Who Should Attend?

Any social media marketer or advertiser particularly in B2B, Recruiting, Higher Education and Financial services/investment. B2C audiences outside of these examples may not see as much success as costs are often to high to realize a return on investment for LinkedIn ads, but anyone even considering running ads on LinkedIn will get something out of the session.

Are you an ��������� Professional Certified Marketer®️? This training is worth 2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to maintain your PCM®️ certification.

��������� Members Get the Best Pricing

Not only do members get discounts on training like this, but they also receive exclusive content, downloadable tools, unlimited access to ��������� Journals, membership in networking communities and more.

Join & SAVE

Training Backed By Research

��������� training is unique because of its data-backed approach. The ��������� Competency Model Framework identifies the most impactful skills marketers need to advance their careers. It’s based on our research with more than 1,000 marketing professionals and academic leaders.

Learn More

The post LinkedIn Ads: 5 Steps to Doubling Your Performance appeared first on ���������.

Video advertising continues to dominate digital marketing budgets; however, a fundamental question persists: What drives consumers to genuinely like an ad? How do consumer preferences and their psychological roots emerge when individuals watch video ads?

Traditional approaches to answering this question have relied heavily on self-reported preferences, which are prone to bias and offer limited insight into real-time psychological processing. Neuroscience provides a powerful new lens for understanding how consumers respond to advertising, offering real-time, high-resolution insights into the psychological processes that unfold during exposure to marketing stimuli.

In their , authors Hang-Yee Chan, Maarten A.S. Boksem, Vinod Venkatraman, Roeland C. Dietvorst, Christin Scholz, Khoi Vo, Emily B. Falk, and Ale Smidts investigate how neural signals track and predict consumer liking of video advertisements. This neurophysiological approach reveals the critical moments in an ad that capture attention, trigger emotional responses, and lead to more favorable evaluations.

Connecting Neural Signals to Ad Enjoyment

The first part of the two-part study draws on data from three functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets to analyze neural signals during video ad exposure. These signals reveal how people process advertisements. The authors used neural measures related to perception, language, cognitive functions such as executive function and memory, and social-affective responses such as social cognition and emotion, to estimate self-reported ad liking. In the second part of the study, they examined how well these neural signals predicted aggregate ad liking.

The authors show that liking appears to be a cumulative process shaped by evolving neural states. The different measures displayed distinct patterns. Emotional signals were predictive of ad liking very early, starting around the third second of exposure, but they declined soon after. In contrast, social cognition signals became predictive after their peak and remained stable. Overall, they find that cognitive and social-affective responses during video ad exposure are strong predictors of how much people report liking an ad.

By bridging neuroscience and marketing, these findings offer new possibilities for marketers. The authors provide insights into how brands can optimize video content in an environment where competition is intense the audience’s attention is limited. Their findings can help marketers refine both the creative and structural elements of their ads, from the pacing of storytelling to the timing of marketing cues. As marketers aim to improve their creative strategies in a data-rich but attention-poor world, aligning with the brain’s temporal rhythm may be key to creating content that engages audiences and resonates with them.

In this interview, author Hang-Yee Chan discusses the implications for marketers: what this means for storytelling strategy, how neural patterns shift across platforms, and whether AI-generated content can ever feel human.

Q: Your study shows that emotion is an early predictor of ad liking, but its influence declines as the ad continues, while social cognition and executive function become more predictive. Why does this shift occur, and what does it reveal about how viewers process ads?

A: That early emotional peak reflects our brain’s intuitive reaction to new stimuli—it’s fast, visceral, and helps form immediate impressions. However, as the ad unfolds, viewers begin to process its deeper meaning. Initially, emotional elements grab attention and generate interest, an evolutionary adaptation that prioritizes the rapid assessment of stimuli. However, as viewers continue watching, they begin engaging more deeply in the reflective evaluation of the ad’s message, characters, and narrative through social cognition processes, while executive functions help them evaluate relevance, credibility, and value.

Q: Should advertisers delay complex brand messaging until viewers are emotionally engaged?

A: Yes, advertisers should strategically consider when to introduce complex information such as brand messaging or product features, but it goes beyond simply waiting for emotional engagement. Our research reveals that sustained engagement most likely comes from well-formed narratives—socially meaningful moments that encourage consumer empathy and perspective-taking.

While emotion serves as an important early hook that captures initial attention, social cognition elements sustain engagement throughout the ad’s duration. Rather than approaching ad design as a rigid sequence—first capturing emotion, then delivering information—advertisers should focus on seamlessly integrating product messaging within compelling storytelling. The sustained predictiveness of social cognition signals suggests that when viewers connect with characters or scenarios meaningfully, they remain receptive to information for longer periods. In essence, our neural findings support what many creative advertisers intuitively understand: stories that foster social connection and meaning will likely lead to the best results, creating a receptive context where product information feels relevant rather than being intrusive.

“Stories that foster social connection and meaning will likely lead to the best results, creating a receptive context where product information feels relevant rather than being intrusive.”

Q: Your study highlights that moment-to-moment engagement plays a critical role in ad effectiveness. Should marketers prioritize optimizing specific segments of ads that generate the highest neural engagement rather than the full narrative arc?

A: I don’t see an inherent conflict between optimizing specific segments and focusing on the ad as a whole. Truly effective ads sustain engagement throughout, making it shortsighted to isolate and optimize only a particular segment of the ad. Our study supports what many creative professionals intuitively know: impactful advertising relies on a sequence of meaningful moments that build a coherent narrative arc. Rather than optimizing isolated segments, our findings suggest that marketers should focus on the temporal flow between early emotional peaks and sustained meaningful storytelling. This perspective enhances traditional ad creation approaches by providing a neuroscientific framework for structuring narratives that capture attention and resonate more deeply. It is not about abandoning holistic storytelling for neural “hot spots” but rather using our understanding of these temporal dynamics to create more effectively structured narratives.

Q: How well do these findings generalize to other formats, such as short-form social media videos, influencer content, or interactive ads?

A: Although our study focused on traditional video advertisements, the underlying neural mechanisms we identified likely extend across a wide range of video formats, albeit with important contextual variations. The temporal pattern we observed—early emotional activation followed by sustained engagement through social cognition, alongside suppressed executive function—reflects fundamental information processing dynamics in the brain rather than processes unique to traditional advertising.

That said, the specific dynamics may be adjusted based on the format characteristics. For short-form content such as TikTok or Instagram Reels temporal compression might accelerate these processes, requiring emotional hooks and social cognition elements to work almost simultaneously. Influencer content, which already leverages parasocial relationships, may show even stronger social cognition activation from the outset than brand-created ads. For interactive advertising, we might see enhanced executive functioning engagement throughout the experience as viewers make choices that require more deliberative processing.

Q: As AI-generated video ads become more prevalent, how do you anticipate the brain’s response to them might change? Could key psychological triggers of ad liking—such as emotion, memory, or social cognition—shift when viewers are aware or even just suspect that the content wasn’t created by a human?

A: There’s a fascinating tension in how our brains may respond to AI-generated advertisements. On the one hand, humans have a remarkable tendency to anthropomorphize; we instinctively attribute intention and emotion to nonhuman agents. Just think about how naturally we talk to our pets, as if they understand every word. This suggests that our social cognition systems might readily engage with AI-generated content if it presents recognizable social patterns.

On the other hand, our brains are exceptionally adept at detecting subtle artificiality. Neuroimaging studies examining the “uncanny valley” effect have shown that our brain’s valuation and social cognitive systems penalize stimuli that appear almost but not quite natural. These neural responses occur even when we cannot consciously articulate what feels “off” about the content.

