The type of ad environment can have a direct impact on a brand’s performance goals, including increased audience engagement and increased sales, a Pinterest-Magna study found.

For the study, IPG Mediabrand’s intelligence unit Magna gathered ad data across various social platforms. In addition, they asked consumers to rate their perceptions of platforms. That data was supplemented with in-lab testing, using biometric sensors and eye tracking technology to assess people’s emotional responses when seeing different content. Marketing mix modeling (MMM) simulations helped identify specific ways positivity contributed to a brand’s success.

The study found that the way consumers feel on specific platforms can impact a brand’s bottom line.

Audiences were 20% more emotionally engaged with content they saw on platforms they perceived to be positive. They also spent an average of 15% more time looking at the ads. When the same ad was shown on different platforms, users responded that an ad seen on a platform they viewed as positive was twice as trustworthy, twice as interesting and 1.5 times more likeable. Consumers are also more likely to take action after viewing ads in platforms they view as positive. Positive platforms were found to be up to 94% more impactful in driving purchase intent vs ads in non-positive spaces.

In addition, brands had better results when ad viewability and positivity were part of their media buying strategy. In MMM simulations, the same creative and same budget generated up to 24% more sales when brands incorporated viewability and positivity in their strategy.

The report concludes that not all impressions are equal, suggesting that viewability and brand safety should be part of the consideration in media strategies. Other suggestions include asking audience how positive they feel about the platforms used when conducting brand lift studies, exploring ways to integrate viewability and positivity in the strategy and placing ads on platforms that prioritize positivity.