Targeting Values Over Demographics Doubles Ad Performance
Marketers have long targeted consumers by age, income, and location. That approach is becoming obsolete.
New research from WARC and Aletheia shows that ads aligned with people’s core values achievement, purpose, tradition outperform standard campaigns by substantial margins. In a study of over 5,000 US adults, values-based ads saw preference scores jump as high as 123 points against a 100-point baseline. Performance improved by 1.8 to 2 times on average. The findings suggest that understanding what motivates consumers matters more than knowing their demographics. As one data point makes clear: adding values to targeting improved prediction accuracy by up to 193 percent for certain audience segments.
WARC research shows campaigns that embed Values-Driven Marketing unlock ad preference, likeability, relevance and performance
VDM can uplift ad preference up to 123 points vs. a 100-point average
Ads aligned with an individual’s dominant Values consistently win preference
Stronger Values drive stronger responses
Values-aligned messaging boosts ad likability and relevance
Including Values in the tar…
