VALUE COMMERCE

ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Jin Kagawa), which operates affiliate marketing businesses, conducted its 2026 Survey on Promotional Strategies in the AI Era. The subjects of the survey were companies’ chief marketing managers (men and women in their 20s to 50s). This survey revealed promotional strategies used by chief marketing managers at their companies to address the popularization of generative AI, promotional measures that they value in the AI era, challenges they face in the implementation of their measures, and other information.

Objective of the survey
The digital marketing environment has undergone major changes, including the rapid popularization of generative AI and third-party cookie regulations. In response, users’ search behaviors are evolving. Amid these changes, companies’ chief marketing managers are pressed to make difficult decisions regarding how they rebuild their promotional strategies so that they are effective. However, while it has been inferred that many people on the front lines of the industry are wondering what specific measures they should take or which direction they should move in, the quantitative data showing the challenges they are facing and the things they are considering is insufficient. In response, ValueCommerce conducted the 2026 Survey on Promotional Strategies in the AI Era targeting companies’ chief marketing managers.

Summary of the survey
– More than 75% of the respondents said that the popularization of generative AI is impacting their companies’ promotional strategies.
– In contrast, 20% said they “Have clearly defined a strategy” in their consideration of promotional strategies for the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread.
– Further, 20% said that their current promotional measures are “Fully effective” for addressing changes in search behaviors due to the popularization of generative AI.
– The top three promotional measures that respondents considered important in the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread are “Enhancing the content of the company’s website” (1st), “Listing ads” (2nd), and “Search engine optimization (SEO)” and “Display ads” (3rd), which were selected by the same percentage of respondents. Accordingly, many believe that communicating information by the companies themselves is important.
– However, these measures do not vary greatly in terms of the percentage of respondents who selected them. All are between 25% and slightly more than 30%, so the respondents did not have a common perspective on the things that they should focus on.
– “Driving word of mouth of general users on social media” was selected by the largest number of respondents as the promotional measure that their companies are strengthening at present to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era.
– Approx. 94% of companies are facing some challenges in implementing promotional measures to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era. The major challenges they face include a “Lack of internal expertise and human resources” and the “Difficulty of measuring cost-effectiveness.”

Outline of the survey
Period: April 6 to April 7, 2026
Method: Internet survey
Subjects: Companies’ chief marketing managers (men and women in their 20s to 50s)
Number of subjects: 315
Survey panel provider: RC Research Data
* Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, so they may not total 100.0%.

More than 75% of companies’ chief marketing managers said that the popularization of generative AI is impacting their companies’ promotional strategies.

First, the most frequent answer to the question, “How large is the popularization of generative AI’s impact on your company’s promotional strategies?” was “Some impact,” which was selected by 41.0% of respondents as the most common answer. This was followed by “A big impact,” which 35.2% of respondents chose, and then by “Not much impact,” which was selected by 14.9%. The total of the most and the second most frequent answers is 76.2%, revealing that more than 75% of companies’ chief marketing managers said that the popularization of generative AI is impacting their companies’ promotional strategies to varying degrees.

Twenty percent of companies’ chief marketing managers said that they “Have clearly defined a strategy” in their consideration of promotional strategies for the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread.

Next, the most frequent answer to the question about the “situation regarding your consideration of promotional strategies for the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread” was “Have organized rough policies and understand them,” which was chosen by 37.8% of the respondents as the most common answer. The second most popular answer was “Feel the need for them but have yet to organize them,” which was chosen by 21.6% of respondents, and 20.0% of respondents chose the third most frequent answer, “Have clearly defined a strategy.”
While responses indicated that a number of companies “Have organized rough policies and understand them,” only 20.0% of respondents said they “Have clearly defined a strategy,” revealing that many companies are searching for promotional strategies for the era of generative AI.

Twenty percent of companies’ chief marketing managers said their current promotional measures for addressing changes in search behaviors due to the popularization of generative AI are “Fully effective.”

Next, the most frequent answer to the question, “How effective are your current promotional measures for addressing changes in search behaviors due to the popularization of generative AI?” was “Effective to some degree,” which was selected by 41.6% of respondents as the most common answer. This was followed by “Not very effective,” which was chosen by 27.9% of respondents, and then by “Fully effective,” chosen by 20.3%, with “Not effective at all” at the bottom, chosen by 10.2%.
While the largest number of respondents said they were “Effective to some extent,” companies that find their strategies “Fully effective” account for no more than 20.3%. The survey has thus revealed that companies which can fully address changes in search behaviors reflecting the popularization of generative AI are still limited. The companies thus differ in how far they are addressing the issue, suggesting the possibility that achievements will differ among companies in the future.

The top three promotional measures that the respondents consider important in the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread are “Enhancing the content of the company’s website” (1st), “Listing ads” (2nd), and “Search engine optimization (SEO)” and “Display ads” (3rd) that were selected by the same percentage of respondents.

