Values-Based Advertising
Your Most Important Holiday Strategy
This holiday season, brands face a simple question: do you want to win a transaction, or do you want to win a customer? The answer determines your strategy. A discount wins the former. Values-based advertising wins the latter. Our latest research with GWI found that 86% of consumers say brand values now influence their purchase decisions. The brands that show up authentically for what shoppers care about will outperform those that compete on price alone.
The holiday shopper brands can’t afford to miss: the financially stretched parent
Parents are this season’s most valuable and most emotionally motivated shoppers. They are under genuine financial pressure yet remain deeply committed to delivering a great holiday for their kids. That gap between budget reality and parental aspiration does not shrink in tough economic times. It grows. The parent cutting back everywhere else is also the parent most responsive to a brand that feels like it understands them. Brands that acknowledge both the budget and the promise earn the kind of favorability and trust that outlasts the season.
Authenticity is what converts values into favorability and loyalty
Values-based advertising only works if the values are real. Consumers judge brand authenticity not through campaigns, but through behavior: the top signal, per our study, is how a brand treats its employees (39%), followed by customer policies (32%) and the causes it supports (30%)¹. The holiday ad is the invitation. The brand’s actual conduct is the proof.
Four ways to execute values-based advertising this holiday season
- Connect on what consumers actually care about. Our research showed that mental health (37%), food insecurity (36%), and family wellbeing are the values consumers most want brands to champion¹. Lead with creative that speaks to the emotional reality of giving your kids the best holiday possible under real financial pressure. Relevance is what converts values into favorability.
- Make accessibility visible. Flexible payment, transparent pricing, and honest communication are not just operational choices. They are values signals. Parents stretching budgets this season are acutely aware of brands that make spending feel easier and more honest. A brand that visibly accommodates that reality earns trust that outlasts the season.
- Show up for multicultural consumers. Multicultural consumers are 43% more likely to go out of their way to buy from values-aligned brands¹. Representation in holiday creative is not a gesture. It is a direct lever on purchase intent and loyalty among one of the fastest-growing consumer segments.
- Be consistent before, during, and after the season. Consumers judge brand values by year-round behavior, not holiday campaigns. The brand that shows up the same way in January as it does in December is the one building genuine loyalty rather than seasonal traffic. Easy returns, responsive support, and follow-through are all part of the values story.
What to remember this holiday season
The brands that show up authentically for what shoppers care about will win not just the purchase, but the favorability, trust, and loyalty that turn a one-time holiday transaction into a lasting relationship. That is what values-based advertising delivers. And this season, there is no better time to invest in it.
Source: GWI x Givsly, “Values in Action: How Brand Values Drive Consumer Behavior,” Wave 2, March 2026
