social media

The Power of Persuasion in Livestream Commerce: How Benefit Appeals Drive Sales

  • JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

What makes consumers more likely to buy during a livestream shopping event? This Journal of Advertising Research study finds that benefit-focused messaging—where influencers emphasize how a product improves consumers' lives—significantly increases sales. Analyzing real-world TikTok livestreams and validating the findings through controlled experiments, the researchers also show that customer engagement, facial attractiveness and expressive body movement amplify the effectiveness of these benefit appeals. The findings provide practical guidance for brands and creators looking to improve livestream performance.

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Global vs. Local Marketing

  • YOUNG PROS

On July 23, the ARF Young Pros discussed what it takes to build and execute successful global marketing campaigns and the strategic elements that drive effectiveness at scale, including cultural nuances, market-specific behaviors, and cross-market alignment while maintaining a cohesive global message. Plus, attendees had the chance to work together to create a quick mock campaign concept and then pitched their ideas back to the larger group.

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Striking the Right Balance in AI-Personalized Advertising

  • JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Generative AI is opening new possibilities for hyper-personalized advertising, including the ability to create AI-generated faces that closely resemble individual consumers. But how similar is too similar? This Journal of Advertising Research study finds that while moderate facial resemblance can improve advertising effectiveness, excessive similarity may backfire. The research introduces a new framework for measuring facial similarity and identifies an optimal personalization threshold that maximizes purchase intentions while avoiding consumer discomfort and resistance.

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Winning the First Few Seconds: Understanding Gen Z Attention in Modern Video Landscapes

  • ARF ORIGINAL RESEARCH

As marketers invest more heavily in short-form and social video platforms, understanding how Gen Z allocates attention has become increasingly important. This literature review examines what current research reveals about Gen Z’s attention across social feeds, short-form video, creator content, streaming and emerging formats. The evidence suggests that Gen Z attention is not necessarily shorter, but faster, more selective and highly dependent on platform context, creative execution and brand familiarity.

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