Digital publishers often assume that content generating the most clicks also creates the most valuable readers. This MSI Working Paper challenges that assumption. Using behavioral data from a major European news publisher, the researchers find that while politically polarizing content reliably increases engagement, it does little to drive subscriptions—and during politically charged periods, it can actually reduce subscriber acquisition and increase churn. The findings offer important guidance for publishers and marketers seeking to balance short-term attention with long-term customer relationships.
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Generative AI tools are not just recommending products—they are shaping how consumers perceive them. This latest issue in the Psychology of Gen AI series, the third phase of the seventh study on AI product recommendations, examines how small changes in prompt wording alter the explanations AI systems generate around the same brand. Using ChatGPT descriptions of Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste across multiple, shopping-related prompts, the study reveals how AI recommendations construct different product narratives, emphasize different benefits and even introduce different caveats depending on the consumer’s wording of their question.
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As brands increasingly use AI-generated people in advertising, a new MSI Working Paper explores how consumers respond when those synthetic models are used to increase racial representation. Across multiple experiments, the research finds that disclosure of AI-generated Black models can reduce brand evaluations by weakening perceptions of authenticity and commitment to diversity initiatives, while similar effects do not emerge for White models. The findings offer important guidance for marketers seeking to balance technological innovation with meaningful representation.
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This ARF Cognition Council guide brings together the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to explain how consumers process and respond to advertising. It outlines a unified framework connecting attention, emotion, memory and persuasion—showing how these cognitive processes interact to drive real-world outcomes, like brand choice and sales. Moving beyond traditional metrics, the guide highlights emerging approaches to measuring attention and emotional engagement and explores how these signals can be linked to business results. It provides a practical foundation for understanding not just whether ads are seen, but how they are experienced, remembered and ultimately acted upon.
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