JAR Inside the Research Podcast

Journal of Advertising Research

This podcast gives listeners a look at the latest research articles published in the Journal of Advertising Research. Listen to authors describe their work and what motivated it, explore challenges they faced in the research process, and describe what they'd like to researched next.

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S2 · E27
Thursday · 16 min
(How) Does the Number of Followers Impact the Success of Influencer Marketing? A Construal Level Perspective
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we welcome back Kirsten Cowan (The University of Edinburgh) to discuss her article, "(How) Does the Number of Followers Impact the Success of Influencer Marketing? A Construal Level Perspective," coauthored with Ben Marder (The University of Edinburgh), Laura Lavertu (University of Strathclyde), and Jiayuan Li (Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University), published in the March 2026 issue of JAR. Kirsten takes on a question that sits behind nearly every influencer campaign: does a bigger following automatically make an influencer more persuasive? The answer is not always. Drawing on construal level theory, the paper shows that follower count works as a cue of social distance. Macro influencers, with followers in the hundreds of thousands, feel closer and more relatable, while mega influencers with millions of followers feel more distant and aspirational, and persuasion depends on matching that distance to the message. Macro influencers perform best with concrete, direct content, such as overtly tagging the brand and posting on their own channels. Mega influencers are more effective with subtle brand linkages, storytelling, and appearances on the brand's own channel. Secondary Instagram data and three experiments support this matching process, with self-brand connection explaining why the right pairing lifts purchase intentions. The practical takeaway is that brands and PR agencies should stop choosing influencers on follower count alone and instead write different briefs for different tiers: detail, brand tagging, and product-in-use content on the influencer's own page for macro influencers, and benefit-focused, lifestyle-oriented content and brand-channel collaborations for mega influencers. Kirsten also makes the case for working across tiers, since smaller influencers deliver community depth and engagement while larger ones deliver reach and awareness. Our conversation also digs into the project's origins in those top influencer lists ranked purely by follower count, the challenge of comparing engagement across wildly different audience sizes, the trade-off between realism and control when studying real versus fictitious influencers, and future directions like influencer expertise, short-form video, and what happens to authenticity when lifestyle influencers endorse categories outside their lane. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2482276 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E26
August 27 · 32 min
Is Similarity in Advertising a Double-Edged Sword? The Role of AI-Generated Faces
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Arno De Caigny (IESEG School of Management) to discuss his article, "Is Similarity in Advertising a Double-Edged Sword? The Role of AI-Generated Faces," coauthored with Gudrun Roose (Ghent University), published in the June 2026 issue of JAR. Arno explains the question driving the paper: decades of research show people respond better to ads featuring faces that resemble their own, and generative AI now makes it cheap to push that resemblance as far as an advertiser wants, so is more similarity always better? The team first built an automated facial similarity measure by adapting the same face recognition technology that unlocks your phone, converting faces into embeddings and scoring resemblance with a cosine distance, then validating the algorithm against human annotators. Across two studies pairing participants' social media profile photos with AI-generated spokespersons in car insurance ads, the relationship between facial similarity and purchase intention traced an inverted U. Low to medium similarity helps, consistent with the familiar similar-to-me effect, but past an optimal point around 57% the effect reverses and purchase intentions fall, which the authors call the too-similar-to-me effect. The practical takeaway for advertisers is to resist the pull toward near-perfect matches and aim instead for the 50% to 70% sweet spot, and Arno adds a warning worth hearing: because generative AI makes it cheap to spin up millions of ad variants, a black-box optimization algorithm can drift into high similarity without anyone deciding it should, so similarity is worth tracking, and the paper's measure runs entirely on open source tools. Context matters too, since hyper-personalization carries more risk in sensitive categories like financial services and healthcare, while transparency and consent can turn the same technology into something consumers actually value, as with virtual try-on experiences. Our conversation also digs into the project's origins in the early wave of deepfakes, the data collection headaches that come with profile pictures as personally identifiable information (Prolific and MTurk were off the table, hence student samples and careful ethics review), and future directions like explaining the mechanism behind the effect and pinning down which dimensions of similarity, from eyes to skin tone to build, actually drive it. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2586185 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E25