The key psychological triggers we identified in our research—emotion, memory, and social cognition—might function differently when viewers sense artificial creation. The social cognition component could be particularly vulnerable, as this system has evolved specifically to interpret genuine human social signals and intentions. For marketers embracing generative AI for advertising, this raises an important caution: even as the technology improves, our neural architecture may continue to detect subtle inconsistencies that reduce ad effectiveness through diminished social cognitive engagement.

The most successful AI-generated content might need to acknowledge its nature rather than attempt perfect human mimicry or focus on elements where artificiality does not trigger the same penalties. The evolution of these responses will likely depend on how AI-generated content develops and how exposure to it shapes neural expectations over time.

Q: Based on your findings, how do you think the neural processes you identified relate to the factors driving viral video success?

A: In a separate study (), my collaborators and I explored the neural mechanisms behind information sharing and found strikingly similar patterns: brain activity in regions associated with reward and mentalizing predicted whether the content would go viral. In other words, the same psychological processes that drive ad liking—emotion and social cognition—also contribute to content-sharing behavior.

We share cat videos because they make us feel good (emotional response) and help us relate to others (social cognition). This neural understanding raises important considerations regarding how information spreads online. The dominance of emotion in early processing explains why emotionally provocative content often spreads rapidly, sometimes at the expense of accuracy and nuance. Furthermore, the social cognitive component suggests that people share content not just for its inherent value but as social currency to signal group belonging, values, or desired identity. This implies that we may share information without fully considering its broader impact or unintended consequences.

Understanding these neural mechanisms gives content creators tremendous responsibility. The same techniques that make ads likable and shareable can be used to spread both beneficial and harmful content. As our understanding of these neural processes deepens, it becomes increasingly important to consider the ethical implications of creating highly optimized and emotionally engaging content in our hyperconnected media landscape.

Source: Hang-Yee Chan, Maarten A.S. Boksem, Vinod Venkatraman, Roeland C. Dietvorst, Christin Scholz, Khoi Vo, Emily B. Falk, and Ale Smidts, “,” Journal of Marketing Research, 61 (5), 891–913. doi:

Go to the Journal of Marketing Research

The post Inside the Consumer Brain: How Neuroscience Can Predict Ad Enjoyment appeared first on ���������.

A finds that combining traditional media, such as TV and outdoor ads, with digital channels, including Facebook and YouTube, can significantly enhance brand performance. Our research team analyzed 1,083 global campaigns to uncover how integrated media strategies create synergies that amplify advertising results.

Key Findings

No One-Size-Fits-All Media Mix: We find that there isn’t a universal “best” combination of media channels. Instead, high-performing campaigns tailor their media mix to specific goals, such as boosting brand awareness, driving conversions, or enhancing customer engagement.

For example, pairing TV with YouTube can create broad awareness, while using Facebook alongside in-store promotions helps drive localized action. Understanding these relationships allows marketers to craft more effective campaigns.

Untapped Potential in Current Strategies: Our findings reveal that many advertising campaigns are not fully optimized. Simple adjustments in media planning could result in over 50% higher lifts in key brand metrics such as awareness or consideration.

Archetypes and Synergies in Media Channels: We identify common media archetypes, which represent patterns in how channels are combined. High-performing campaigns leverage synergies among these archetypes to amplify impact. For instance, traditional media channels like TV and outdoor advertising create a foundation of trust and familiarity, while digital channels add precision targeting and interactivity. By combining the strengths of these channels, marketers can achieve exponential results.

Practical Recommendations for Marketers

• Adopt a Holistic Approach
  Marketers should move beyond isolated strategies and focus on how different media channels work together. For example, combining TV’s reach with YouTube’s engagement can strengthen brand resonance.
• Tailor the Media Mix to Campaign Goals
  Each campaign objective requires a unique mix of channels. Awareness campaigns may prioritize TV and social media, while conversion-focused campaigns might benefit from pairing digital ads with in-store promotions.
• Emphasize Brand Lifts Over Reach
  While reach is often the default metric for measuring campaign success, our findings highlight the importance of focusing on brand mindset lifts, such as changes in perception, awareness, and consideration.

Lessons from Walmart’s Strategy

Walmart’s success demonstrates the power of integrated advertising strategies. By combining traditional and digital channels, the company has created seamless consumer touchpoints that enhance brand performance. Other marketers can learn from this approach by investing in diverse media channels and ensuring alignment with campaign goals.

Integrated media strategies are no longer optional—they are essential for modern advertising success. By understanding the synergies among traditional and digital channels, marketers can craft campaigns that resonate with their target audiences and achieve transformative results.

Source: J. Jason Bell, Felipe Thomaz, and Andrew Stephen, “,” Journal of Marketing.

Go to the Journal of Marketing

The post Want a 50% Lift in Brand Metrics? Optimize Campaigns by Pairing Traditional and Digital Media Effectively appeared first on ���������.

The introduced by the European Union in 2018 marked a pivotal moment in privacy regulation, especially for online advertising practices. A by Pengyuan Wang, Li Jiang, and Jian Yang investigates the early effects of GDPR compliance on display advertising, focusing on a large United States–based publisher with global traffic using a pay-per-click (PPC) model. By analyzing a proprietary dataset containing over 3.7 billion ad impressions across 6,000 ad creatives and multiple industries, the study provides insights into GDPR’s implications for ad performance, revenue, and the potential of contextual targeting as a mitigating strategy.

GDPR requires explicit user consent for personal data usage, fundamentally altering the landscape of behavioral targeting. Pre-implementation forecasts anticipated significant revenue declines, with some predicting annual ad revenue losses of up to 17%.

GDPR Reduced Ad Performance

Wang et al. applied a difference-in-differences (DID) methodology to assess GDPR’s impact, comparing data from EU users (treatment group) with non-EU users (control group) during five-week periods before and after April 18, 2018, when GDPR compliance was adopted. Key metrics analyzed as dependent variables included click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, bid prices, and revenue per click.

The results revealed moderate but significant declines in ad performance and revenue following GDPR compliance. Revenue per click dropped by 5.7%, primarily due to reduced bid prices and fewer active advertisers. The CTR and conversion rates decreased by 2.1% and 5.4%, respectively, signalling diminished user engagement and conversion efficiency. These findings highlight the challenges posed by restricted access to personal data in ad targeting.

Content and Industry Factors

The study identifies content-based targeting as a mitigating factor. Ads contextually aligned with webpage themes, such as sports ads on sports-related pages, were less impacted by the GDPR. Contextual targeting offset approximately 44% of the conversion rate decline and 42% of the revenue-per-click loss caused by the absence of personal data. This underscores the strategic value of content-based targeting as a privacy-compliant alternative, offering a degree of resilience for publishers navigating GDPR’s constraints.

The study also highlights varying impacts across industries. Sectors such as travel and financial services experienced greater performance decline compared to retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG). This disparity reflects differences in reliance on granular audience segmentation, with industries requiring precise targeting (such as travel and finance) being more adversely affected by GDPR’s restrictions.

Despite these declines, the advertiser return on investment (ROI) under the PPC model remained stable. This stability suggests that publishers rather than advertisers endured most of GDPR’s economic effects. Reduced bid prices primarily impacted publisher revenues, while advertisers continued to pay proportional costs per click.

Reduced bid prices primarily impacted publisher revenues, while advertisers continued to pay proportional costs per click.

