me” effect, suggesting that highly personalized ads may trigger discomfort, perceptions of intrusiveness, or heightened awareness of persuasive intent. Using an AI-based method to measure facial similarity, the researchers estimate that advertising performance peaks when faces are roughly 50–70 percent similar to the viewer, with an optimal level around 57 percent. For marketers exploring AI-driven personalization, the study highlights an important lesson: effective personalization requires balance, and making an ad look too much like the consumer may ultimately undermine its impact.
How Small Talk and Co-Viewing with AI Companions Boost Advertising Effectiveness and Persuasion
As AI companions such as Alexa, Siri and conversational chatbots become more integrated into daily life, marketers are beginning to explore how these technologies influence advertising effectiveness. This research examines whether AI companions can function as social co-viewers and how interactions with them shape responses to advertising. Across a scenario-based experiment and a laboratory study, the authors find that consumers perceive AI companions as legitimate viewing partners, generating a sense of co-viewing similar to that experienced with human companions. More importantly, brief social interactions with AI before viewing content can improve advertising outcomes. Longer conversations increase perceptions that the AI is more human-like, which strengthens users’ identification with the AI and makes its recommendations more persuasive. The research also finds that co-viewing with AI companions can reduce ad irritation and enhance engagement with advertising content. For marketers, the findings suggest that AI assistants may become more than information tools—they can serve as social intermediaries that influence how consumers experience media and respond to brand messages. Designing AI interactions that foster rapport and sustained engagement may therefore increase the effectiveness of advertising and product recommendations.
How Co-Viewing Influences Attention to TV Ads and Programs Across Connected TV (CTV) and Linear TV
As television viewing increasingly shifts across connected TV (CTV) and traditional linear TV platforms, understanding how audiences watch together has become an important challenge for advertisers and media planners. This study examines the effects of co-viewing—watching television with other people—on audience attention to both advertising and program content using large-scale, individual-level viewing data from TVision. The findings reveal a striking contrast: co-viewing reduces attention to television advertisements while increasing attention to program content. These effects also vary by platform. The negative impact on ad attention is stronger on CTV than on linear television, while the positive effect on program attention is more pronounced on linear TV. The research further shows that longer periods of co-viewing can offset some of the decline in ad attention and strengthen engagement with programming. Content duration also matters. Longer advertisements attract less attention in co-viewing environments, whereas longer programs benefit from increased viewer engagement. For marketers, the findings suggest that ad strategies should be tailored to viewing context and platform. Shorter, more engaging ad formats may be particularly important on CTV, while longer-form content and shared viewing experiences can enhance audience engagement with programming. More broadly, the study highlights the value of incorporating co-viewing behavior into media planning, audience measurement and contextual targeting strategies.
This article is especially interesting because it uses actual TVision attention-tracking data from millions of viewing occasions rather than self-reported viewing behavior, giving the findings unusually strong, real-world relevance for advertisers and media planners.
The Impact of Ad Repetition on Viewer Attention in Connected and Linear Television
As advertisers increasingly shift budgets toward connected television (CTV), understanding how repeated ad exposure affects viewer attention has become a critical challenge. This study examines the relationship between ad repetition and attention across both connected TV (CTV) and traditional linear TV (LTV) using a large-scale TVision dataset that tracks second-by-second viewing behavior and attention through facial recognition technology. Analyzing nearly 7.7 million ad-viewing observations from more than 1,300 viewers, the researchers find that attention to advertising is generally lower on CTV than on LTV and that repeated ad exposures lead to a significantly faster decline in attention on CTV. While attention levels on linear television tend to remain relatively stable across repeated exposures, attention on CTV decreases more sharply with each additional viewing. The effects become even stronger when the same ads are repeated within shorter time intervals, such as days or hours, causing attention to decline on both platforms. The findings suggest that excessive ad repetition can undermine advertising effectiveness, particularly in streaming environments where viewers are highly engaged with content and more likely to perceive repeated ads as intrusive interruptions. For advertisers, the study highlights the importance of managing frequency carefully, avoiding excessive ad clustering and diversifying creative executions to reduce viewer fatigue. As CTV continues to grow, the research underscores the need for more sophisticated frequency management and audience-targeting strategies that balance exposure goals with sustained viewer attention.
Benefit Appeals in Livestreaming E-Commerce: The Moderating Role of Influencers’ Facial Beauty and Body Motion
Benefit appeals are among the most widely used persuasion tactics in livestream shopping, but their effectiveness depends on more than just the message itself. This study examines how verbal benefit-focused appeals interact with influencers’ facial attractiveness and body motion to shape consumer engagement and sales performance in livestreaming e-commerce. Drawing on real-world TikTok livestream data, machine-learning analysis, econometric modeling, and controlled experiments, the authors find that benefit appeals significantly increase sales by helping consumers better understand the value and relevance of featured products. However, these effects become even stronger when influencers are perceived as more facially attractive and use greater body movement while presenting products. The findings suggest that benefit appeals drive sales by increasing consumer engagement, while attractive and expressive influencers are better able to capture attention and reinforce the persuasiveness of their messages. By demonstrating how verbal and nonverbal communication work together to influence purchasing behavior, the study highlights the uniquely multimodal nature of livestream commerce. For marketers and brands, the research offers an important reminder that successful livestream selling depends not only on what influencers say, but also on how they present themselves. Combining clear, customer-focused benefit appeals with engaging visual and behavioral cues can enhance audience engagement, strengthen persuasion, and improve sales outcomes in an increasingly competitive livestream shopping environment.