August 20 · 17 min
Revisiting Direct Mail Effectiveness: Balancing Organizational Goals with Consumer Sustainability Concerns
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Seokhwa Hong (Seattle University) to discuss her article, "Revisiting Direct Mail Effectiveness: Balancing Organizational Goals with Consumer Sustainability Concerns," coauthored with Chance Michael Ringor (Nordstrom, Inc.), published in the March 2026 issue of JAR. Jennifer explains the puzzle that motivated the research: despite years of predictions that print is dying, direct mail still accounts for more than a third of direct marketing spending worldwide, with $6 billion spent annually in the US alone, even as it carries a real environmental cost, with over 65 billion pieces mailed in 2022 requiring roughly 100 million trees and generating 3.5 million tons of waste, less than 40% of which gets recycled. Across four studies, the team finds that as consumers grow more environmentally conscious, their response to direct mail depends on who's sending it. For nonprofits, direct mail still outperforms email at eliciting donations, but for for-profit companies that advantage disappears entirely. The mechanism is perceived resource inefficiency: when a for-profit sends a glossy brochure, consumers read it as burning money and trees to sell something, but when a charity sends the same thing, they give it a pass as a justified way to raise money for a cause. In a telling boundary condition, nonprofits focused on sustainability lose the advantage too, since resource-intensive mail contradicts their own mission. The practical takeaway for for-profit marketers is that the familiar cost argument against direct mail now comes with a reputational twist, as consumers read channel choice as a signal of what a company values, though Jennifer is careful to note the studies hold open rates constant and measure response conditional on opening. Nonprofits, meanwhile, can keep leveraging direct mail's trust and emotional appeal, unless their cause is environmental. Our conversation also digs into the challenge of making physical mail feel real in an online experiment and future directions extending the core insight: that consumers judge the same resource use differently depending on who's using it, to organizations' adoption of AI. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2492430 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
August 13 · 19 min
Grit in Advertising: How a Promotion Focus Influences Consumer Variety-Seeking
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Logan Pant (Western Michigan University) to discuss his article, "Grit in Advertising: How a Promotion Focus Influences Consumer Variety-Seeking," coauthored with Blair Kidwell (University of North Texas) and Mark R. Gleim (Auburn University), published in the June 2026 issue of JAR. Logan explains how the team treated grit not as a stable personality trait but as something advertising can switch on in the moment, the way a Nike spot or Samsung's "It Takes Grit" campaign does. The evidence runs across a field pilot and three experiments including a coffee shop study where customers scanned a QR code while waiting in line and reported what they ordered today versus what they usually order. The key finding runs against intuition: grit is usually understood as sticking with something, but gritty advertising makes consumers more likely to try something new, and it does so by activating a promotion focus, where people see benefits rather than costs. The practical takeaway is that gritty appeals are a tool for getting people to explore rather than persist. Logan sees the clearest fit for challenger brands and new entrants, the ones who cannot outspend Nike or Apple and need consumers to consider an alternative at all. Fitness and wellness already use this language, but he points to less obvious cases like financial advisors encouraging portfolio diversification. Notably, priming grit produces results similar to priming promotion directly, which matters for brands that have already built grit into their identity. Our discussion also gets into the making of the paper, including the fact that only two of the original dissertation studies survived, the wellness company study came out of the review process, and Logan's candid account of learning how to read reviewer comments as a first-time lead author. On future directions, he discusses brand loyalty and product category as the obvious boundary conditions, since some consumers will not leave Apple or their preferred cereal no matter what the ad says. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2576965 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E23
August 6 · 17 min
The Impact of Ad Repetition on Viewer Attention in Connected and Linear Television
