GumGum’s 2026 global marketer survey suggests that advertisers increasingly believe consumer mindsets influence advertising effectiveness, but many still plan campaigns around identity-based audience targeting. The report, The Marketers’ Take On Mindset: 2026 Global Report, surveyed more than 2,000 marketers across the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, highlighting a gap between industry attitudes toward mindset advertising and its adoption in media planning.
The findings point to a challenge for advertisers and agencies evaluating alternatives to traditional audience targeting: recognizing the importance of context and consumer receptivity does not necessarily translate into different campaign execution.
According to GumGum, 83.6% of surveyed marketers globally believe mindset advertising outperforms contextual advertising alone. In the United States, 81.5% say it can outperform identity-based targeting. Yet 59.8% of U.S. respondents say they would still default to identity-based advertising for their next campaign.
The results indicate that advertiser interest in mindset-based approaches has not eliminated established planning habits.
Mindset Advertising Meets Traditional Targeting
Mindset advertising seeks to align advertising messages with the consumer’s prevailing interests, circumstances or receptivity, rather than relying exclusively on audience identity or demographic characteristics. Contextual advertising, by comparison, typically considers the content or environment in which an advertisement appears.
The distinction matters in programmatic advertising, where campaign decisions often combine audience signals, contextual information, inventory characteristics and performance objectives. A mindset-oriented strategy aims to account for whether the surrounding moment is appropriate for a particular message, rather than treating audience membership as the primary indicator of relevance.
GumGum’s research found that 94.3% of U.S. marketers surveyed believe mindset matters more than audience fit, suggesting that respondents see opportunities to engage consumers beyond a brand’s traditional target audience when the message is relevant.
However, these figures measure marketer perceptions, not independently verified campaign outcomes. The announcement does not provide the survey’s full methodology, detailed respondent profiles or experimental evidence demonstrating that mindset-based targeting consistently outperforms competing approaches.
AI and the Push for Contextual Signals
GumGum argues that AI can help advertisers interpret large volumes of signals in real time to identify relevant advertising moments at scale. The broader industry challenge is translating those signals into actionable media decisions while maintaining suitable controls over targeting, brand safety and measurement.
For agencies and programmatic buyers, adopting mindset-oriented planning could require changes to audience definitions, inventory selection, campaign optimization and reporting. Advertisers would also need measurement frameworks that distinguish improvements in engagement or brand outcomes from differences in audience composition, creative execution and media placement.
The report identifies implementation barriers among U.S. marketers, including understanding audiences properly (16.6%), accessing data (10.0%) and securing sufficient resources (7.6%). These obstacles suggest that changing targeting strategy involves organizational and operational challenges, not simply deploying new technology.
GumGum’s announcement does not specify which AI models, signal sources or measurement methods underpin the report’s broader claims about mindset advertising. It also does not provide comparative performance data across programmatic platforms.
Market Landscape: Relevance Beyond Identity
Advertisers continue to balance audience precision with the need to reach consumers in relevant environments. Identity-based targeting can support audience selection, while contextual methods help connect campaigns to content and surrounding circumstances. Mindset advertising attempts to extend that logic by emphasizing the relevance of a particular moment.
GumGum’s findings indicate that marketers see potential benefits across several brand and campaign outcomes. Globally, respondents identified brand favorability (60.7%), brand recall (42.2%), click-through and engagement (41.3%), and purchase intent (34.1%) as areas positively influenced by mindset advertising.
These figures represent marketers’ reported assessments rather than independently measured lifts. They should not be interpreted as proof that mindset advertising delivers those outcomes at the stated rates.
For advertisers, the practical question is whether mindset-based approaches can deliver incremental value compared with existing contextual and identity-led strategies under controlled testing.
Strategic Outlook
The report frames mindset advertising as an approach whose perceived benefits have advanced faster than adoption. For AdTech providers, this creates an opportunity to connect contextual intelligence, AI-assisted decision-making and campaign measurement with established programmatic workflows.
The next stage of adoption will depend on transparent methodologies, scalable integrations and evidence that the approach improves outcomes across different campaign objectives. Advertisers will also need to determine when mindset-based signals complement existing targeting and when they justify changing media allocation.
GumGum’s survey provides evidence of marketer interest, but the reported gap between belief and intended behavior remains the central finding. Wider adoption will depend on whether the industry can convert that interest into measurable, repeatable campaign results.
Top Insights
- Strong stated interest: 83.6% of global respondents believe mindset advertising outperforms contextual advertising alone.
- Adoption gap: 59.8% of U.S. marketers would still default to identity-based advertising for their next campaign.
- AI opportunity: Signal analysis could help advertisers identify relevant moments for campaign delivery.
- Execution barriers: Audience understanding, data access and resources remain reported obstacles.
- Evidence matters: The findings reflect survey responses, not independently verified performance improvements.
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