News You Can Use

A weekly round-up of the industry’s top stories and research curated by the ARF.

How AI Will Make Us Smarter

During a recent ARF Town Hall, Professor Russel Neuman explained why he thinks AI will have primarily positive effects. It will make us smarter and more productive. Furthermore, he does not think new regulations are needed to protect humanity from negative consequences of AI development. Read more »

Top Topics at AxS 2024

Our analysis of the presentations during this year’s AUDIENCExSCIENCE conference shows which issues are marketers’ current priorities. 

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Insights from ARF Councils

ARF Councils have issued reports that provide unique insights on important issues, such as optimal terminology for how to reach diverse audiences and cross-platform measurement. Read more »

Making Prosocial/Cause-Related Ads More Effective

Last year, we reported on an analysis which found that many advertisements with prosocial and cause-related messages are not as effective as surveys on consumer attitudes suggest. This urged researchers to explore how to make such ad messages more effective. Several new studies provide insights on this issue.    Read more »

Segmentation Perils

These researchers identify frequently made mistakes when creating consumer segments to target certain groups. Still, they think that well-executed segmentations can help improve messaging and communication with customers.

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Too Much Attention?

One expert argues that attention alone does not bring ad success and that we should not forget the other important levels of the “ARF Model.”

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Brands and the Polygamous Consumer

Ehrenberg-Bass researchers argue that marketers need to accept that most brands share customers with several of their rivals and are not likely to achieve complete loyalty from their buyers. They offer recommendations for strategies that promote brand growth in a “polygamous multi-brand loyalty market” which runs counter to prevailing theories about how to grow brands.

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Political Opinions Drive Media Perceptions

Research by Ipsos reveals that political party affiliation is an important driver of most Americans’ views about movies and TV – leading to the stunning finding that Black Americans are now more likely to say they see “people like me” in entertainment than White Americans.

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