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Kalyan Rallabandi (Bucknell University) to discuss his article, "The Impact of Ad Repetition on Viewer Attention in Connected and Linear Television," coauthored with Hyung Sup (Zack) Bhan (Radford University) and Seoungwoo Lee (Yonsei University), published in the June 2026 issue of JAR. Kalyan explains how the team used a remarkably rich TVision Insights dataset, shared through the JAR-TVision data release call, that tracks second-by-second attention for over 1,000 viewers via in-home webcams paired with automatic content recognition data. The headline finding is that viewer attention falls with each repeated exposure to an ad, and the decline is noticeably steeper on connected TV than on linear TV, where attention tends to plateau. When the same ad is repeated within narrow windows like a single day or hour, attention decay accelerates on both platforms, but CTV remains the worse offender. The likely culprit is the very thing that makes CTV attractive: viewers there are more engaged and in control, so repeated ad interruptions cost more attention. The practical takeaway for advertisers is that the common instinct to pile repetition onto CTV because engagement is high actually works against you, and wider spacing between exposures is the safer play. Kalyan also points to structural problems in the CTV ecosystem, where walled gardens and weak cross-platform frequency capping leave agencies with little control over how often viewers see the same ad, and suggests attention-based pricing as a natural evolution. Our discussion also digs into the endogeneity challenge behind the scenes, where naïve estimates showed attention rising with repetition until granular viewer-by-ad fixed effects revealed the true pattern, plus future directions like linking attention to sales outcomes and modeling the wear-in and wear-out sweet spot for repetition. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2538940 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E22
July 30 · 24 min
Advertising Professionals' Views on Advertising Seemingly Related to Offline Conversations
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Claire Segijn (University of Minnesota) and Joanna Strycharz (University of Amsterdam) to discuss their article, "Advertising Professionals' Views on Advertising Seemingly Related to Offline Conversations," coauthored with Rongjin Zhang (University of Minnesota), published in the March 2026 issue of JAR. Claire and Joanna explain conversation-related advertising: the widespread consumer belief that phones and smart devices are listening to offline conversations and serving up ads based on what was said. Drawing on a survey of 74 U.S. advertising professionals and the first study to examine this phenomenon from the industry side, they unpack a striking disconnect. Nearly all professionals agree the technology is possible, yet there is no consensus on whether it is actually happening. Those who believe it is happening point to their own experiences as consumers rather than any campaign evidence, while those who say it is not offer four concrete reasons: it isn't an option platforms let them select, it's unnecessary given how much data advertisers already have, it faces real technical hurdles, and it carries legal risk. The bigger story is an information asymmetry that has shifted from one between industry and consumers to one between advertisers and the platforms themselves, with professionals often unsure what data actually powers their own campaigns. The practical takeaway for advertisers is that perceptions matter even when the practice isn't real: consumers who believe an ad came from an overheard conversation react negatively, so greater transparency about data collection, more internal conversations within agencies, and possibly regulatory mandates are needed. Our discussion also digs into how the project began with student examples in the classroom, the challenges of recruiting busy (and sometimes skeptical) advertising professionals, and a rich future research agenda spanning why consumers hold this belief, how to inform the large group sitting on the fence, and whether reactions differ across product categories. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2531594 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E21
July 23 · 21 min
An Investigation of How and Why Organizations Enact Greenhushing
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Nayla Khan (University of Portsmouth), Marta Nieto-García (Universidad de Salamanca), and Diletta Acuti (University of Bath) to discuss their article, "An Investigation of How and Why Organizations Enact Greenhushing," coauthored with Giampaolo Viglia (University of Portsmouth), published in the March 2026 issue of JAR. The authors explain what greenhushing is: the strategic decision to downplay or stay quiet about genuine sustainability practices, essentially the mirror image of greenwashing. Using Booking.com's sustainability program as a third-party benchmark, they analyzed the websites and social media of 300 UK hotels and found greenhushing to be widespread: only 38% of hotels communicated their verified sustainability practices on their websites, and less than 2% of their Facebook and Instagram posts touched on sustainability at all. Interviews with 16 