Cross-Platform

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The ARF Attention Measurement Validation Initiative: Phase 1 Report Updated

• ARF ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Attention metrics have drawn a high degree of energy in the last few years, for many reasons, including the loss of behavioral signals due to privacy restrictions, growing frustration with ad viewability and its perceived limitations, attention metrics’ impact on the cross-platform measurement debate and that biometric technologies can now be applied “in the wild,” rather than just in labs. The ARF’s Attention Measurement Validation Initiative aims to describe the attention measurement space in detail, illuminating this nascent sector. The Phase One findings include a comprehensive literature review and a report that maps out the vendor landscape in this increasingly diverse specialty. The report includes two sections. The first section describes what methods are being used, what these companies report and how and what they measure, be it ad creative or the media environment. The second section includes in-depth overviews of the 29 participating attention measurement companies. The Phase One Report is a must-read for anyone interested in attention metrics or what companies are operating in the space.  

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

Retail Media Networks, Generative AI Top JAR’s Industry-Informed Research Priorities

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Retail media networks, generative AI across creative, market research and trust, ad effectiveness and attention: These are among the topics highlighted on the Journal of Advertising Research’s list of 2024 research priorities. The list is a result of one-on-one interviews with advertising professionals by Editor-in-Chief Colin Campbell, who asked: "What are your biggest needs and challenges?"

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

Cross-Platform Measurement Options from an Agency Perspective

Audience measurement is changing at an unprecedented rate. Concurrently, identifiers such as cookies are fading, and traditional models and incumbent suppliers are being questioned. In reaction to all these happenings, new measurement initiatives and a new Joint Industry Committee (JIC) have risen to establish a path toward a new video measurement framework. In 2023, the Online-Offline Metrics Working Group, within the ARF Cross-Platform Measurement Council, conducted anonymous, in-depth-interviews (IDIs) with eight key decision-makers from major agency holding companies. The IDIs focused on three major issues involving the metric situation confronting the advertising industry. This report summarizes the learnings from those interviews.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

The 6th Annual Privacy Study

One of the ARF’s most popular reports for membership and the press, the 6^th Annual Privacy Study has now been released. The study surveyed 1,329 American consumers in the spring of 2023 on a Qualtrics online sample and platform. The report contains perennial questions regarding device usage, trust in institutions and how well privacy terms are understood. Last and this year’s versions also investigated what changes in information the public is willing to share and under what circumstances they are willing to share it. A new aspect to this year’s study is that it contains longitudinal findings across all six years.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Which Gen Z Mobile Users Should Retailers Retarget?

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Even though it is a common practice in the industry, researchers so far have not reached a uniform conclusion about how or even whether retargeting works. But a new study focused on Gen Z mobile users offers insight into the early stages of decision making, and a multitude of factors that influence these consumers’ perceptions when viewing luxury fashion ads for a second and third time.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Spillover Effects Make Consumers with Weak Social Ties Effective Targets

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Chinese researchers have found that social media advertising can make a significant impact on people who are socially connected to the viewers of ads—even more so than on the targeted viewers. This effect is strongest among consumers with weaker rather than strong social ties, and it challenges targeting methods rooted in customer centricity models.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Attention and Ad Impact: The Evolution of Attention Metrics

• ARF Knowledge at Hand, CMO Brief

The proliferation of media platforms, with increases in multi-tasking, has made finding ways to get consumers to pay attention to advertising more important than ever. In response, researchers have developed new methods to assess attention and the ARF has found that they can provide more direct and more accurate measurements. However, as these metrics are constantly evolving, there are open questions regarding their validity and reliability. Further, as researchers are using the term “attention” in different ways, clarity about what is meant by attention and how it is being measured is crucial.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The Other Thread: The Debate About Cross-Media Deduplication

On June 28, media research pioneer and journalist Bill Harvey sent excerpts of his latest Media Village article to several of the industry’s leading media researchers. That article was entitled: Cross-Media Duplication Must Be Rigorously and Empirically Determined. What followed was a robust intellectual debate that outlines where the lines are drawn in the industry as far as whether virtual IDs (VIDs) can overcome issues of privacy and still provide an accurate account of campaign cross-platform duplication. We now share this jaunty and insightful exchange with our members.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The Attention Measurement Validation Initiative: Literature Review

Attention metrics are at a pivotal point in our industry. They are moving from the lab into the marketplace. Being at the forefront of such research, the ARF is studying 23 attention measurement providers. The goals of the study are to better understand the different tools being used, their validity, reproducibility and rightful application—whether in evaluating ad creative or the media environment. In the first phase of the project, ARF researchers produced a literature review, which itself is illuminating and adds much needed context. We now offer this review to our members. In addition, the first phase will also include a comparative analysis and profiling of all the participating measurement companies. Stay tuned for this upcoming report.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The State of Cross-Platform Metrics: The Advertiser’s Perspective

• Cross-Platform Council Working Group

Metrics for planning, buying and evaluating buys have been in great flux, especially over the last five years. New channels have emerged, some have changed, and a multiplicity of data sources have sprouted up. To gain a better understanding of the way advertisers are navigating this complex landscape, the Online-Offline Working Group of the ARF Cross-Platform Measurement Council interviewed representatives from major advertisers and put out a report about what they learned. This report provides the advertising industry with a glimpse into how major marketers are approaching audience measurement in all the different environments.