cognition

ATTENTION 2025

  • ARF

Industry leaders gathered at ATTENTION 2025 on June 5 to explore the evolving science of attention measurement in advertising. This event featured new research from advertisers, agencies, and academics, including preliminary findings from Phase 3 of the Attention Measurement Validation Initiative. Attendees gained actionable insights into scalable attention metrics, their role in optimizing creative and media strategies, and how brands can better identify and engage audiences to drive results.

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Dimensionalizing the Value of Brands in an Attention Economy

  • Summary by Caroline McBride, Pernod-Ricard, Young Pros Officer

On September 20th, 2023, expert researchers delivered a set of presentations and participated in a panel discussion at an event curated by the Cognition Council’s Long Term Effectiveness Working Group. Panelists shared previous work on consumers’ responsiveness to the first few seconds of an ad, followed by the Cognition Council’s analysis of the combination of two disparate data sets – Kantar’s BrandZ, an ongoing study of the brand equity of leading global brands, and a custom MMA neuroscientific study of over 800 respondents’ reactions to 24 ads. This analysis focused on the effect of brand relevance on cognitive processing (specifically cognitive load and motivation) of ads at varying scroll speeds in a feed-based environment.

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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.

Member Only Access

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.