service marketers across hotels, restaurants, salons, and tour operators revealed two main drivers: fear of greenwashing accusations and a lack of confidence in whether their practices are "enough" to talk about. Tellingly, most greenhushing organizations also don't track their sustainability performance, which the authors argue feeds that lack of confidence. The practical takeaway is that firms with verified practices are leaving value on the table. The authors recommend tracking sustainability performance with verifiable metrics, communicating claims backed by that data, and keeping the story consistent across websites and social platforms so it reads as authentic. Our conversation also digs into the origins of the project, including a candid admission from a major grocery retailer that it deliberately stays silent on sustainability, the challenge of interviewing managers who had never heard the term greenhushing, and future directions for research on this topic. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2514889 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E20
July 16 · 16 min
Consumer Responses to LGBTQ-Themed Advertising: What 20,000 YouTube Comments Reveal
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, guest interviewer Dr. Steven Park (Queen Mary University of London) speaks with Jia Heng Li and Professor Tae Hyun Baek (both Sungkyunkwan University) to discuss their article, "Consumer Responses to LGBTQ-Themed Advertising: A Computational Analysis of YouTube Comments," coauthored with Minseong Kim (Louisiana State University Shreveport), just published in the June 2026 issue of JAR. Jia Heng explains how the study moves beyond the surveys and experiments that dominate research on LGBTQ-themed advertising by analyzing what consumers naturally say online. Using computational text mining of more than 20,000 YouTube comments on LGBTQ-themed ads, the authors identify six key topics of conversation, from LGBTQ celebrations and family values to drag culture, brand activism, and gender roles. The headline finding is that overall sentiment is more positive than many might expect, with themes of pride, inclusion, and family associated with emotions like joy and trust. But responses are far from uniform: drag culture and brand activism generate polarized reactions, driven by discomfort with nontraditional gender expressions and skepticism about corporate authenticity. Crucially, consumers aren't just reacting to the ad itself. They're evaluating the brand behind it, questioning whether its support reflects genuine values or "rainbow-washing." The practical takeaways for advertisers are threefold: treat inclusion as a long-term commitment rather than a one-off campaign, recognize that different forms of LGBTQ representation call for different communication strategies, and mine the comment section, which often reveals more than views and engagement metrics ever could. The discussion also digs into the challenge of interpreting sarcasm and irony in online comments, why the authors paired computational analysis with extensive manual validation, and where this research should go next, from cross-platform comparisons to cross-cultural work. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2554437 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E19
July 13 · 12 min
When "Buy Less" Backfires: Green Demarketing and the Nongreen Consumer,
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we speak with Matthew Pittman (University of Tennessee) to discuss his article, "Green Demarketing to Nongreen Consumers: Individuals With Low Environmental Concern Don't Believe Messages to 'Buy Less'," coauthored with Tyler Milfeld (Villanova University) and Eric Haley (University of Tennessee), just published in the June 2026 issue of JAR. Matthew explains what green demarketing is: a more progressive form of green advertising that urges consumers to buy less of anything, made famous by Patagonia's "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign. Drawing on two online experiments and a real-world Instagram field experiment, the first to test demarketing in a social media field setting, Matthew unpacks how and when "buy less" appeals backfire. The headline finding is that green demarketing generates lower purchase intentions than traditional green advertising and the mechanism is sequential: consumers first judge the source as less credible, which in turn makes the message less believable. Crucially, this effect is driven by consumers with low environmental concern. Highly green consumers respond just as well to demarketing as they do to conventional green appeals. The practical takeaway for advertisers is to try and gauge your audience's level of environmental concern and to recognize that "don't buy" messages only land when a brand has built up the environmental credibility, as Patagonia has, to back them up. Our discussion also digs into the field experiment, including the creative challenge of targeting nongreen consumers on social media when ad platforms only let you target what people like, not what they dislike. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2582341 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E18
April 25 · 16 min
How Persuasive Is Personalized Advertising?
