Trust Issues
It’s no secret that fraud is rampant across the digital landscape. David W. Stewart (Loyola Marymount University) believes the advertising and marketing disciplines have not experienced such a crisis of accountability since the television quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s. In JAR’s final edition of Speaker’s Box, Stewart assesses concerns among all invested parties and calls for more transparency, self-regulation and greater dialogue toward industry-wide solutions.
Superbowl Ads on Social First?
Here’s a study that may calm down the annual Superbowl advertising debate: Pre-release your ads on social media before the Big Game, or wait for TV airing to make a bigger impact?
This academic/practitioner collaboration offers evidence that prior social-media engagement with an advertising campaign does not spoil the surprise or novelty of a Super Bowl ad.
And, there are specific creative strategies for ensuring maximum ad effectiveness on game day.
How a Brand’s Facebook Posts Can Drive e-Word of Mouth
Generating positive e-word of mouth (e-WOM) is a significant goal for brands. Previous research has focused on content analysis and user motivations for predicting eWOM. New work from South Korea utilized big data to analyze aspects of a Facebook post. Using a form of statistical modeling and Fortune 100 company data, the researchers discovered that a post performs best when it uses a mix of emotional and information-based messaging, but that positive posts as an emotional message strategy can be off-putting.
The Buzz Metric
An often-overlooked measure in ad campaign effectiveness is conversation about brands. In this study, word-of-mouth industry experts found that increases in both online and offline conversations contributed about equally to sales and other business outcomes. “Measuring conversational uplift for brands can be an important indicator of whether an advertisement has hit the right target, delivered a relevant message, created brand identification and sparked a response that leads someone to consider a purchase and share that reaction with others,” the authors write.
Does Avoidance of Social Media Ads Differ by Device?
PC and mobile users experience advertising differently, and on social media the reasons have much to do with values users associate with the device. Facebook data from France shows that for those using mobile phones, an ad should provide a practical service, like facilitating ease of localization and access. For PC users, Facebook ads carry greater social value. Trust in the network also drove either approach or avoidance of ads, depending on the device used.
What Makes an Instagram Influencer Successful?
Instagram influencers are disrupting advertising—as well as research. They’re also creating new opportunities—depending on the fit between the influencer and the brand and/or product. Academics in Germany found that the right match will affect the influencer’s credibility and persuasiveness, but that “marketers should choose someone who has a strong connection with their audience” if the fit isn’t ideal.
Other Features
Is It Better to Advertise First Online or on TV?
Answer: Online ads can strengthen TV-based ones, but not the other way around. In this robust study, McGill University researchers examined single-source data on household-level, cross-media exposures and purchases for consumer-packaged goods in China. The 33-week campaign consisted of TV commercials, online banner ads and digital pre-roll ads. Data collection methods for ad exposures included media questionnaires, surveys and tagging with cookies. And the data itself? Information on purchasing transactions and weekly advertising exposures for the focal brand, for a sample of 40,706 panelists, translating into a whopping 1,343,298 panel-time observations.
How do consumers perceive claims in cosmetics ads?
Since the FDA doesn’t regulate cosmetics, advertisers have little guidance as to the types and frequency of scientific claims they make in their ads, and how those claims will be perceived. From their analysis of cosmetics ads in five fashion magazines, researchers created a typology of claims and surveyed consumers and physicians. Among other outcomes, their efforts help to differentiate claims that might be deemed as misleading or deceptive, versus information viewed as necessary for making purchase decisions.