Integral Ad Science (IAS), a global leader in digital ad verification, today released a new research study, The Power of Context in APAC, surveying over 2,000 consumers in Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and Japan. This report from IAS explores how context influences consumers’ perception of ads and brands.

Based on its latest study, IAS uncovered the following:

• APAC consumers are extremely receptive to contextually relevant ads: The report suggests a majority of consumers in APAC -  96% in Indonesia, 91% consumers in Singapore, 86% consumers in Australia, and 75% in Japan - prefer digital ads to appear alongside relevant content. Consumers value seeing ads that are related to the topics or articles they're consuming online. Relevant ads are not only more memorable, but also more likely to foster a favourable consumer opinion toward the brand.

• Consumer perception of ads is impacted by the content on the page: Consumers don't just prefer contextual relevance, their perception of an ad is impacted by it. Roughly 9 out of 10 consumers in Singapore and Indonesia and more than 7 out of 10 in Australia and Japan say their perception of an online ad is impacted by the surrounding content on the page.

• In APAC contextual relevance is preferred across all verticals: When shown articles representing different verticals, consumers always preferred contextual relevance. Across the board, consumers paired the ads they prefer with articles categorised in the same content vertical. For example, 90% of consumers in Japan, 86% in Australia, 82% in Singapore, and 76% in Indonesia preferred Entertainment ads alongside Entertainment articles, and a similar sentiment was observed across verticals.

“The Power of Context research shows that the quality of an advertising environment can influence how consumers perceive ads and associated brands. The APAC data clearly shows contextually relevant ads impact consumers beyond their immediate response, forming part of their longer-term recall and favourability towards a brand,” said Laura Quigley, SVP APAC, IAS. “Contextual targeting represents a major opportunity for brands in 2021 and understanding how context influences consumers’ perception of ads is critical to capture long-term interest. For marketers, this is essential to stand out within increasingly crowded marketplaces and drive action as a result of ads.”