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Vincent Huang (Hong Kong Baptist University) sits down with Dominic Yeo (Hong Kong Baptist University) to discuss Dominic's Journal of Advertising Research article, "How Persuasive Is Personalized Advertising? A Meta-Analytic Review of Experimental Evidence of the Effects of Personalization on Ad Effectiveness," coauthored with Tsz Hang Chu (Hong Kong Shue Yan University) and Qiqi Li (Hong Kong Baptist University), recently named runner-up for JAR's Best Paper of 2025. Dominic explains why personalized advertising actually works, and why the "creepiness factor" we often associate with it may matter less than we think. Drawing on a meta-analysis of 53 experimental studies and nearly 12,000 participants, Dominic and his coauthors directly compare personalized and non-personalized ads across consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions. The headline finding is that personalization is, on average, more persuasive than generic advertising, and the mechanism behind that effect is perceived relevance rather than reduced intrusiveness. In fact, personalization did not significantly increase perceived intrusiveness at all, suggesting that the benefits of feeling understood tend to outweigh the costs of feeling watched. Vincent and Dominic also dig into a key boundary condition that emerged from the moderator analysis: actual personalization based on real participant data is far more effective than scenario-based, imagined personalization, and covert personalization (think behavioral targeting based on browsing history) tends to outperform overt personalization (like inserting a consumer's first name into an ad). The practical takeaway for advertisers is to keep investing in personalization, but to do it with relevance, not gimmickry, in mind. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2467763 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E17
March 26 · 20 min
The Influence of Perceived Truth of Campaign Messages on Vote Choice: Does Truth Matter When Industries Battle Opponents Over Policy Issues?
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Andrea Godfrey Flynn (University of San Diego) joins me to discuss her Journal of Advertising Research article, "The Influence of Perceived Truth of Campaign Messages on Vote Choice: Does Truth Matter When Industries Battle Opponents Over Policy Issues?" coauthored with Kathleen Seiders (Boston College). Andrea explains why perceived truth matters in political advertising — but not in a simple, uniform way. Drawing on two-wave longitudinal surveys of California voters across three high-stakes ballot measure campaigns in 2018 and 2020, she and Kathleen examine how voters' beliefs about the truthfulness of campaign messages from both the industry side and the opposing coalition side shape actual vote choice. The core finding is that truth does still matter in an era of widespread skepticism about misinformation, but its impact is conditional: conservative-leaning voters are most responsive to perceived truth in industry campaign messages, while liberal-leaning voters are most responsive to perceived truth in opponent campaign messages, consistent with longstanding partisan attitudes toward business. We also discuss the powerful role of political party endorsements as a second boundary condition. When one party officially endorses the industry side, it is actually the other party's voters who place the greatest weight on perceived truth in their vote decision, a finding with real strategic implications. The practical takeaway is that campaigns should think carefully about both audience targeting and the endorsement landscape. Emphasizing message truthfulness, backing claims with transparent and independent evidence, and avoiding demonization of the opposing side can all help campaigns win support from voters who might otherwise lean the other way. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464295 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E17
March 19 · 15 min
Petfluencers, the Fur-Mula for Sincere Endorsements: Examining How and When Pets Exhibit Greater Persuasion as Influencers
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Laura Lavertu (Grenoble Ecole de Management) joins me to discuss her Journal of Advertising Research article, “Petfluencers, the Fur-Mula for Sincere Endorsements: Examining How and When Pets Exhibit Greater Persuasion as Influencers,” coauthored with Katina Kulow (University of Louisville), Kirsten Cowan (University of Edinburgh), and Ben Marder (University of Edinburgh). Laura explains why petfluencers can sometimes outperform human influencers. Across four studies, including a field study and lab experiments, their research shows that petfluencers can increase engagement and willingness to pay because they are perceived as more sincere. The core idea is that audiences attribute fewer self-interested motives to pets, which helps sponsored posts feel more genuine in an era of influencer fatigue. We also discuss when this effect is strongest. The findings suggest that petfluencer content works best when the message framing matches consumers’ mindset, particularly around temporal focus. When consumers are in a more present-oriented, concrete mindset, present-focused messaging can amplify petfluencers’ persuasive advantage. The practical takeaway is that petfluencers are not just a novelty tactic. They can be a strategic substitute when sincerity is the constraint, especially if the creative execution reinforces immediacy and reduces psychological distance. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2463707 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E16