Through robust analysis and a large real-life dataset, Wang et al. contribute valuable insights at the crossroads of privacy regulations, targeting strategies, and economic outcomes in display advertising. Their findings quantify GDPR’s initial impact and highlight the resilience and adaptability of advertising practices in response to stringent privacy norms. As policymakers and industry professionals navigate the implications of GDPR and similar regulations, this study offers a roadmap for managing challenges and leveraging opportunities in the evolving digital advertising landscape.

For more insights, check out this interview with lead author Pengyuan Wang:

Q: Your paper highlights how a limitation in access to personal data only caused a limited negative impact on ad performance, bid prices, and ad revenue. Do you think personal data in online advertising contexts is overrated by the industry?

A: I don’t think that personal data is overrated by the industry. The entire internet ecosystem and the free content model we all benefit from are, to some extent, built based on online advertising. The efficiency and revenue growth of online advertising have been significantly enhanced by the use of personal data. Personal data acted as a catalyst, not only for online advertising but also for the development of the IT industry.

We have been using personal data for years, and now we are moving toward a more privacy-conscious era to ensure that our personal data is used responsibly and aligns with each user’s preference. This is good and necessary, but it does not eliminate the critical role of personal data in online advertising.

Q: The results of the effect of personal data found in the literature vary significantly in magnitude. Do you find this surprising and why do you think that is?

A: It is not surprising to me. Companies use personal data in different ways. The impact of personal data is highly context-dependent and is affected by factors such as the industry, nature of the advertising campaigns, and the sophistication of the algorithms used to analyze and apply the data.

Q: Your work distinguishes itself from the previous research by using a natural experiment instead of self-reported purchase intentions. Why in your opinion is there such a discrepancy between the self-reported data and actual measures?

A: Both self-reported data and actual measures provide valuable information, and I don’t think one is inherently superior to the other. As for the discrepancy between studies based on self-reported data and actual measures, again, all studies have different contexts, which can significantly affect the outcomes. In addition, there is a fundamental distinction between what people say and do. Privacy, by itself, is important. However, when people need to choose between free content and privacy, there is a trade-off to make. Thus, personally I think self-reported data might tend to overestimate the importance of privacy protection.

Q: The study spans five weeks before and after GDPR compliance. Are there indications of how GDPR’s impact might evolve over a longer period? Do you anticipate that publishers will adopt new strategies as they adapt to the GDPR constraints?

A: During the study period, I did not observe any clear indications of GDPR’s impact evolving over time. I do expect publishers to adopt new strategies gradually, but it takes time for publishers to develop and experiment with these new strategies.

Q: The study notes a decrease in both bid prices and number of active advertisers. Could you discuss the potential implications of this trend for market competitiveness and pricing strategies in online advertising?

A: During the study period, the observed decreases in bid prices and number of active advertisers suggest reduced market competitiveness. This finding suggests that advertisers may be less willing to invest in online advertising when tighter regulations on personal data are implemented. However, I do not think it will always be like this. Online advertising remains a powerful tool, and the industry is evolving too to develop ad strategies that rely less on personal data or to use people’s personal data in ways that still protect privacy. For example, there are papers on how to use data anonymization techniques (such as k-anonymization) for online advertising, which allows for user targeting while protecting individual privacy. Many other approaches such as differential privacy and federated learning are also under development for online advertising. I am confident that online advertising will continue to thrive as the industry adapts to these challenges.

Q: Do you think CPC pricing models are more impacted by limited access to personal data compared to CPM? Could it be inferred that CPA also suffers from a lack of behavioral-based data? In other words, does this impact conversion-based campaigns compared to branding and awareness campaigns? Could that explain why Google has many times delayed the plan for cookie deprecation, given their core business on search ads?

A: The company in this study employed CPC pricing models, so I don’t have data on the impact of GDPR on the CPM model. My conjecture is that stricter regulations would protect user privacy at the cost of ad efficiency. This will also affect CPM models, as it may reduce the likelihood of reaching high-intent buyers with the same number of impressions.

For the CPA model, again, I don’t have data from businesses operating under this model, but I can offer some conjectures. If we define the “A” (action) here as something very close to a purchase, I conjecture that the CPA metric itself might be stable, because CPA represents the value of an action, which should be stable. However, it might be more difficult to perform the action. So CPA might be stable, but the total number of users completing these actions could decrease, ultimately leading to lower revenue. Therefore, I think that companies with CPA models would also see some impact.

As for Google’s decision to delay its plans for cookie deprecation, I cannot comment on their internal business decisions since I don’t have access to this information. That being said, cookies have historically played a significant role in collecting user information and enhancing Google’s advertising efficiency. The delay might reflect the challenges of transitioning away from such a tool while maintaining ad effectiveness.

Q: We often discuss the different approaches taken by Europe and the United States in regulating technology and its impact on innovation and the economy. Do you think GDPR-like regulations stifle or foster innovation?

A: I believe regulations such as GDPR need to be implemented at the right time. In the early stages of the internet and online advertising industries, when companies were still developing ways to leverage personal data to enhance ad efficiency, when they needed to quickly generate revenue and accumulate capital for re-investment, stricter regulations could have hampered growth. For example, if the GDPR was implemented in 2008, it might have stifled innovation and slowed the development of the broader internet economy.

However, by 2018, when GDPR became effective, online advertising reached a certain level of maturity. The industry had accumulated sufficient capital and expertise, allowing companies to bear temporary impacts on revenue and invest in new technologies. This timing provided an opportunity for innovation in privacy-preserving ad strategies such as data anonymization or federated learning.

Therefore, restrictive regulations can hinder innovation if introduced prematurely. When they are applied at the right stage of industry maturity, they could drive the development of creative solutions and ethical practices.

Source: Pengyuan Wang, Li Jiang, and Jian Yang (2024), “,” Journal of Marketing Research, 61 (1), 70–91.

Go to the Journal of Marketing Research

The post How GDPR Changed the Game for Display Advertising appeared first on ���������.

In a , we find that online A/B testing in digital advertising may not be delivering the reliable insights marketers expect. Our research uncovers significant limitations in the experimentation tools provided by online advertising platforms, potentially creating misleading conclusions about ad performance.

The Issue with Divergent Delivery

We highlight a phenomenon called “divergent delivery,” in which the targeting algorithms used by online advertising platforms like Meta and Google target different types of users with different ad content. The problem arises when the algorithm sends different ads to distinct mixes of users using A/B testing: an experiment designed to compare the effectiveness of the two ads. The “winning” ad may have performed better simply because the algorithm showed it to users who were more prone to respond to the ad than the users who saw the other ad. The same ad could appear to perform better or worse depending on the mix of users who see it rather than on the creative content of the ad itself.

For an advertiser, especially with a large audience to choose from and a limited budget, targeting provides plenty of value. So large companies like Google and Meta use algorithms that allocate ads to specific users. On these platforms, advertisers bid for the right to show ads to users in an audience. However, the winner of an auction for the right to place an ad on a particular user’s screen is not based on monetary value of the bids alone but also the ad content and user–ad relevance. The precise inputs and methods that determine the relevance of ads to users, how relevance influences auction results, and, thus, which users are targeted with each ad, are proprietary to particular platforms and are not observable to advertisers. It is not precisely known how the algorithms determine relevance for types of users and it may not even be able to be enumerated or reproduced by the platforms themselves.

Our findings have profound implications for marketers who rely on A/B testing of their online ads to inform their marketing strategies. Because of low cost and seemingly scientific appeal, marketers use these online ad tests to develop strategies even beyond just deciding what ad to include in the next campaign. So, when platforms do not explicitly state that these experiments are not truly randomized, it gives marketers a false sense of security about their data-driven decisions.

