Consumer Attitudes

• 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?

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Taste-testing the Brand Premium

Even in instances where consumers face lots of options, they routinely pay a premium for national brands over private labels, research shows. This is true even when they believe that the quality of a private label is comparable. However, one thing that can shift consumer preferences toward private label brands is blind taste tests—at least in the short-term.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

Key Elements of Long-Term Market Leadership

While market share leadership is a strategic imperative for many leading companies, surprisingly little is known about market leaders. To rectify this, researchers in this MSI working paper looked into four key issues: (1) the frequency of market leaders maintaining their leadership over periods ranging from 5 to 89 years; (2) whether leading brands that lose their leadership are able to regain it or if loss of leadership tends to be permanent; (3) whether market leadership persistence varies as a function of economic conditions (i.e., GDP growth rate, inflation, unemployment); and (4) whether market leadership persistence varies by category type.

• 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.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

Is Roadblock Advertising Worth the Substantial Cost?

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Roadblock advertising is an expensive, but often necessary tactic for maximizing attention in a fragmented media landscape. An advertiser limits or blocks access to competing ads for a period. Is it worth the high cost? A three-part study compares its effectiveness with typical cluttered advertising and addresses various effects using different formats and commercial break conditions.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

The ARF 5th Annual Privacy Study

One of the ARF’s most anticipated reports for both membership and the press, the 2022 Privacy Study surveyed 1,273 American consumers from May 14th to 27th, 2022. This was done via a Qualtrics online sample and platform. The report contains perennial questions regarding mobile and PC usage, willingness to share digital data, trust and how well privacy terms are understood. In the latest report, questions about the acceptability of using personal data under various circumstances and for various purposes were also added.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

How Framing Purchase Interactions Affects Outcomes

• MSI

What kind of interface does your ecommerce website or app use? How does that affect the customer experience? These are important questions because how your purchase interface is framed affects the customer experience along the entire decision journey, according to this MSI working paper. “Quantity-integrated” formats, where the customer indicates simultaneously whether and how much to buy of something, are more profitable than sequential formats, where the customer is first asked for their purchase decision, followed by a specific quantity.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Explaining Algorithmic Decisions to Ensure Perceived Fairness

• MSI

What kind of interface does your ecommerce website or app use? How does that affect the customer experience? These are important questions because how your purchase interface is framed affects the customer experience along the entire decision journey, according to this MSI working paper. “Quantity-integrated” formats, where the customer indicates simultaneously whether and how much to buy of something, are more profitable than sequential formats, where the customer is first asked for their purchase decision, followed by a specific quantity.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

How AI and Deepfakes Could Reshape the Advertising Industry

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Artificial intelligence is already changing advertising, but how will it reshape it moving forward? Researchers unpack the potential effects of three different forms of AI—analytic, interpretive and creative—on seven categories of advertising industry stakeholders. Can those who embrace the evolving creative AI mechanisms get ahead of competitors?

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

Tingly Sensations Can Boost Recall in Video Ads

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is increasingly used in video ads to magnify your experience with, for example, whispers that trigger tingling sensations. Using four experiments, a global research team explores consumers’ reactions to ASMR and its sensory effect on memory.