Marketing, Media, and Persuasion

In a podcast episode titled ‘Visual Marketing: A Practical Guide to the Science of Branding and Retailing,’ Barbara Kahn and Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson discuss the merger of marketing and neuroscience, focusing on visual marketing’s increasing significance in today’s digital and omnichannel environment. They highlight key principles such as attention and fluency, and the importance of interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate behavioral and neuroscience data to optimize marketing strategies.…Read More

The episode of Freakonomics Radio examines the potential risks and rewards of celebrity endorsements, focusing on the scandal involving Jared Fogle and Subway, and analyzes whether such endorsements significantly impact consumer behavior. Despite Fogle’s arrest for repugnant crimes, Subway sales showed no significant decline, questioning the actual influence of celebrity endorsements on brand success as opposed to conventional beliefs held by marketing departments.…Read More

A new study co-led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, including experts from the Communication Neuroscience Lab, reveals that people are more likely to share posts they find personally meaningful or socially relevant. Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, the research highlights how value-based content—whether related to public health or climate change—is more likely to go viral. The findings offer insights for designing messaging that not only informs but resonates, a key interest of faculty affiliated with the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative.…Read More

The article discusses how business growth is largely determined by influencing the subconscious brand preferences of customers through positive associations, challenging traditional marketing concepts that focus solely on single brand messages. Using the concept of ‘Brand Connectome’, it highlights the need for brands to create strong networks of positive associations to dominate consumer choice and drive business success.…Read More

A study led by Wharton professor Gideon Nave investigates the association between musical preferences and personality traits, offering marketers and data scientists insights into personalizing customer interactions while raising privacy concerns. The research, which used music dimensions and Facebook likes as data sources, underscores the potential for using digital footprints to accurately predict traits like openness and extroversion; however, ethical considerations about data usage in marketing are highlighted, especially in light of privacy controversies such as Cambridge Analytica.…Read More

New research by Wharton marketing professor Deborah Small explores why donors often prioritize emotional connections over rational effectiveness when choosing charitable organizations, suggesting a compromise that combines personal relevance with effectiveness information might optimize donation impact. The study highlights the challenges charities face in marketing and transparency, while proposing that reframing cost-effectiveness information could improve donor decision-making.…Read More