Current Issue Summary
March 2025 (Vol. 65, Issue 1)
Editor’s Desk
2025 JAR Research Priorities
In the 2025 JAR Research Priorities List, Editor-Chief Colin Campbell outlines key research areas in advertising, focusing on the impact of technological advancements like generative AI, virtual influencers and digital clones. It emphasizes the need for studies on video advertising, livestream selling, prosocial advertising, and cookie-less strategies. The list also highlights the importance of understanding new ad formats in connected TV, retail media networks, attention metrics, zero-click search and synthesizing, establishing knowledge to address the evolving challenges in the industry.
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How Does Binge-Watching Behavior Affect Advertising and Video-on-Demand Platforms? Ad Intrusiveness, Irritation and Attitudes Via the Psychological Reactance Theory Lens
Researchers investigate the negative effects of binge-watching on advertising and video-on-demand platforms in this study. It delves into the causal relationships between binge-watching behavior, consumers’ reactance (ad intrusiveness, platform attitude and ad irritation), and marketing outcomes (platform revisit and ad avoidance intention), as well as the moderating effect of ad likeability. Findings indicate that binge-watching increases consumers’ perceived ad intrusiveness, leading to diminished platform attitudes and intentions, increased ad irritation, and ad avoidance. However, higher ad likeability can reduce perceived ad intrusiveness.
How Do Advertising Agencies Respond to Incentives?: Perceptions of Creativity in Competitive Account Reviews and Pay-for-Performance Compensation
The study explores how advertising agencies respond to incentives, specifically focusing on competitive account reviews (pitches) and pay-for-performance compensation. It finds that while pitches do not directly lead to better creative work, they signal a client’s openness to exploring creative alternatives, which fosters a collaborative relationship between the client and agency. This openness and collaboration are crucial for producing highly creative work. The study also highlights that financial incentives alone are not sufficient to drive creativity; instead, trust and a strong client-agency relationship play a significant role in achieving creative outcomes.
Designing Delicious: An Examination of Creative Attributes Driving Food, Beverage, and Restaurant Advertising Effectiveness
Researchers in this study investigate the impact different creative elements have in online video advertisements for food, beverage and restaurant (FBR) industries. By combining human coding with machine learning, the researchers analyzed 2,308 different advertisements to identify which creative attributes most effectively influence brand awareness, ad recall, consideration, favorability and purchase intent. The study found that sensory cues, such as sounds like a “crunch,” significantly boost recall and consideration, while others like ASMR and bubbling can reduce purchase intent and favorability. Additionally, the research highlights that many commonly used ad features have little to no positive impact, whereas underutilized creative elements can drive strong results. These findings offer valuable insights for advertisers looking to optimize their strategies and for scholars interested in further research in this domain.
The Effects of Dialect Wording on Advertisement Recall: How Brands Can Use Dialect Advertising to Deepen Their Connection with Consumers
Explore how using dialects in advertisements enhance consumer recall compared to standard language (Mandarin), in this newly printed article detailing six inter-related studies conducted in China. The research found that dialect advertisements evoke a stronger feeling of groundedness, which mediates the positive effect on ad recall. The study also examines boundary conditions such as bicultural identity integration, traveler versus settler orientation and brand characteristics (warm versus competent), revealing that dialect advertising is particularly effective for consumers with high bicultural identity integration, settler orientation and for warm brands.
How Mega- and Micro-Influencers Strategically Manage Authenticity: Exploring Influencer Types and Content Differences Based on Social Network Theory
Discover how mega- and micro-influencers manage authenticity in their sponsored content on social media, particularly YouTube with this new study. Grounded in social network theory, the study’s researchers conducted a quantitative content analysis comparing the content of influencers with different follower counts. They found that micro-influencers, who have fewer followers, tend to have lower sponsorship rates and use more two-sided messaging, which increases their perceived authenticity. In contrast, mega-influencers, with a larger follower base, are more likely to use explicit sponsorship disclosures and self-revelation to maintain transparency and relatability. The study highlights the trade-offs between network centrality, tie strength and authenticity, providing insights into how different influencer types impact audience engagement and brand perception.
Read the full article.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464299
Optimizing Branded Content for Beauty and Fashion Influencers from a Media Richness Perspective: How Post Topic and Visual Type Intertwine to Boost Consumer Engagement What is the optimal combination of topic type and visual type in influencer branded posts to enhance consumer engagement on Instagram? Researchers in this study, guided by media richness theory and processing fluency theory, analyzed real branded posts from top beauty and fashion influencers, revealing that rich media like videos should be used for detailed topics (e.g., product introduction), while lean media like photos are suitable for straightforward topics (e.g., achieving the influencer’s look through product purchase). The findings offer valuable theoretical and practical insights into influencer marketing, emphasizing the importance of matching task complexity with media richness to maximize consumer engagement.
Does Sadness Sell? The Use of Negative Emotions in Fundraising Appeals: Fundraising Strategies for For-profit and Nonprofit Organizations Learn how negative emotional appeals in fundraising campaigns are perceived differently by consumers based on the type of organization. This research found that for-profit organizations using negative emotional narratives in their appeals are evaluated less favorably compared to non-emotional, factual appeals, and such appeals do not significantly increase donations. In contrast, nonprofit organizations benefit from highly negative emotional appeals, which increase donation intentions. The study suggests that the effectiveness of negative emotional appeals is contingent upon the congruence between organizational stereotypes (warm vs. competent) and the intensity of the negative emotion expressed in the appeal.
Targeting Couples: Are Dyad Exposures Greater Than One Plus One? Shared Information and Couple Interaction Matter in Household Purchase Decisions”
This study investigates the effectiveness of a novel dyad-exposure advertising method that targets both spouses in a household. Using data from a field experiment promoting a smart toilet brand, the study finds that the dyad-exposure method achieves more than twice the conversion rate compared to single-exposure methods. This increased effectiveness is attributed to the stimulation of intra-couple interaction, which enhances the likelihood of purchase decisions. The study also highlights the heterogeneous effects of the dyad-exposure method on households with different demographic and behavioral attributes.