March 12 · 15 min
Fueling or Suppressing Brand Activism Backlash: How Message Type Differentially Influences Perceived Hypocrisy and Consumer Attitudes
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Tyler Milfeld (Villanova University) joins me, along with Courtney B. Peters (Samford University) and Jennifer H. Tatara (DePaul University), to discuss their Journal of Advertising Research article, “Fueling or Suppressing Brand Activism Backlash: How Message Type Differentially Influences Perceived Hypocrisy and Consumer Attitudes.” Tyler, Courtney, and Jennifer examine what brands should say, or avoid saying, when a sociopolitical stance triggers backlash. Across three experiments using real brands and salient issues, their research shows that a common real-world response, retraction, often backfires. Retraction increases perceived hypocrisy among people who supported the brand’s original stance, which then lowers brand attitudes. Among people who did not support the stance, retraction does little to improve perceptions. We also discuss what can mitigate the damage when a retraction is unavoidable. Pairing the retraction with a safety-based justification can reduce the hypocrisy penalty among high-support consumers. The broader takeaway is that backlash is not a standard crisis and response strategies should be chosen based on what the message signals about consistency, motives, and who you risk alienating. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2458370 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E15
March 5 · 16 min
Using Unfamiliar Cues to Engage Multitasking Audiences: Giving Attentional Breakthrough
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Heesoo Kim (University of Oregon) joins me to discuss her Journal of Advertising Research article, “Using Unfamiliar Cues to Engage Multitasking Audiences: Giving Attentional Breakthrough,” coauthored with Hongsik John Cheon (Soongsil University). Heesoo and I explore how advertisers can earn an “attentional breakthrough” when audiences are multitasking across screens. Across four studies, the research shows that embedding an unfamiliar cue, like a scientific or technical term, can trigger selective attention and deeper processing, but mainly when people’s second-screen activity is congruent with the ad, such as looking up the unfamiliar term while watching. Under those congruent multitasking conditions, unfamiliar cues improve ad recall. Under incongruent multitasking, the benefit disappears. We also discuss the practical playbook. The takeaway is not “add jargon,” but “add a curiosity spark” that reliably converts distraction into relevant second-screen behavior. For marketers, that means designing unfamiliar cues that create a clean information gap, making it easy for consumers to resolve that gap in the moment, and ensuring the second-screen path reinforces the brand and the core message rather than pulling attention away from it. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2470510 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E14
February 28 · 12 min
How Music Tempo Influences Consumer Preferences for Advertising with Different Regulatory Focuses
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Shuyu Lei (Nankai University) joins us for a conversation led by Shan Jian (PhD Candidate, Nankai University) to discuss her Journal of Advertising Research article, “How Music Tempo Influences Consumer Preferences for Advertising with Different Regulatory Focuses: Shopping in Jumping Tempo,” coauthored with Qi Wu (Nankai University) and Jiangang Du (Nankai University). Shuyu and Shan unpack when fast versus slow background music helps video ads perform better. Using a large-scale analysis of 26,025 video ads plus three experiments, the research shows a clear interaction: fast-tempo (vs. slow-tempo) music increases purchase intentions for promotion-focused ads, while tempo has no meaningful effect for prevention-focused ads. They also discuss why the effect emerges, focusing on time pressure and the decision-making strategies consumers adopt. The practical takeaway is that tempo is not a universal “make it upbeat” lever. It works best when it fits the ad’s motivational framing, especially when the message is about gains, advancement, and positive outcomes. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464277 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E13
Dec 11, 2025 · 22 min
Do cultural cues make expensive products feel more appealing?
