Curated Guide to Research
MediaPost's comprehensive guide to current research in the marketplace.
- Nearly half of consumers report an email as spam if they never gave explicit permission to receive it.
- Is AI the solution to all consumer insight problems, or a semi-reliable "direct report" that can only take on a few basic tasks? Or is it a merchant in "snake oil" that should be approached with caution and perhaps avoided completely?
- Not a big surprise: Netflix's "Emily In Paris" sparked a 200% spike in interest in the titular city.
- Most executives today rely on dashboards and rarely question the data they are sent, according to a study conducted by Sapio Research, from journey management platform TheyDo.
- Digital video's trajectory signals a "renewed confidence" in the channel's long-term viability, infrastructure and appeal.
- Analysis from Aimclear reveals "a new cohort of crawlers associated with large language model (LLM) based applications - representing "services such as Google's own AI features, Anthropic's Claude, Microsoft's Copilot integrated with Bing, and Perplexity AI, among others," Aimclear founder Marty Weintraub wrote.
- Consumers are looking for brands that feel human, respond quickly, and offer content that informs, entertains or benefits them directly.
- Marketers and agencies often see eye-to-eye on strategic direction and creative output, while procurement professionals tend to focus on cost control, efficiency and performance metrics.
- Ad recall and viewer engagement have reached new lows in today's second-screening landscape.
- The new "no social socials" campaign from Publicis' LePub is inspired by new research revealing the average adult is stuck six hours daily scrolling on their phone.
- Hearing about a product in the trusted, familiar environment of broadcast radio increases the legitimacy of the advertiser.
- The data highlights growing regional disparities in attention performance and continued strength from tech and media advertisers.
- Just when I thought the digital media universe couldn't get more alienating, Horizon Media's research team stumbled on an incredible new Millennial-Alpha household trend: family time.
- Less than a hundred days into Trump 2.0, perceptions of America's ability to remain the leader of the free world have tumbled, falling even lower than its last recent low - during Trump 1.0.
- A majority of boys are encountering online firearm content that experts warn is not only inappropriate but potentially dangerous.
- Half of those surveyed said protecting their bank account details and login credentials is their highest priority.
- A new report from COMvergence finds that deal activity fell 37% last year for a total of just 52 transactions. From 2016 through 2024 there were 766 acquisitions in the sector.
- YouTube has a higher valuation than media companies, but it continues to outdo other legacy media businesses with its virtual pay TV provider YouTube TV.
- U.S. consumers spent $144 million on in-app purchases in March, more than doubling February spending.
- About one in five teens report that social media has harmed either their mental health or schoolwork.
- Analysts have begun lowering ecommerce and paid-media industry forecasts as tariff policies persist and consumer sentiment continues to fall. U.S. ecommerce growth for 2025 is now projected at 4.5%, down from 7.5% -- and globally, excluding China, dropping to 6.5% from 9%.
- TV consumer surveys suggest only streaming remains top of mind. A new survey from Adtaxi shows 70% of U.S. adults make streaming their first choice for TV and video content viewing.
- Spending on Shopping campaigns rose 8% annually in the first quarter, a slight slowdown from 10% growth in the final quarter of 2024.
- For the first three months of this year, total national TV cable revenues are estimated to have fallen 9.2%, with $3.4 billion and broadcast networks sinking 4.6% to $3.3 billion.
- Just 30% of consumers recall receiving interactive video content, and only 20% say they've ever encountered a video that was AI-generated.
- A survey by iSpot finds 16% of advertisers believe there will be declines in their budgets (1% to 49%), and 27% will see gains (1% to 49%) - while just 1% see their budgets climbing by 50% or more.
- And 45% say their personal financial situation is becoming worse, up sharply from 41% in March and February.
- Live webinars saw modest growth as well, ranking as the 10th-most preferred content type in 2024.
- Ad platforms with high exposure to performance-driven campaigns and Chinese brands face the biggest threat from higher tariffs on imports.
- Polymorphic attacks have also relied heavily on AI to achieve scale, KnowBe4 reports.
