The ARF

Creative & Branded Content
Article

Disruptive Streaming Video Ads Hurt Product Involvement/Brand Recognition

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Consumers may love online video platforms like YouTube, but when it comes to the inevitable disruption—the annoying mid-roll ads that start playing in the middle of a scene, sentence or word—they are not so amused. In fact, new research shows that the irritation caused by these ads leads to lower levels of product involvement and brand recognition than that garnered by non-disruptive ads.

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Creative & Branded Content
Article

Different Design Elements Boost Effectiveness Depending on the Type of Ad

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

How can the use of colors and design elements improve the effectiveness of ads? New research provides a different blueprint for graphic designers, depending on whether the ad is functional or experiential.

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Creative & Branded Content
Article

Which Prompts Better Green Behaviors: A Crying Tree or Smiling Forest?

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Some ads promoting pro-environmental behaviors put human-like faces on natural images like oceans, volcanos and forests, among others. Marketing scholars ask: which anthropomorphic character is more effective—one that is happy or sad? The answer lies in whether the content is perceived as a sudden disaster or an ongoing tragedy.

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Targets & Segments
Article

Negative TV & Film Characters Can Be Effective Product Endorsers

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Negative or outlaw film and television characters, like Breaking Bad’s antihero and drug kingpin Walter White, are liked and trusted less than their real-world counterparts, yet can be effective product endorsers, new research has found, opening the door to a novel and creative marketing tactic.

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Creative & Branded Content
Article

This Strategy Sharpens the Creative Process at Ad Agencies

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Data-driven marketing presents opportunities but also many challenges for managing creativity and creative teams. A new study offers a roadmap for managers at agencies to be more strategic in the creative integrated marketing communications process by rethinking the distribution and valuation of creativity.

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<em>JAR</em> Calls for Papers: Immersive Technologies & Prosocial Advertising

Research & Data Quality
Article

JAR Calls for Papers: Immersive Technologies & Prosocial Advertising

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Editors at the Journal of Advertising Research have launched two new calls for papers on timely themes — one on immersive technologies and the other on prosocial advertising messages. Interested in contributing your robust work in these areas? Read on to learn about goals for each call and the journal’s resources and support toward submitting a successful paper.

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Article

How Speed Preference During Travel Affects Mobile Marketing

Today, it is more common than ever for consumers to access media and make decisions on the go. Marketers need to know how being in a state of mobility affects them in order to reach them with the right message at the right time. This study helps shed a little light on how such mobility itself may influence consumer thinking and behavior.

Creative & Branded Content
Article

New Research Methods Strengthen Ad Creative’s Impact

CREATIVE COUNCIL

Advertising creative is critical to driving business growth and positive business outcomes for brands, several studies have shown. It is also crucial to the overall ecosystem and brands’ ability to reach their marketing goals. Given the importance of good creative, the ARF Creative Council put together a white paper to inform and educate members on new methods and approaches for generating and optimizing advertising creative content. These fresh and innovative methods offer potent insights during the creative development process. The white paper focuses on tools that can be leveraged in the early stages of creative development, particularly those that take advantage of state-of-the-art technology.

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Targets & Segments
Article

Does Anthropomorphism Help or Hurt Brands Entering Foreign Markets?

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Talking M&Ms, Mr. Peanut, the Michelin Man and the Pillsbury Doughboy are among the most popular anthropomorphic product characters, many of which we remember since childhood. A new study asks: How can a brand that uses this popular communication strategy avoid the negative impact of consumer ethnocentrism—the belief that buying foreign products is wrong—when entering foreign markets?

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Targets & Segments
Article

Victim Imagery Composition Affects Charitable Crowdfunding Donations

JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

As charity fundraising becomes more competitive, the imagery used in crowdfunding campaigns requesting help for victims can make the difference between higher or lower donations. Evidence from new research shows that campaigns with images that show victims as helpless attract fewer donations than those showing victims helping themselves.

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