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Wei-Fen Chen (Lecturer in Marketing, University of Leicester School of Business) joins me to discuss her Journal of Advertising Research article, “When to Appeal to Cultural Capital in Advertisements: Cultural Capital Appeals Increase Purchase Intentions for High- but Not Low-Priced Products,” coauthored with Xue Wang (Assistant Professor, Business School, Beijing Normal University) and Chenyang Shao (Doctoral Student, Business School, Beijing Normal University). Wei-Fen and I explore how invoking cultural sophistication in ads—through references to art, heritage, or refined taste—can strengthen purchase intent, but only for higher-priced products. Across three studies spanning categories from wine and bottled water to face masks, the team finds that when cultural capital cues align with economic signals, consumers process the ad more fluently and respond more positively. For low-priced products, though, these appeals backfire or fail to move the needle. We also discuss how this research clarifies when marketers should use cultural capital storytelling, why pricing strategy matters more than demographic targeting, and how brand tiers can selectively apply these cues to premium lines. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464291 Listen to the podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2250188 And watch this and more content on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@journalofadvertisingresearch To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E12
Dec 4, 2025 · 7 min
The Face of AI Endorsement — Human vs. Cartoon Avatars
Send us Fan Mail Do consumers respond differently to AI avatars that look human versus those that look cartoon-like? In this episode, June-Ho Chung (Inha University) and Sungjun “Steven” Park (Queen Mary University of London; National Chengchi University) join me to discuss their Journal of Advertising Research article, Designing AI Agents for New Product Endorsement: Do Human-Like or Cartoon-Like AI-Generated Endorsers Evoke More Positive Ad Engagement from Consumers? The article is co-authored with Yiting (Tami) Chu (National Chengchi University). We talk about why human-like AI avatars tend to generate stronger engagement and positive emotions, especially when promoting new or unfamiliar products. June-Ho and Steven walk through controlled experiments that compare human-like and cartoon-style endorsers across preference, emotions, and ad engagement. We discuss why familiarity with faces can shape reactions and when a simpler, cartoon style may still fit the brief. Finally, we translate the findings into practical guidance for creative teams choosing avatar style for new product ads. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2497615 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E11
Nov 20, 2025 · 19 min
How Life Transitions Shape Response to Ad Repetition
Send us Fan Mail Do big life changes make people more open to seeing the same ad again and again? In this episode, Ben Borenstein and Luke Nowlan join me to share insights from their Journal of Advertising Research article, “Life Transitions Influence Response to Ad Repetition: When Times of Change Increase Preference for Repeat Advertising Experiences,” coauthored with Tyler Milfeld. Ben, Luke, and I talk through how moments like moving, changing jobs, or becoming a parent shift the way people respond to repeated ads. Across four experiments, they find that consumers in a life transition actually sustain enjoyment of repeated ads and form more positive brand attitudes — rather than tuning out. We also discuss why predictability feels comforting in times of change, how advertisers can spot these moments using behavioral signals, and what this means for ad frequency and targeting strategies. Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464306 To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E10
Nov 14, 2025 · 18 min
Why Do Viewers Sometimes Watch Skippable Ads?
Send us Fan Mail Can the way ads are scheduled change whether people watch or skip? In this episode, Dr. Mi Hyun Lee (Northwestern University) and Dr. Jaewon Royce Choi (Louisiana State University) join me to talk about their Journal of Advertising Research article, Acceptance Propensity of Pre-Roll Skippable Ads: An Analysis of Large-Scale Clickstream Data Using Dynamic Linear Models, coauthored with Su Jung Kim. We dig into their concept of ad acceptance propensity — the underlying tendency to accept rather than skip an ad — and how it shifts depending on how ads are placed. Drawing on a dataset of 10,000 users and 36,000 ad exposures from a major video platform, they show that predictable, frequent exposures lower acceptance while irregular, spaced exposures boost it. We also talk about how their dynamic linear modeling approach lets researchers go beyond observed behavior to estimate hidden states, why this matters for both scholars and practitioners, and how advertisers can rethink reach and frequency. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464294 Listen to the podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2250188 And watch this and more content on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@journalofadvertisingresearch To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/
S2 · E9
Nov 7, 2025 · 14 min
Do Blurry Backgrounds Make Video Ads More Persuasive?
Send us Fan Mail Can the depth of field in a video ad change how consumers process the message? In this episode, Dr. Lam An (University of Winnipeg) joins me to discuss his Journal of Advertising Research article, “The Effectiveness of Background Blurriness in Video Advertisements: How Video Background Blurriness and Construal Level Shape Consumer Perception.” Lam explains how blurry versus clear backgrounds interact with message type. Blurry backgrounds make concrete, detail-heavy, near-term messages easier to process, while clear backgrounds align better with abstract, big-picture, future-oriented themes. Together we talk through his series of lab experiments and a field test on Meta that show how these simple production choices can significantly impact ad effectiveness. Lam also shares what this means for advertisers in practice—whether you’re promoting a limited-time deal, building long-term brand equity, or trying to stand out in a crowded feed. Read the full paper here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464281 Listen to the podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2250188 And watch this and more content on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@journalofadvertisingresearch To keep up to date on the latest JAR news sign up for our newsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mtD04QN And follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82528291/admin/

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