A Fundamental Problem with Online Advertising

We argue that this issue is not just a technical flaw in this tool but a fundamental characteristic of how the online advertising business operates. The platform’s primary goal is to maximize ad performance, not to provide experimental results for marketers. Therefore, these platforms have little incentive to let advertisers untangle the effect of ad content from the effect of their proprietary targeting algorithms. Marketers are left in a difficult position in that they must either accept the confounded results from these tests or invest in more complex and costly methods to truly understand the impact of creative elements in their ads.

Our study makes its case using simulation, statistical analysis, and a demonstration of divergent delivery from an actual A/B test run in the field. We challenge the common belief that results from A/B tests that compare multiple ads provide the same ability to draw causal conclusions as do randomized experiments. Marketers should be aware that the differences in effects of ads A and B that are reported by these platforms may not fully capture the true impact of their ads. By recognizing these limitations, marketers can make more informed decisions and avoid the pitfalls of misinterpreting data from these tests.

Advice for Advertisers

We offer the following recommendations for those using A/B testing tools:

• If your goal is to predict which ad creatives will perform best in a targeted environment—under the same conditions on the same ad platform with the same campaign setting— our advice is to carry on using the available A/B testing tools. Experimenters with this goal may not mind—and even may prefer—that their A/B tests lack balance across ad creative treatments and lack representativeness of the subjects.
• If the goal is to learn how different ad creatives generate different responses more generally, the report of the test should include the disclaimer that the A/B comparisons were made on a subset of the audience, across different mixes of users optimized for each ad separately, where subjects were selected by the proprietary algorithm.
• If the marketing objective is to extrapolate comparisons between ad content for use outside of the current platform (e.g., marketing strategy development, or offline advertising where randomized experimentation and user tracking is more challenging), our advice is to not rely on these A/B tests for causal evidence about the effects of creative content across ads. The analytics team, for instance, should warn that results are confounded by how the algorithm determined which ad treatments were most relevant to different experimental subjects. These disclosures should also be made by academic researchers who use A/B test results for scientific inference.

To summarize, an A/B test may appear to be an easy way to run field experiments to learn about the effects of ads, imagery, and messaging. But experimenters who run A/B tests in targeted online advertising environments should know what they are really getting. Our concern is not the mere usage of certain types of A/B tests. Rather, it is the presentation of results as if they came from balanced experiments and subsequent conclusions and managerial decisions based on those results.

Source: Michael Braun and Eric M. Schwartz, “,” Journal of Marketing.

Go to the Journal of Marketing

The post Can You Trust Your Ad Data? A New Study Exposes a Hidden Flaw in A/B Testing on Digital Ad Platforms appeared first on ���������.

Many platforms, including online marketplaces such as Yahoo Shopping and JD.com, online retailers such as Macy’s, and social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, utilize multiproduct advertising designs. These multiproduct ads (MPAs) allow platforms to display multiple products within a single ad unit, which is particularly advantageous for platforms with diverse offerings.

By exposing consumers to a variety of products simultaneously, MPAs potentially capture more attention. This presentation style can lead to two key consumer behaviors:

1. Repeated exposure to similar ads from the same category in an MPA can lead to diminishing utility in click-throughs within that category. For example, consumers who clicked the first ad for a particular product may be less likely to click the third ad for the same product.
2. The simultaneous display of ads from two different categories within an MPA can influence a consumer’s interest in both categories. For instance, seeing an ad for skincare next to an ad for cosmetics may pique a consumer’s interest in both categories, leading to a complementary effect.

MPAs and Privacy Policies

In a , we focus on MPAs to investigate the unintended consequences of privacy-preserving policies adopted by tech giants like Google. Our focus is particularly on policies that reduce the retention period of consumer behavioral data. We examine how these policies, designed to enhance consumer privacy, affect advertising effectiveness, consumer behavior, advertiser profits, and platform revenues.

We find that while these privacy measures protect consumer data, they can inadvertently decrease consumer engagement and satisfaction with ads, ultimately resulting in fewer clicks and reduced ad performance. Our results show that this decline is largely driven by the reduction in ad variety displayed in MPAs due to the shorter periods of consumer data used for targeting.

This decrease in ad variety intensifies within-category satiation, which is when consumers lose interest in ads for similar products within the same category after repeated exposure. It also diminishes cross-category complementarity, a term used when exposure to ads from different product categories enhance consumer interest in both. These insights are critical for platforms as they strive to balance consumer privacy concerns with the need to sustain effective advertising strategies.

Lessons for Chief Marketing Officers

For practitioners and stakeholders in the advertising industry, our research underscores the importance of understanding the trade-offs between privacy policies and ad effectiveness. Our findings provide marketers and consumers with the following insights:

• Platforms should consider the implications of their privacy-preserving measures on ad variety and consumer engagement. While protecting consumer data is essential, it is equally important that these measures do not undermine the effectiveness of advertising strategies.

• The relationship between the amount of consumer data used for targeting and advertisers’ profits highlights the possibility of finding an optimal privacy-preserving level in MPA when the platform considers not only its own revenue but also the advertisers’ interests.
  
  
• Our results confirm the existence of within-category satiation and cross-category complementarity in ad-clicking behavior and reveal two consumer segments that differ in both the baseline preference and satiation in ad-clicking.

• Our study demonstrates the potential economic benefits of refining the ad-serving policy to incorporate advertisers’ bidding strategies and consumer preferences when allocating ad slots.

• Incorporating consumers’ clicks, accounting for within-category satiation and cross-category spillover, proves more beneficial for platforms than solely relying on advertisers’ bids in the ad-allocation policy.

• Advertisers should be aware of how changes in data usage and ad variety can affect their bidding strategies and overall campaign performance.

• Platforms can adjust the reservation price (minimum bid) in auctions that indirectly influences consumers’ within-category satiation and cross-category spillover through ad variety. We find that an increase in the reservation price benefits the platform but hurts both advertisers and consumers (within the range of reservation prices we explored). The platform must be careful when setting the reservation price and account for its potential impact on ad variety and category compositions in MPA.

Our study highlights the complex interplay between privacy policies and advertising effectiveness. As privacy concerns continue to shape the digital advertising landscape, platforms and advertisers must navigate these challenges to optimize ad performance and protect consumer interests. We hope our findings will inspire more nuanced approaches to ad-targeting policies and foster a more effective and consumer-friendly advertising environment.

Source: Shijie Lu, Sha Yang, and Yao (Alex) Yao, “,” Journal of Marketing.

Go to the Journal of Marketing

The post Understanding the Trade-off Between Consumer Privacy Measures and Ad Effectiveness appeared first on ���������.

Let’s look at 15 electrifying and creative advertising ideas that will supercharge your marketing strategy—no matter your business size. Get ready to stand out and make an impact!

Top 15 Creative and Fun Advertising Ideas

Here are 15 innovative advertising strategies that can elevate your brand, engage your audience, and drive results.

1. Sponsored quizzes

Sponsored quizzes are a fantastic way to engage your customers and showcase your products in a playful manner. These interactive experiences let users dive into their preferences while having a blast, creating a deeper connection to your brand. 

By blending entertainment with marketing, this approach not only boosts brand loyalty but also encourages social sharing, effectively broadening its reach. Sponsored quizzes may work especially well for food and beverage brands, lifestyle products, and eCommerce businesses looking to increase customer engagement and drive leads.

