News by Subject Policy & Ethics

University of Kansas researchers found that youths who don't smoke reported e-cigarette ads were appealing and memorable, and they accepted the information they presented without question.

There are more than 60 million business pages on Facebook and that number is from 2017. With those pages come scores of positive and negative posts generated by Facebook users. What researchers have seen is companies have very little control over what customers post, and negative posts can severely damage brands.

Though algorithms are increasingly being deployed in all facets of life, a new USC study has found that they fail basic tests as truth detectors.

Researchers from Texas A&M University published new research in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science (Editor's note: The source of this research is INFORMS), which shows that retailers' branded mobile apps are very effective in increasing customer engagement, increasing sales on multiple levels, not just on the retailer's website, but also in its stores. At the same time, apps increase the rate of returns, although the increase in sales outweighs the return rates.

Should hospital advertising be banned? A few policymakers in Washington, D.C., have recently considered such an action based on a long-standing debate on whether it poses the spread of misinformation, and that it is not an effective or responsible use of an already limited healthcare budget. New research in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science studies the impact of a ban on hospital advertising, and whether those fears are justified.

Exploring the perception of the 'fake news' phenomenon is critical to combating the ongoing global erosion of trust in the media according to a study co-authored by a University of Houston researcher.

In a newly published analysis of legal and regulatory strategies that may help combat rampant 'photoshopping' and the portrayal of unrealistic beauty standards in advertising, researchers from Harvard, Dickinson and Michigan State University College of Law are calling for industry regulation to curtail digital alteration of images in advertising.

Researchers recently discovered that stories about the origins of a company influence whether consumers believe a brand is authentic.

Why are we willing to pay much more for a six pack of craft beer, a locally produced bottle of wine or a regional brand item, often choosing them over national brands? It's because when people prefer to 'buy local,' they more frequently base their decisions on price as a perception of quality, research shows.

Two related studies found evidence that women's feelings of vulnerability about being a mother are linked to their posting on social media -- and those posts sometimes include their children's personally identifiable information, such as names, birthdates, and photographs.The researchers suggest the need for enhanced governmental guidance to protect children's online privacy from commercial entities, as well as more parental education about the consequences of sharing children's personal information.