PodSubs / Podcasting News / Effie and System1 study: audio lifts advertiser profit 75% and brand trust 81% News briefEffie and System1 study: audio lifts advertiser profit 75% and brand trust 81%A study led by marketing professor Mark Ritson for Effie and System1, reported by RAIN News in October 2026, finds audio advertising delivers a 75% profit uplift, an 81% lift in brand trust and 81% greater price insensitivity, with an average 22% uplift across 14 categories. By Source: RAIN News (Effie / System1 research) · Published October 25, 2026 at 11:43 AM UTC RAIN News reported in October 2026 on "The Secret to Profit and Trust: Audio," a study led by marketing professor Mark Ritson with effectiveness body Effie and creative-testing firm System1.The headline numbers are unusually strong for audio: a 75% uplift in profit, rising to roughly double that when emotional storytelling is used; an 81% lift in brand trust; 81% greater price insensitivity among exposed audiences; and a 19% lift in customer acquisition. Across the 14 categories measured, the average uplift was 22%. The study's own chart indexes the effects at 175 for profit, 181 for trust, 181 for price insensitivity and 119 for acquisition against a 100 baseline.WHY IT MATTERS: Podcasters selling sponsorships have long argued audio's intimacy converts better than display or social; this study hands them effectiveness-body numbers to take into a pitch. Profit and price-insensitivity figures matter to finance-minded buyers in a way download counts never will, and the emotional-storytelling multiplier is an argument for host-read creative over programmatic spots.SourcesRAIN News (Effie / System1 research) Report a correction · Have podcast news? Submit it free for review