If you want to launch a successful sponsored quiz, follow these simple steps:

1. Identify your audience: Pinpoint quiz topics that resonate with their interests and passions.
2. Craft engaging questions: Create fun, visually appealing content that keeps users hooked from start to finish.
3. Incorporate calls-to-action: Encourage participants to share their results on social media to spread the fun.
4. Promote widely: Get the word out through your website, social media platforms, and email campaigns.
5. Offer incentives: Sweeten the deal by providing discounts or exclusive offers for those who share the quiz with their friends.

Example: , known for its edgy clothing and accessories for the fearless, effectively engaged its audience with the quiz “Which Famous Biker Are You?” They promoted it through an eye-catching Facebook video ad, generating. This success highlights the power of quizzes to enhance customer engagement and drive sales.

2. Coupons

Coupons are a powerful way to attract budget-conscious shoppers and drive sales. By offering exclusive discounts, you create a compelling reason for customers to choose your products. 

This strategy incentivizes immediate purchases and fosters brand loyalty, as customers appreciate the savings. Digital coupons are also easy to implement and track, allowing businesses to see real-time results!

We recommend this marketing idea for local retail shops, grocery stores, salons, and small service businesses aiming to increase foot traffic and repeat purchases. Ready to roll out an effective digital coupon campaign? Follow these steps:

• Define your offer: Decide the discount or promotion that will resonate with your audience.
• Create eye-catching designs: Make your coupons visually appealing to grab attention.
• Promote through multiple channels: Share your coupons via email, social media, and your website to maximize reach.
• Set clear redemption instructions: Ensure customers know how to use the coupons easily.
• Track performance: Analyze the results to refine future coupon campaigns and understand customer preferences.

Example: Target, a popular retail chain known for its wide range of affordable products, effectively uses coupon campaigns to drive traffic and sales. In 2020, they launched a “” promotion, offering customers a $10 gift card when they spend $50 or more on select categories, such as toys, beauty, and household essentials. This campaign was strategically timed for the holiday season, encouraging customers to shop for gifts while incentivizing them to spend more and return to redeem their gift cards.

3. Environmental ads

Environmental ads transform public spaces into captivating brand experiences. You can capture attention and invite social media sharing by using urban landscapes for creative displays or murals. 

This approach enhances brand visibility and fosters community engagement, making your brand part of the local culture. It’s a great fit for eco-friendly brands, urban apparel companies, fitness centers, and businesses looking to make a bold statement in high-traffic locations.

Want to make a splash with environmental advertising? Here’s how:

• Collaborate with local artists: Work with creatives to design impactful murals or installations that reflect your brand identity.
• Choose high-traffic locations: Identify areas with heavy foot traffic to maximize visibility.
• Incorporate interactive elements: Consider adding QR codes or hashtags to encourage social sharing.
• Document the process: Share behind-the-scenes content of the installation on your channels to build excitement.
• Engage with the community: Host events or activities around the ad to deepen the connection with your audience.

Example: Netflix captured attention with a massive mural in Berlin promoting the second season of . This eye-catching installation not only drew in crowds but also sparked social media buzz, effectively enhancing the show’s visibility.

4. Pop culture references

Leveraging pop culture in your advertising can create an instant connection with your audience. By incorporating recognizable phrases or imagery, you tap into current trends and resonate with fans, making your brand more relatable. 

This approach attracts attention and can generate buzz and discussion around your brand!

It works particularly well for entertainment companies, lifestyle brands, fast food chains, and businesses looking to tap into trending cultural moments.

Here’s how you can harness the power of pop culture:

• Research current trends: Stay up-to-date on popular shows, movies, and memes that resonate with your target audience.
• Integrate clever references: Craft your messaging around these trends while ensuring it aligns with your brand voice.
• Create eye-catching visuals: Design ads that incorporate these references in a fun and engaging way.
• Use social media to amplify reach: Share your pop culture-themed content across platforms to engage fans.
• Monitor engagement: Track how well your pop culture references resonate with your audience and adjust future campaigns accordingly.

Example: capitalized on the popularity of Stranger Things with a groundbreaking campaign that launched a “mind-ordering” app, allowing users to role-play as the telekinetic character Eleven using a mix of facial recognition, eye tracking, and gesture control to order pizza. This innovative approach was supported by a national rollout of featuring QR codes, leading consumers to a dedicated landing page that garnered 1.7 million visits. 

The campaign also included a captivating three-minute ad featuring Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo, which has attracted over 8 million views and contributed to an impressive 820 million earned media impressions,

5. Humor in ads

Humor can be a game-changer in advertising, making your brand more relatable and memorable. This approach enhances brand loyalty and increases the likelihood of social sharing, as people love to share funny content.

Humor works well for consumer goods brands, quick-service restaurants, and apparel brands that want to add personality and relatability to their campaigns. Ready to make your audience laugh? Here’s how to incorporate humor into your ads:

• Know your audience: Understand their sense of humor and what resonates with them.
• Create relatable scenarios: Use everyday situations that your audience can identify with.
• Keep it light and fun: Ensure the humor aligns with your brand message without being offensive.
• Utilize catchy taglines: Create memorable phrases that stick with viewers.
• Share on social media: Use platforms to reach a wider audience and encourage sharing.

Example: iconic “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign has been a standout success, featuring a host of celebrities like Betty White, Joe Pesci, and Danny Trejo in humorous scenarios that illustrate the brand’s message. 

Over the past six and a half years, this campaign has won awards at every major creative gathering, including Cannes Lions and The One Show, while scooping every major effectiveness award, such as two Effectiveness Lions and various Effies. 

In its first full year alone, the campaign helped and grew market share in 56 of the 58 markets in which it ran. 

6. Animal mascots

Animal mascots can create a memorable brand image and capture the hearts of your audience. By using adorable or symbolic animals in your advertising, you draw attention and foster an emotional connection with consumers. 

This strategy enhances brand recall and encourages customer loyalty, as people often feel a bond with cute mascots. It is especially effective for pet products, children-friendly brands, non-profits, and family-oriented businesses that want to create a friendly, approachable image.

Want to create an unforgettable mascot? Here’s how to get started:

• Choose the right animal: Select an animal that reflects your brand values and resonates with your audience.
• Design an engaging character: Create a visually appealing mascot with a unique personality and backstory.
• Integrate the mascot into campaigns: Use the mascot across various advertising channels for consistency.
• Engage with your audience: Create social media content featuring your mascot to build a community around it.
• Leverage merchandise opportunities: Consider creating merchandise featuring your mascot to further enhance brand loyalty.

Example: became a beloved character in their advertising, symbolizing fun and enjoyment in chocolate milk. This playful mascot not only enhanced brand recognition but also created a lasting emotional connection with families.

7. Creative business cards

Creative business cards are an innovative way to make a lasting impression during networking opportunities. A unique design can reflect your brand’s personality and leave a memorable mark on potential clients or partners. 

By thinking outside the box, you can turn a simple business card into a conversation starter, elevating your brand’s visibility. This is ideal for design studios, consulting services, and businesses where personal networking and brand identity play a significant role.

If you want to create a standout business card, follow these tips:

• Think outside the standard format: Explore unique shapes, materials, or textures that align with your brand.
• Incorporate visual elements: Use eye-catching graphics and colors that represent your brand identity.
• Keep it simple: Ensure your contact information is clear and easy to read, even in a creative format.
• Make it functional: Consider adding QR codes or interactive elements that lead to your website or portfolio.
• Hand it out with confidence: Use your card as a conversation starter, sharing the story behind its design.

