At this Insights Studio, researchers from top institutions presented pioneering work addressing the evolving landscape of advertising. Topics of discussion included: an exploration of virtual influencers and the effectiveness of virtual influencers in real-world versus virtual-world settings, a comprehensive synthesis of over 250 studies examining the complex relationship between advertising and a company’s stock price, and a deep dive into the emerging world of the metaverse with a study on how the presence of employee avatars in virtual stores influences consumer behavior.
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This study investigates the impact of influencer follower size on brand responses. It examines whether micro-, macro- or mega-influencers are more effective in increasing brand awareness, positive brand attitudes and purchase intentions. The study finds that micro-influencers, with fewer than 100,000 followers, are more persuasive than larger influencers due to their higher perceived credibility and similarity to the audience. The research highlights the importance of choosing the right influencer size for marketing campaigns to achieve better brand outcomes.
The study also explores the underlying mechanisms that explain the effects of influencer size on brand responses. It identifies three key factors: wishful identification, perceived credibility and perceived similarity. The findings suggest that micro-influencers are more effective in enhancing brand awareness and positive brand attitudes because they are perceived as more credible and similar to the audience.
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Before the resurgence in interest in AI, virtual reality was the technology everyone was excited about. Despite the hype, advertisers have been slow to adopt VR environments. Why is this? This study, which was recently made available early online on the Journal of Advertising Research’s website, explores the potential and challenges of VR environments for advertising in its current state.
Widespread adoption has stalled, the study finds, due to obstacles such as limited reach, anticipated lack of ROI, lack of technical expertise and poor interoperability. However, the metaverse offers unique opportunities for advertisers, leaving a sort of resonating impact that other media cannot convey, because they do not engage the user in as immersive an experience as VR offers.
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The study explores how music influences the emotional and semantic interpretation of visual scenes in media. It employs a large-scale empirical approach to assess both implicit and explicit participant responses to various audio-visual combinations, revealing music's nuanced effect on semantic attribute ratings.
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