The ARF Knowledge Center provides secondary research services for ARF and ARF-MSI members on a broad range of topics. Analysis of ARF member questions posed to the Knowledge Center in 2023 shows distinct trends and interests posed by different constituent members. As always, most questions tend to be specific to the unique business needs of each member, but there were some overarching trends, which highlight the evolving landscape of the marketing and advertising industry. This FAQ discusses these trends alongside sample member questions and Knowledge Center research reports.
Aarti Bhaskaran – Global Head of Research & Insights, Snap
Kara Louis – Group Research Manager, Snap
Aarti Bhaskaran and Kara Louis of Snap presented their amalgamation of work on augmented reality (AR) with key data and client case studies from the last two years. Showcasing the growth of the AR landscape, Aarti and Kara featured how consumers are gravitating towards AR and the expanding number of opportunities available for advertisers in reaching new audiences and utilizing within the media mix. Case studies include brands using AR try-on technology from Champs Sports and Clearly eyeglasses.
Key takeaways:
AR usage is widespread and growing, from Boomers to GenZ. By the year 2025 there will be approximately 4.3 billion AR users across all generations.
Almost all marketers (91%) think consumers use AR for fun, but 67% of consumers prefer using AR for shopping over fun (53%).
Interacting with products that have AR experiences leads to a 94% higher purchase conversion rate, as individuals can better assess them and feel connected with brands. Certain AR applications can substitute physical shopping with different features varying across the customer journey.
Interactive and personalized shopping experiences reach Gen Z—92% are interested in using AR for shopping, with over half of Gen Z saying they’d be more likely to pay attention to ads using AR. Gen Zs are also twice as likely to buy items that they have experienced first using AR than those who don’t.
AR lenses on Snapchat outperformed all other media formats. Other platforms would need 14-20 ads to generate the same level of attention as Snapchat lenses.
AR not only drives short-term impact with higher purchase intent and brand preference, but it also improves brand opinion, influences implicit associations and increases likelihood to purchase and recommend.
The creative attributes that include logo and product branding, complexity, messaging and user experience show a significant relationship with AR performance in brand lift.
Steven Millman – Global Head of Research & Data Science, Dynata
Steven Millman of Dynata shared key findings from Dynata’s global research on attitudes towards inclusivity in advertising and why that matters. The online survey was conducted across 12 countries (U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Japan, Australia and Brazil) with a representative sample of 18+ adults and a total of 12,043 respondents. The survey examined attitudes and feelings of various minority groups (including LGBTQIA+, women, seniors, people with disabilities). Race was only considered for the U.S. sample, as race couldn’t be asked in certain countries or it was challenging to get sufficient diverse samples by race in non-U.S. countries. Overall, the study found that members of minority groups generally feel somewhat less authentically represented in advertising than do others. With the exception of racial minorities in the U.S., marginalized groups also tend to feel less satisfied by their portrayals in advertising. The presentation also delved into cross-country trends and differences, as well as a deeper dive into the impact of political affiliations and gender on attitudes and purchase intent in the U.S. along issues of inclusivity and diversity.
Key takeaways:
Across countries, members of minority groups generally feel somewhat less authentically represented in advertising than do others. However, most people do not across the board.
Marginalized groups, especially LGBTQ+, are also less likely to be satisfied by their portrayals in advertising. The only exception was underrepresented racial group in the U.S.
In general, people think inclusivity in advertising is important, especially among younger groups. However, the exception was seniors, who only ranked portrayals of people over 65 as highly important.
Portrayals of equal representation of women and men and people with disabilities ranked the highest in importance across different age demos.
Portrayals of the LGBTQIA+ community ranked the lowest in term of importance across all age groups, and the portrayal of LGBTQIA+ was important to less than half of non-LGBTQIA+ respondents.
The majority felt that we are going in the right direction in terms of whether things are getting better or worse with respect to inclusivity in advertising. This satisfaction was overall lower in the U.S., similarly between racial and non-racial minorities.
In the U.S., Democratic men were much more likely than Republican or Independent men to say that they would be more likely to purchase from inclusive advertisers. There were similar differences among women along party lines, but the gaps were much closer.
Among countries, Brazil reported the importance of the portrayals of marginalized groups as the highest.
On January 24, young professionals in advertising, marketing, media, and research came together for a unique opportunity for networking, learning, and inspiration. Meghan Brogan of A+E Networks led a conversation with Byron Valverde of 605. As a former ARF Young Pro, Byron walked us through his career journey and revealed the challenges and triumphs that helped him grow and get to where he is now. Attendees both virtually and in-person gained inspiration and applicable advice and had the chance to connect with like-minded peers in breakout sessions.
Strong growth is predicted for gaming – both for revenue from purchases and from advertising. Mobile (“Social/Casual”) is driving nearly all of the growth. Read more »
Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a phrase that social media has given rise to. Those who follow others on such platforms can be made anxious about their own life choices and use of free time when following friends and their activities online. If brands can properly understand this phenomenon, however, they can find ways to engage with customers, including through the content and events consumers most care about. Researchers in this Marketing Science Institute (MSI) working paper find that those who are most attracted to a brand are the ones who become the most engaged through such a strategy.
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.
A number of presentations at the recent ARF OTT 2023 conference documented the unprecedented rapidity of change in media use in the current era. Here are findings and conclusions from several of the presentations. Read more »
For many college-age consumers, the tingles and relaxing sensations that come from experiencing autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) can be weird and fun, but off-putting when, say, an endorser is too chatty and loud in the video. New research uses these insights to guide marketers and suggest that ASMR ads, typically aired on YouTube and other, non-traditional channels, are more effective at gaining attention than on traditional media.