Example: Matteo Neri, a graphic designer, gained recognition for his unique business card, which was designed for Blackjack Graphic Basement to look like a piece of chewing gum. This clever design sparked curiosity and conversation, making him memorable in networking circles and helping him establish valuable connections.

8. Jingles

Jingles are a timeless way to enhance brand recall and create emotional connections with your audience. A catchy tune can make your brand unforgettable, embedding your message in consumers’ minds. 

By integrating humor and relatability into your jingle, you can foster a positive association with your products, leading to increased sales. This works best for FMCG brands, retail chains, local stores, and businesses aiming for mass recognition and easy brand recall.

Here’s how you can craft an irresistible jingle:

• Keep it short and catchy: Aim for a melody that is easy to remember and sing along to.
• Incorporate your brand message: Ensure the lyrics clearly communicate what your brand stands for.
• Test different melodies: Experiment with various musical styles to find the right fit for your audience.
• Use repetition: Repeating key phrases can enhance memorability and reinforce your message.
• Promote across channels: Use your jingle in radio, television, and social media campaigns for maximum impact.

Example: Cadbury’s jingle, based on The Beach Boys’ song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” became an instant classic. With lyrics celebrating the joy of chocolate, this catchy tune has delighted consumers and contributed to significant brand recognition and sales growth over the years.

9. Image play

Image play involves using optical illusions or exaggerated imagery to stand out in both print and digital ads. This creative approach sparks curiosity and invites viewers to take a closer look, making your brand more memorable. 

By incorporating intriguing visuals, you can engage your audience and encourage them to share your content, further increasing your brand’s reach. This is perfect for fashion brands, art galleries, and companies looking to create visually compelling campaigns.

Looking to utilize image play in your advertising? Here’s how:

• Explore visual techniques: Consider optical illusions, 3D effects, or unexpected imagery that aligns with your brand message.
• Keep your brand message clear: Ensure the creative visuals communicate your core message effectively.
• Encourage interaction: Design ads that invite viewers to engage with the content, whether through quizzes, puzzles, or social media sharing.
• Test different concepts: Experiment with various visual styles to see which resonates best with your audience.
• Promote across platforms: Share your visually striking ads on social media, websites, and email newsletters for maximum impact.

Example: The adoption campaign cleverly used photography to highlight the importance of pet adoption. The campaign sparked curiosity and emotion by incorporating hidden animal images within the photographs of people interacting, significantly boosting attendance at their events and increasing adoptions.

10. Retro inspiration

Retro-inspired advertising taps into nostalgia by incorporating themes and designs from past decades. This approach appeals to audiences who are fond of vintage aesthetics and creates a sense of familiarity and comfort. 

It’s a great fit for vintage apparel, electronics, and home decor brands looking to evoke nostalgia and connect with customers emotionally. Ready to infuse retro vibes into your marketing? Here’s how:

• Research nostalgic trends: Identify popular styles, colors, and themes from the past that resonate with your target audience.
• Incorporate vintage design elements: Use retro fonts, graphics, and color palettes in your advertising materials.
• Tell a story: Create narratives around your products that evoke memories and experiences associated with the past.
• Engage with your audience: Use social media to invite customers to share their nostalgic memories of your brand.
• Leverage collaborations: Partner with vintage brands or influencers to amplify your retro-themed campaigns.

Example: has successfully embraced retro inspiration by promoting their iconic 501 jeans through nostalgic advertising campaigns. By celebrating the heritage of their products, ���𱹾�’s appeals to loyal customers and attracts a new generation that appreciates vintage style.

11. Interactive billboards

Interactive billboards offer a unique way to engage consumers in real-time while creating memorable brand experiences. By incorporating technology, such as QR codes or touch screens, you can create immersive ads that invite audience participation. 

This approach captures attention and encourages sharing and interaction, enhancing brand visibility. This idea is perfect for brands in industries like tech, outdoor gear, or events looking to create dynamic and engaging brand experiences in high-traffic public spaces.

Want to create an interactive billboard campaign? Here’s how:

• Utilize technology: Incorporate QR codes, touch screens, or augmented reality features to engage passersby.
• Design eye-catching visuals: Create a striking design that draws people in and invites interaction.
• Make it fun: Ensure the interactive element is entertaining and provides value to users.
• Promote engagement: Encourage participants to share their experiences on social media for broader reach.
• Measure results: Track engagement and participation rates to assess the campaign’s effectiveness.

Example: KitKat created a buzz with their in Colombia, which vibrated when people leaned against it, providing passersby with a quick, stress-relieving massage. This innovative approach attracted attention and encouraged social sharing, enhancing the brand’s visibility in a crowded market.

12. Live broadcasts

Live broadcasts offer a real-time way to connect with your audience and create engaging content. By showcasing product launches, tutorials, or Q&A sessions, you foster genuine interaction and excitement among viewers. This approach allows your brand to humanize itself and build a community around your products.

We recommend live broadcasts for businesses in industries like technology, fashion, or entertainment, seeking to generate excitement and foster engagement around new releases or significant announcements.

Ready to host a successful live broadcast? Here are some tips:

• Choose the right platform: Decide whether to use social media, your website, or a dedicated streaming service based on where your audience spends their time.
• Plan engaging content: Prepare topics and segments that will captivate your audience, such as product reveals or behind-the-scenes looks.
• Promote ahead of time: Build anticipation by advertising the event in advance through various channels.
• Encourage audience interaction: Allow viewers to ask questions or participate in polls during the broadcast.
• Follow up: After the event, share highlights and engage with viewers to maintain momentum.

Example: recently held a major live presentation called “Wonderlust,” introducing the iPhone 15 and new Apple Watch models. The event attracted over 2.8 million concurrent viewers, making it one of the company’s most-watched broadcasts. 

With a total of 3.9 million hours watched and 2.3 million average viewers, this livestream showcased the latest innovations and created a buzz that kept audiences engaged.

13. Transparent billboards

Transparent billboards offer a unique and creative way to engage viewers by blending with their surroundings. This innovative approach allows brands to play with backgrounds, creating eye-catching visuals that change based on the viewer’s perspective. 

The effect grabs attention and encourages people to take a closer look at your message. This creative idea is particularly effective for luxury goods, architecture, or automotive businesses, aiming to make a bold, visually striking statement in high-traffic areas.

Want to implement transparent billboards in your advertising? Here are some tips:

• Choose strategic locations: Place billboards in high-traffic areas where they can complement their environment.
• Design with transparency in mind: Create visuals that enhance or interact with the background, drawing the viewer’s eye.
• Utilize bold branding: Ensure your logo and messaging are prominent and easily recognizable despite the transparency.
• Incorporate technology: Consider integrating QR codes or AR elements to enhance engagement.
• Promote across platforms: Share images and videos of your transparent billboards on social media to reach a wider audience.

Example: innovative approach to transparent billboards highlighted the brand’s commitment to transparency and captivated passersby, making a memorable impact.

14. Bus advertisements

Bus advertisements turn public transport into moving billboards, giving brands significant exposure in urban areas. This strategy is especially effective in cities with high public transport usage, as it reaches a diverse audience daily. 

This is great for businesses like local services, retail chains, or event promoters that want to increase brand visibility and reach a broad, diverse audience in urban areas. Looking to launch a bus advertising campaign? Here’s how:

• Design bold, eye-catching graphics: Create visuals that stand out and convey your message quickly.
• Utilize the entire bus: Consider ads on the sides, back, and interior of the bus for maximum visibility.
• Target high-traffic routes: Choose bus lines that travel through busy areas to reach a larger audience.
• Incorporate interactive elements: If possible, include QR codes that lead to exclusive offers or more information.
• Measure impact: Track the effectiveness of your campaign by monitoring engagement and traffic generated from the ads.