From Graduation to Retirement: How Life-Role Transition Cue Advertising Shapes Consumer Preferences for Self-Improvement Products
Major life events such as graduation, marriage, parenthood, career changes and retirement often prompt consumers to reassess their identities and future goals. This research examines how advertising that references these life-role transitions influences consumer preferences for self-improvement products. Across four studies involving a range of transition scenarios and product categories, the authors find that advertisements incorporating life-role transition cues consistently increase interest in products designed to help consumers improve their skills, health, knowledge or overall capabilities. The effect occurs because reminders of life transitions heighten personal uncertainty, leading consumers to seek products that can help them adapt to new roles and feel more prepared for future challenges. The studies also identify an important boundary condition: the effectiveness of life-role transition cue advertising depends on how product benefits are communicated. When self-improvement products are described using concrete, specific language that clearly explains how they can help consumers, purchase intentions increase significantly. However, when products are promoted using abstract language, the positive effect of life-role transition cues disappears. The research suggests that pairing life-role transition messaging with clear, tangible descriptions of product benefits can make advertising more relevant and persuasive for consumers navigating periods of change.
Consumer Responses to LGBTQ-Themed Advertising: A Computational Analysis of YouTube Comments
As brands increasingly incorporate LGBTQ themes into their advertising and broader brand activism efforts, understanding how consumers respond to these messages has become increasingly important. This study analyzes more than 20,000 YouTube comments on LGBTQ-themed advertisements from major brands to examine the themes and sentiments that emerge in real-world consumer conversations. Using computational text-mining techniques, the authors identify six dominant discussion topics: LGBTQ celebrations, homosexuality-friendly family values, drag culture, societal acceptance of the LGBTQ community, brand activism and gender roles in advertising. Overall, consumer sentiment toward LGBTQ-themed advertising is predominantly positive, with many comments expressing feelings of joy, trust, pride and support for inclusive representation. However, reactions vary significantly depending on the content being portrayed. Advertisements focused on celebration, family, and acceptance generally generate favorable responses, while depictions of drag culture and discussions of brand activism elicit more polarized reactions. The findings also reveal that perceptions of authenticity play a critical role in shaping consumer responses, with many commenters expressing skepticism toward brands they perceive as engaging in performative support or “rainbow-washing” rather than demonstrating a genuine, long-term commitment to LGBTQ causes. For marketers, the research highlights the importance of pairing inclusive representation with authentic brand actions and values.
Grit in Advertising: How a Promotion Focus Influences Consumer Variety-Seeking
Grit is typically associated with persistence, consistency and staying the course, but this research reveals a more nuanced effect in consumer behavior. Across a field study and three experiments, the authors find that advertising messages emphasizing grit—defined as passion and perseverance in pursuit of goals—actually increase consumers’ willingness to seek variety and try new options rather than remain loyal to familiar choices. The effect occurs because gritty messaging activates a promotion-focused mindset, encouraging consumers to pursue aspirations, achievements and optimal outcomes through exploration. Consumers exposed to gritty advertisements were more likely to switch brands, select novel products and deviate from habitual purchasing patterns, with promotion-focused goal attainment serving as the key psychological mechanism. For marketers, the research highlights the potential of grit-based advertising to encourage trial, product exploration and brand switching, particularly when messages emphasize benefits, growth, and achievement.
Green Demarketing to Nongreen Consumers: Individuals With Low Environmental Concern Don’t Believe Messages to “Buy Less”
As brands increasingly adopt “green demarketing” messages that encourage consumers to buy less for environmental reasons, this research examines when and why such appeals succeed—or fail. Across two experiments and a real-world social media field study, the authors find that green demarketing messages are generally less effective than traditional green advertising because they reduce perceptions of source credibility and message believability, ultimately lowering purchase intentions. However, this effect is driven primarily by consumers with low environmental concern, who view “buy less” appeals as less credible and are significantly less responsive to them. In contrast, highly environmentally concerned consumers respond similarly to both green advertising and green demarketing messages. A field experiment on Instagram reinforced these findings, showing that traditional green advertising generated substantially higher click-through rates among low-environmental-concern consumers than green demarketing. The results suggest that marketers should tailor sustainability messaging to audience values, using more conventional green appeals for less environmentally engaged consumers while reserving more progressive demarketing strategies for audiences already committed to environmental causes.