Future States & AI

When Language Becomes Targeting: How Gender Cues Shape AI Recommendations

  • ARF

As generative AI tools increasingly influence product discovery and decision-making, subtle cues in user language can shape what consumers are shown—and how options are framed. This research examines how implicit and explicit gender signals affect AI-generated product recommendations, revealing systematic differences in categories, brand repetition, descriptive language and price information. The findings raise important questions for advertisers and researchers about bias, brand visibility and the growing cultural role of AI in shaping consumer norms.

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From Fragmented MMM to One-Demand Decision AI for Enterprise Growth

  • ARF
  • INSIGHTS STUDIOS

On January 22, we introduced a fundamentally different paradigm: One-Demand Decision AI powered by Large Causal Models (LCMs) that move enterprises from descriptive insights to prescriptive growth recommendations through counterfactual causal reasoning. Attendees gained a clear understanding of how one-demand causal AI transforms descriptive correlation into prescriptive causation, what it takes to implement unified decision platforms at scale, and why now is the moment to rethink the measurement stack from first principles.

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Why Synthetic Respondents Flatten Consumer Sentiment

  • ARF; MSI; CIMM
  • Psychology of GenAI

A new ARF Psych of GenAI experiment reveals that large language models apply a rigid, rule-driven logic when evaluating privacy scenarios—even when humans typically shift their reasoning based on framing, emotion and social context. Unlike consumers, who blend intuition, feeling and social perspective into their judgments, GPT-4o relied on a single internal rule across all testing conditions: data use is acceptable only with explicit consent. This consistency offers value for certain analytic tasks but exposes limits for advertising research that depends on emotional nuance and context-sensitive consumer insight.

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Navigating the New Search Frontier: How AI Is Reshaping Discovery, Research and Shopping

  • ARF
  • Knowledge at Hand | CMO Brief

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how consumers discover, research and evaluate products, creating a hybrid search ecosystem where traditional engines like Google remain dominant while GenAI tools increasingly shape mid-funnel decision-making. Shoppers turn to AI for clarity, comparison and confidence, yet still validate information before purchase, altering the structure of the journey and the expectations placed on brands. As AI-driven search and shopping become more influential, the implications for marketers and retailers are profound, demanding new approaches to trust, data accuracy, discoverability and optimization for agent-driven environments. This Knowledge at Hand and CMO Brief reports show how AI is reorganizing the consumer path to purchase and what this means for the future of brand visibility and retail marketing.

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Privacy, Trust & AI: How U.S. Consumers Are Rewriting the Rules of Advertising

  • ARF Original Research

The ARF’s latest privacy study shows that U.S. consumers are more informed, more trusting and more engaged with artificial intelligence than ever before—yet still cautious about how it and other technologies use their data. Drawing on responses from more than 1,200 adults, the 2025 study reveals rising openness to data sharing when clear benefits exist, persistent skepticism toward certain targeting practices and growing expectations for transparency, especially around AI. For advertising researchers, the findings highlight a shifting privacy landscape where relevance, trust and first-party data strategies are increasingly intertwined.

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Marketing Effectiveness Accelerator

The Marketing Effectiveness Accelerator is the only event dedicated exclusively to attribution, marketing mix models, and the science of marketing performance measurement. On November 12, leading experts presented empirically grounded case studies that demonstrate how leading brands are solving today’s toughest challenges.

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How to Build Lasting Brand Equity in the Age of AI

  • ARF
  • INSIGHTS STUDIOS

On December 4, this Insights Studio Session dove into new research explaining why cutting brand spend is more costly than ever and how leading marketers are delivering revenue growth by focusing on brand equity. Attendees learned about new tactics that mature marketers are using to build equity, drive consumer influence, and navigate the future of marketing.

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