Example: cleverly utilized bus advertisements by creating an optical illusion of a heavy passenger tilting the entire bus to one side. This humorous and engaging approach not only caught the eye of commuters but also conveyed the brand’s message in a memorable way.

15. Creative packaging

Creative packaging transforms the unboxing experience into a memorable brand moment. This strategy is especially effective for subscription boxes, gourmet foods, and eco-friendly products.

Want to elevate your packaging game? Here’s how:

• Think outside the box: Design packaging that is visually striking and aligns with your brand identity.
• Incorporate functional elements: Consider adding features that enhance usability or add value to the customer.
• Encourage sharing: Use designs that are Instagram-worthy, prompting customers to share their unboxing experiences online.
• Emphasize sustainability: If applicable, use eco-friendly materials to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
• Create a story: Tell a story through your packaging that connects with your brand’s values and mission.

Example: The iconic bear-shaped honey bottles from have been a staple for over 60 years. This unique packaging idea, inspired by Winnie the Pooh, not only stands out on shelves but also creates an emotional connection with consumers. This creativity has made the product instantly recognizable and beloved by customers.

It’s Time To Get Creative

Now that you’ve got a range of creative advertising strategies, it’s time to take action. 

Start experimenting with some of these ideas, testing them out with small campaigns, and tracking the results. Don’t hesitate to push boundaries and innovate in ways that will resonate with your audience. 

The more you try, the closer you’ll get to uncovering the most effective ways to engage your customers and elevate your brand.

The post Creative and Fun Advertising Ideas: Marketing Suggestions for Every Business appeared first on ���������.

Ever since Leonardo da Vinci pioneered the drawing technique that shows the interior of machines, the method has been used for various practices, including visual displays of consumer products such as Do-It-Yourself (DIY) furniture (e.g., IKEA), car repair manuals (e.g., Haynes Manual), toys (e.g., LEGO and Meccano), and in advertising various consumer gadgets.

In a , we term this form of depicting a product as “anatomical depiction”—a technique that unveils the focal product’s anatomy, which is normally not visible to the consumer. In the wake of high-profile product failures making headlines, anatomical depiction in advertisements can boost consumer confidence in product performance and increase the perception of product worth. This is especially vital because traditional ideas like warranties and money-back guarantees are proving costly and other approaches to provide complicated product information run the risk of increasing confusion.

We explore the effectiveness of using anatomical depictions in marketing with nine experiments in various settings, including an online peer-to-peer selling platform, social media advertising, and online and lab studies. The experiments cut across different product categories like tech gadgets (smartwatches, headphones), wearables (shoes), home appliances (hair straighteners, air purifiers), and furniture (mattresses) with varied consumer samples.

Customer Segments Receptive to Anatomical Depiction

Our research suggests that anatomical depictions can help companies build customer confidence more efficiently during the product adoption phase. Marketers can simply add anatomical depictions to product pages or use them as thumbnails for new products.

However, our research also provides information about which customers are most receptive to anatomical depiction. This mode of advertising works well for tech-savvy consumers by increasing their purchase intentions, but it can sometimes reduce the confidence of those anxious about technology.

Our research also suggests that the effectiveness of anatomical depiction depends on what consumers are looking for. When shoppers focus on high-performance, such as the sound quality of wireless speakers, seeing the internal components can increase their willingness to pay. However, if they are looking for aesthetic aspects such as visual design, it may not make a difference. Therefore, we recommend using anatomical depictions for products marketed for their practical benefits rather than purely aesthetic ones.

Lessons for Chief Marketing Officers

The study offers the following lessons for business leaders and advertisers.

• Helping customers better appreciate the manufacturer’s point-of-view can deliver positive outcomes. For instance, the successful 2009 launch of the unibody Mac can be attributed to how Apple highlighted the novel design and manufacturing process in its advertising campaign. By helping consumers visualize this process, the brand was able to successfully differentiate its new line of laptops using the inner structure as a unique selling proposition. Anatomical depiction offers a similarly subtle and effective “visual language” for persuasion.

• Compared to other strategies such as warranties and money-back guarantees, anatomical depiction offers a broader and relatively more cost-effective avenue to boost consumer confidence in product performance.

• Firms intending to use anatomical depiction might be better served in targeting consumer segments who are relatively more ready to adopt technology. It is important to remember that anatomical depiction could decrease confidence in product performance for extremely technology-anxious consumers.

• Managers should exercise caution when employing anatomical depictions if their products are positioned to provide primarily hedonic benefits (e.g., fashionable suitcase, stylish speaker).

How confident consumers feel about a product’s performance significantly influences their decisions to adopt it. Our research shows that anatomical depictions provide a subtle and effective way to persuade consumers. This method is versatile, working well across various communication channels, including digital, print, and multimedia. Importantly, this research has broader implications for how products are presented during the adoption phase, which can influence consumer confidence and risk management.

Marketing scholars can extend this study by exploring ways to sell products that do not have a clear internal structure. For example, a slice of pizza may not necessarily have a clear internal structure and the anatomical composition of a pizza may not play a critical role in impacting actual taste. Examining processes in such contexts could yield new insights into how anatomical depiction affects different, but conceptually related, outcomes such as perceived taste and food valuation.

Source: Seo Yoon Kang, Junghan Kim, and Arun Lakshmanan, “,” Journal of Marketing.

Go to the Journal of Marketing

The post What Do IKEA, Lego, and Apple Have in Common? All Appeal to Customers by Revealing the Inner Workings of Products appeared first on ���������.

Prior research has proposed that advertisers use deal-related words, brand names, retailer names, product category names, and location information for this purpose. When consumers’ search queries include these keywords, advertisers can then provide more relevant ads as a way to increase clicks.

In a , we provide insight about how consumer emotions can impact search engine use and paid search ad click-through rates. As advertisers grapple with the challenges of reaching their target audience effectively, our research sheds light on a powerful, yet often overlooked, aspect of digital advertising.

Impact of Positive Emotion on Search Behavior

We examine the impact of positive emotion unrelated to the search task on consumer search engine behavior. Specifically, we look at how experiencing positive emotion when searching online for a product can impact what consumers search for in their search queries. This effect of emotion subsequently spills over to how consumers respond to paid search ads that appear in search results.

Using a search engine involves a sequence of decisions. We focus on how positive incidental emotion influences two steps of engaging in online search via a search engine: (1) keyword selection (i.e., the words a consumer chooses to describe a product and subsequently types into the search engine) and (2) ad clicks.

We find that experiencing positive emotion at the outset of an online product search primes emotionally congruent thoughts. This priming makes consumers more likely to use positive emotion keywords (e.g., a happy book) than neutral keywords (e.g., a paperback book) to describe the product they are searching for. Thereafter, upon encountering sponsored content such as paid search ads in search results, consumers are unlikely to use their lay beliefs about advertisers’ ulterior motives to manipulate them. As a result, consumers are more likely to click on paid search ads if they used a positive emotion keyword rather than a neutral keyword in their query.

Lessons for Chief Marketing Officers

Our study’s findings are important for marketers and advertisers in the following ways:

• The study provides advertisers with insights into the psychological aspects behind consumer online search engine behavior. Emotions can impact how people think about products and how they search for them.

• Search queries containing positive emotion keywords are associated with higher paid search ads clicks. This suggests that digital advertising managers should consider incorporating positive emotion keywords in their paid search ad targeting strategies.

