Call For Papers – Empirical Generalizations in Advertising II: What Works in the New Age of Advertising & Marketing

Our call for papers is now closed.

If you are interested in attending this invite-only event, please contact catherine@thearf.org

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The Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA – May 31 – June 1, 2012:

Hosted by:
The Wharton Future of Advertising Project of the SEI Centre for Advanced Studies in Management
In partnership with:
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science
The Advertising Research Foundation

Call for Papers

As with the first Wharton FoA Empirical Generalizations in Advertising Conference, we again focus on high-quality research on law-like patterns, across multiple studies, however this time with a consciously digital media focus. We seek research that addresses these areas in particular:
1.  What is a touch point (OTS, impression, click, fan, sharing, recommendation) worth? How should they be compared?
2. What are different bundles of media worth? How should they be orchestrated for maximum effect?
3. How do we execute and measure cross-media combinations?
4. What do we really know about cross-media synergies and what do we need to know?

Please send three page proposals or full papers to be considered for this exclusive invitation-only conference.

• Conference: May 31 – June 1, 2012.
• Venue: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. PA
• Proposal submissions deadline (3 page max): 
February 15, 2012 (final papers also welcomed)
• Feedback to authors by: 
March 1, 2012
• Please see Guidelines for Authors and submission details below.

JAR Special Issue
Selected papers from the conference will be featured in a special issue of the Journal of Advertising Research – What We Know About Advertising II. All papers presented at the conference will be considered for the special edition and undergo a blinded peer review process.

Best Paper Award
The Best Paper Award will honor the author(s) of the paper that demonstrates exceptional merit and makes a significant contribution to the extension of empirical generalizations in the new era of marketing. All accepted conference papers will be automatically considered for the Best Paper award by the program committee. The winner will be announced on the final day of the conference and the winning paper will receive automatic entry to the Journal of Advertising Research special edition.

We need a clear statement of each empirical generalization and (a) the evidence supporting it from multiple studies, (b) its relevance/implications for one or more of our key conference questions and (c) the conditions under which these empirical generalizations hold. We are interested in quality research that address one or more of the four topic areas above, so long as it gives clear indication of generalizability (where the finding should apply).

Audience
This conference will be an exceptional opportunity to present your latest research and to network with and invitation-only mix of key marketing, advertising, media, research and academic leaders. The conference on empirical generalizations in advertising will be an exceptional opportunity to present your latest research and to network with key industry and academic leaders.

We hope that you will consider submission.

Please contact Catharine Findiesen Hays, Managing Director, The Wharton Future of Advertising Project with enquiries; cathays@wharton.upenn.edu.

Guidelines for Authors

Topics
1. What is a touch point (OTS, impression, click, fan, sharing, recommendation) worth? How should they be compared?
2. What are different bundles of media worth? How should they be orchestrated for maximum effect?
3. How do we execute and measure cross-media combinations?
4. What do we really know about cross-media synergies and what do we need to know?

Generalizability
Sadly, too much of the 'knowledge' in marketing comes from one-off studies, so we have no idea if the findings hold true in even only slightly changed circumstances. For example, we don't even know if the 'finding' is peculiar to that month or year, or peculiar to that city. We don't know if the result is trustworthy – perhaps it is an artefact of that questionnaire or analytic approach, or some hidden mistake. And we don't know how far the finding generalises. Will it apply to a different product category, to a different media, to a different advertising campaign?

Scientific knowledge progresses when findings show up in multiple different data sets. We learn where the result holds, and where it does not. Then we can make trustworthy predictions. And gain deep understanding into what affects what, and what does not affect what.

Authors must discuss generalizability. Papers must show evidence of where the results keep on holding, and ideally where they do not. Readers need to be assured that this is more than a well researched but initial, and potentially one-off, finding. Authors are strongly advised to check that the result holds for different measures, for different samples, in different countries.

Authors are also strongly advised to use known empirical laws, to test their generalizability in the new media environment.

Transparency
Please include as many descriptive statistics as possible. Readers should be able to gain a real feel for your data.

If you employed complex statistics to uncover your finding you should still be able to show the finding using simple data presentation - rather than making model coefficients the centre of your presentation.

Please round figures (don't report figures to several decimal places unless strictly necessary). Label charts and tables clearly. Submission Details Papers should follow the style of the Journal of Advertising Research and be no more than 4,000 words.

Please send proposals for presentation at the second Empirical Generalizations in Advertising Conference, EMPGENS2 to Catharine Findiesen Hays, Managing Director, The Wharton Future of Advertising Project with enquiries; cathays@wharton.upenn.edu before October 28, 2011. Full papers are also welcomed at this stage.

Feedback on whether your proposal or paper has been accepted for the Conference will be sent by November 23, 2011.