No advertisement is seen in isolation. The impact an ad has depends on the context it finds itself in, including what type of ad or content preceded it or what it is adjacent to, in terms of digital or print. Today, there is a renewed interest in context effects, particularly in the COVID era, as advertisers worry about their ads rolling after or being adjacent to upsetting news. This newly updated Knowledge at Hand and corresponding CMO Brief explore all the latest research and insights surrounding context effects.
Further complicating the issue is the question, what do we mean by “context?” Today, the industry is taking a broader view of the term. This is due to multi-platform campaigns, which force the need to consider all characteristics present in each medium or platform an ad takes place in. Our understanding of context has also been affected by the current pandemic and the role target consumers’ culture and values play, in light of it. Read more.