• Our anecdotal evidence suggests that advertisers are not currently targeting positive emotion keywords in their digital advertising strategies. Targeting these types of keywords would not only represent a novel strategy for marketing managers but it may also improve costs per click, as bid prices for these types of keywords are low yet consumer ad clicks in response to these keywords is higher.

• When targeting positive emotion keywords, our work suggests advertisers could be even more strategic by focusing their targeting strategies on time periods in which consumers are more likely to be experiencing positive emotion. For instance, during weekends and holidays, there is an uptick in the number of consumer search queries that contain positive emotion keywords. This suggests that advertisers may want to consider a day or holiday-based scheme for bidding on positive emotion keywords.

• Positive emotion keywords are employed in search queries more often for products considered more hedonic in nature (e.g., clothes, entertainment, dining). Marketing managers for these types of products may have more success targeting positive emotion keywords in their digital advertising strategies.

In a competitive digital landscape where every impression counts, understanding the psychology behind consumer behavior is key to success. Our research challenges traditional approaches to search advertising, urging advertisers to rethink their strategies and embrace the power of emotions. By incorporating positive emotion keywords into their paid search ad targeting strategies, advertisers can unlock new opportunities for engagement and drive meaningful connections with their target audience.

Future research might extend our study and consider the possibility that different specific emotions and different levels of emotionality might impact the types of positive emotion keywords consumers employ in their queries.

Source: Sarah C. Whitley, Anindita Chakravarty, and Pengyuan Wang, “,” Journal of Marketing.

Go to the Journal of Marketing

The post Happy Words, Higher Clicks: Harnessing Consumer Emotion to Boost Paid Search Ads appeared first on ���������.

Digital advertising is in a near-constant state of flux in today’s data-driven landscape. With the rise of privacy regulations such as the EU’s GDPR (European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation) and California’s CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), firms face more restrictions on consumer data collection, and consumers are gaining more control over who obtains their data.

The trend toward empowering consumers to manage their privacy has numerous ramifications for digital marketers. A delves deep into consumer opt-in choices in the context of digital advertising, revealing some fascinating insights. For many in the industry, especially advertisers and ad networks, the pivot toward greater data privacy has necessitated strategic adaptation to remain profitable and effective.

Relevance Is Key, but Wearout Is Real

Perhaps counterintuitively, and despite growing privacy concerns, many consumers continue to opt-in to ad tracking. This is because they prefer personalized, relevant ads over repetitive ads or ads in which they have no interest. Indeed, not highlighting the mutual benefits of tracking can cause consumers to opt out, leading to reduced effectiveness of ad campaigns.

The research shows that although ad tracking can improve ad relevance, it’s not just about showing consumers ads they might like. It’s also about reducing repetitive ads that carry little information value; essentially, firms must combat ad wearout even among opted-in customers.

The study finds that, to make an opt-in decision, a consumer weighs the cost of ad wearout from repeat ads against the benefit of obtaining relevant product information, and a consumer opts-in to tracking if either the effectiveness of ads is intermediate or if their sensitivity to ad wearout is low. This leads to the counterintuitive discovery in the study that even if ads are highly effective in driving sales, if they’re shown too frequently to consumers who have opted in, wearout-sensitive individuals might decide to opt out. This can lead to a drop in available consumer data, impacting ad targetability, reducing ad prices, and potentially hurting ad networks.

Even if ads are highly effective in driving sales, if they’re shown too frequently to consumers who have opted in, wearout-sensitive individuals might decide to opt out.

To avoid this, companies can utilize ad tracking data to infer a consumer’s stage in the purchase funnel and reduce ad intensity accordingly.

The authors of the study gave us further insights in an interview:

Q: What was the primary motivation behind investigating consumer opt-in choices in the context of digital advertising? Why should managers in the advertising industry pay close attention to this topic?

A: The primary motivation was the shift in data ownership and control brought about by strict privacy regulations (e.g., the EU’s GDPR and California’s CCPA). Before these regulations, firms could freely collect and utilize consumer data for marketing purposes; but now, consumers have more control over their data. This shift poses a substantial risk to major stakeholders in the advertising industry because having less data affects the targetability of advertising. For instance, Facebook suffered an estimated $12 billion loss due to Apple users disabling app tracking. It is crucial for managers to understand when consumers are willing to share their data and how they should adapt their advertising strategies to this new business landscape.

Q: What is ad wearout, and how do privacy regulations affect it?

A: Ad wearout refers to the phenomenon in which repeated ad exposure irritates consumers. Research has shown that wearout can be so severe that excessive repeat exposure decreases total visits to the advertising brand’s website. Building on the ad wearout literature, we show that privacy regulations can not only help protect consumers’ privacy but also help improve their ad experiences by reducing wasteful ad repetition.

Q: Research invariably presents unique challenges. Could you share any hurdles you faced during this study, and any significant learnings that arose from the process?

A: We aimed to create a theoretical framework that could shed light on the economic forces arising from privacy regulations in the advertising industry. One major hurdle was integrating a nuanced consumer utility model that accounts for privacy choices and advertising preferences into the already complex online advertising ecosystem, which involves intricate strategic interactions among various stakeholders. Fortunately, we received valuable feedback from the [peer review] team that helped us address this modeling challenge.

Q: With increasing awareness around privacy concerns, why do you believe consumers continue to opt-in to tracking their online activities?

A: Despite growing privacy concerns, consumers continue to opt-in to tracking because it can potentially enhance the overall advertising experience. Adopting the classic purchase funnel perspective, we identified distinct components of this improvement in advertising experience. By allowing tracking, consumers benefit not only from seeing more relevant ads tailored to their preferences but also from seeing fewer repeat ads that carry little information value. For example, when consumers opt-in, firms can more accurately infer consumers’ stage in the purchase funnel and reduce ad intensity accordingly.

Q: How can the insights from your research be incorporated into the marketing classroom, particularly for students aspiring to join the digital advertising industry?

A: Our research underscores a fundamental shift in the advertising industry where privacy regulations endow consumers with more control over their data. It is no longer about merely designing appealing ad copies and targeting them effectively. Marketing students aspiring to join the digital advertising industry should understand that when formulating advertising strategies, firms must jointly consider consumers’ privacy choices regarding when and to what extent they share their personal data, and what implications that has for targeting ads.

Q: Were there any results from your study that genuinely surprised you or went against the conventional wisdom in the field? And how do you see this research influencing or extending to other areas in digital marketing?

A: One surprising finding of our research is that increased overall ad effectiveness can negatively impact ad networks that sell ads. This counterintuitive insight revolves around consumers exercising their privacy rights. If ads are highly effective in driving sales, firms will show more ads to opt-in consumers than to opt-out consumers. The reason is that the targetability afforded by tracking further boosts ad effectiveness. In this case, however, wearout-sensitive consumers who dislike seeing ads, even if the ads are effective for firms, may opt out of tracking. The resultant shrinkage in consumer data compromises targetability, which, in turn, exerts downward pressure on ad prices, ultimately hurting ad networks. This research could extend into various areas of digital marketing by highlighting the interplay between consumer privacy, ad effectiveness, and advertising network dynamics.

Read the full article:

W. Jason Choi, Kinshuk Jerath, and Miklos Sarvary (2023), “,” Journal of Marketing Research, 60 (5). doi:.

Go to the Journal of Marketing Research

The post When Effective Ads Backfire: The Risks of Ad Tracking [Consumer Impact] appeared first on ���������.