Vrity, the brand measurement leader offering real-time insight into the effectiveness of values-based messaging, today announced the launch of its Values Return Index (VRI). Vrity’s VRI connects purchase propensity to brand sentiment across 20 values-based categories such as sustainability, equality, innovation, and affordability. Vrity uses artificial intelligence to interpret a combination of consumer surveys, social media and website data, delivering an up-to-the-minute assessment of a brand’s “values equity”— the financial impact of a brand’s values on purchase propensity.

Brand values have increasingly become determining factors for customers choosing between comparable products or services.

Marketing Technology News: Atos Grows Its Salesforce Capabilities and Completes the Acquisition of Profit4sf

Newly released data from Toluna and Vrity demonstrates the extent to which values have impacted changes in consumer behavior:

1. 82% of consumers would pay a premium to choose a brand that supports a cause important to them and 43% said they would pay twice as much to support that brand

2. 55% of survey respondents indicated that they pay more attention to brand values than they did one year ago

3. 37% of respondents acknowledged that there are brands they will not purchase from due to their silence on a social issue.

Marketing Technology News: Adtelligent Introduces Native Support for AMP Ads

In conjunction with its launch, Vrity demonstrated the acuity of its Values Return Index (VRI) by analyzing the financial impact of three socially-responsible advertisements shown during Super Bowl LV. The company’s findings were recently highlighted in Digiday’s Media Buying Briefing. The VRI indicated that, following Anheuser-Busch’s spot highlighting the role of beer in important social moments, purchase consideration increased by 156%. Demonstrating the tool’s precision in measuring specific values and sentiments, the VRI indicated that General Motors’ ad starring Will Ferrell led to a 10% increase in values like Health, Joy, and Innovation and an increase in GM purchase propensity of 153%–both of which proved the importance of values alignment in driving purchase propensity.

“Today’s consumer no longer makes purchase decisions based on price and product alone, they also want to support brands that share their personal values. Vrity’s data demonstrates that shoppers back their beliefs with their purchasing decisions,” said Jesse Wolfersberger, co-founder and CEO of Vrity. “This information has enormous implications for new customer acquisition and brand loyalty. We can prove that the ROI of connecting with consumers on a values-level is tremendous. The VRI is an essential tool for brands to measure if their values are resonating with today’s values-oriented customers and driving real financial impact.”