Values-driven marketing boosts campaign performance, study

Campaigns that align advertising with consumers’ core values outperform standard approaches, according to new research from WARC and Aletheia Marketing and Media, supported by LIONS Advisory.

The study, Unlocking the value of Values-Driven Marketing, shows that embedding values in advertising increases ad preference, likability, relevance and overall campaign performance.

The findings demonstrate that audiences are more likely to prefer and engage with ads that reflect their dominant personal values. When brands connect with people through these shared motivations, they drive stronger engagement, trust and conversion.

Research validates link between values and ad effectiveness

The study defines Values-Driven Marketing (VDM) as a strategy rooted in behavioral science, using fundamental human motivations such as achievement, freedom, pleasure, purpose, security and tradition to inform targeting and messaging. In controlled testing involving more than 5,000 US adults, WARC and Aletheia found that ads aligned with participants’ dominant values consistently achieved higher performance scores.

Achievement-oriented audiences, for example, were 17 percentage points more likely to prefer ads reflecting achievement values. Across categories, purpose-driven and achievement-aligned ads recorded performance lifts of up to 28 percentage points compared with the average.

Values alignment enhances likability and relevance

The research also found that values alignment enhances ad likability and perceived relevance. Achievement-driven audiences rated achievement-themed ads between 12 and 18 points higher than average, while purpose-driven audiences rated purpose-based ads 8 to 11 points higher.

Combining value-based data with demographic targeting increased predictability and effectiveness. For purpose-driven consumers, adding values to the targeting mix improved accuracy by 193 percent.

A model for applying Values-Driven Marketing

Following the study, WARC and Aletheia introduced a model integrating behavioral science and AI to help brands translate values insights into media, creative and measurement strategies. The framework outlines four application areas: audience intelligence, media intelligence, messaging intelligence and impact intelligence.

Imaad Ahmed, Principal Strategist, LIONS Advisory and Head of Advisory WARC: “Understanding the motivation behind audience behavior and finding ways to inspire action is critical. Alongside our partners at Aletheia, we have the evidence to show what a Values-driven approach can offer and how to apply it in the real world across audiences, media, messaging and measurement. The opportunity is compelling.”

Marketers urged to use values as a growth driver

Alisa Miller, Chief AI Officer, Aletheia, Co-Founder, Pluralytics and Lead Inventor, AI VDM Patent: “The most effective marketing is built on deep human understanding. This research proves that when audiences are defined by their values and messaging is precisely aligned, ads perform significantly better. Values-Driven Marketing is emerging as a scalable, repeatable and performance-proven discipline for modern marketers in an era of Agentic AI.”

Chris Schembri, Founder and CEO, Aletheia: “We’ve spent years exploring how values shape marketing performance, and this research confirms what we’ve seen with our clients time and again: when brands connect with people around what truly matters to them, engagement deepens and conversions follow.”

Addressing shifts in consumer and media behavior

The report highlights that consumers increasingly choose brands that reflect their personal values, rising from 53 percent in 2023 to 69 percent in 2024, according to Ipsos data. VDM helps brands respond to these shifts, shortening the path to purchase and creating more resonant, emotionally grounded advertising.

As marketers face growing ROI pressure, WARC’s research suggests that VDM offers a strategic approach to bridge brand and performance goals. Previous WARC analysis found that combining brand-building with performance marketing can boost total revenue by a median of 90 percent. VDM builds on this by focusing on audience motivations to unify creative and media strategies.

From insight to action

According to the report, brands aligned with audience values achieve performance uplifts of 1.8 to 2 times on average.

Jennifer Posnikoff, SVP, Global Brand Growth and Experience at Virgin: “If you get Values right, you build long-term brand equity while still delivering short-term performance.”

The study positions Values-Driven Marketing as an emerging discipline for marketers seeking measurable, scalable ways to connect authentically with audiences and improve advertising effectiveness.

The full report, Unlocking the value of Values-Driven Marketing, is available from WARC. A WARC podcast with Aletheia will explore the findings in more detail.

The full report can be accessed here