To the question, “What promotional measures do you consider important in the current era in which the use of generative AI is widespread?” the most frequent answer was “Enhancing the content of the company’s website,” which was selected by 31.4% of the respondents as the most common answer. This is followed by “Listing ads (search advertising),” chosen by 28.3% of them, and then by “Search engine optimization (SEO)” and “Display ads,” both of which were selected by 27.9% of the respondents.
Measures that are considered important do not differ greatly in the percentage of respondents who selected them, with multiple measures ranked lower than the above having been selected by more than 25%. It was thus found that there are no dominant methods. This means that the respondents do not have a common view on what they consider important. Also, in the AI era, both information from a company’s own website and information from websites referred to by third parties are deemed important as information used by AI for reference. “Enhancing the content of the company’s website” is ranked at the top among answers to the survey question, which means that information delivered by companies themselves is deemed important to a certain degree. On the other hand, there are no clear priorities among information from third parties, suggesting the possibility that the companies position such information differently.

“Driving word of mouth of general users on social media” was selected by the largest number of respondents as the promotional measure that their companies are strengthening at present to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era.

Next, the most frequent answer to the question, “What promotional measures is your company strengthening at present to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era?” was “Driving word of mouth of general users on social media,” which was selected by 27.3% of respondents as the most common answer. This was followed by 27.0% of respondents choosing “Enhancing the content of the company’s website.” The third most frequent answer was “Search engine optimization (SEO),” which was chosen by 26.4% of companies.
Word of mouth and trending topics on social media not only help increase the visibility of a product or a service, but they are also likely to increase the information used in searches or referenced by generative AI tools, because they contribute to expanding the content on companies’ websites and are shared on the internet as review articles, blog posts, or similar content. This suggests that it is possible that “Driving word of mouth of general users on social media” is being strengthened as a measure that is easy to implement.

Major challenges faced in the implementation of promotional measures to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era are a “Lack of internal expertise and human resources” and the “Difficulty of measuring cost-effectiveness.”The last question in the survey was “What challenges do you face in the implementation of promotional measures to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era?” The most frequent answer to this question was a “Lack of internal expertise and human resources,” which was chosen by 39.4% of respondents as the most common answer. The second most frequent answer was the “Difficulty of measuring cost-effectiveness,” which was chosen by 33.3%. The third-place choice was the “Difficulty of selecting external partners,” which was a challenge faced by 32.1% of companies. The survey results reveal that a “Lack of internal expertise and human resources” and the “Difficulty of measuring cost-effectiveness” are major challenges that respondents are facing in their implementation of promotional measures to address the popularization of generative AI in the current era.
In addition, only 6.4% of companies selected “No challenges in particular,” meaning that 93.6% of them are facing some challenges.

Summary
This survey has revealed that the popularization of generative AI is impacting promotional strategies. At the same time, it confirmed that few companies said they “Have clearly defined a strategy” or that their measures are “Fully effective,” and many are seeking promotional strategies for the AI era. In addition, the companies vary in terms of the measures they consider important, indicating that they do not have a common view on what should be prioritized. Above all, while “Enhancing the content of the company’s website” is believed to be important, a perspective on the importance of third-party information, which is referenced by generative AI tools like information from the company’s website, has yet to be established. It is therefore believed that ideas regarding how to deliver information are still being organized.
Further, it is believed that a certain number of companies are advancing social media-based initiatives, but they have yet to set a clear direction for how they link these initiatives to the enhancement of information on their websites or from third parties for the optimization of their promotional activities as a whole. In addition, many companies identified a “Lack of expertise and human resources” and a “Difficulty of measuring cost-effectiveness” as challenges they face, suggesting that they are implementing measures without fully designing them.

In light of these circumstances, ValueCommerce believes it is necessary to reevaluate the roles and positions of promotional measures in the AI era. In particular, the company believes that an important key that will determine the success or failure of future promotional measures lies in figuring out the functions of the information on the company’s website and the information delivered by third parties, which are both referenced by generative AI, and then combining and organizing the two types of information.

The service called ValueCommerce Affiliate provided by ValueCommerce makes it possible to efficiently expand the information delivered by third parties that AI references when generating answers to users questions, such as reviews and comparative posts on the internet, into affiliated marketing. It enables companies to accelerate the delivery of information by third parties, which is difficult for them to do on their own, while controlling cost risk. Accordingly, ValueCommerce Affiliate makes it possible to operate with an awareness of cost-effectiveness, another feature of the service. It enables users to attract customers and increase revenue by enhancing the information referenced in searches and by generative AI.
Further, in the initial phase after beginning to use the service, a dedicated team from ValueCommerce provides comprehensive support on-site in the process from planning to the implementation of measures to provide an environment where even a company that lacks expertise can implement promotional measures with peace of mind.
ValueCommerce helps companies achieve sustainable growth as their partner working together with them to solve marketing issues in the AI era.
More information about the service is available at: https://www.valuecommerce.ne.jp/ecsite/

ValueCommerce Affiliate
ValueCommerce Affiliate is an affiliated marketing service provided by ValueCommerce that enables users to use a network of high-quality media that has passed a rigorous screening process. There are more than 8,700 advertisers using the service and more than 1.07 million registered websites. Dedicated staff provide on-site support in the construction of operating infrastructure. ValueCommerce Affiliate: https://www.valuecommerce.ne.jp/ecsite/

About ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.
ValueCommerce supports customer attraction and sales promotion activities based on technology and data and digital transformation (DX) in the commerce and travel industries. The company provides a variety of marketing solutions to support the growth of the businesses of advertisers and partner companies. Furthermore, through booking engines for lodging and travel businesses, ValueCommerce contributes to the advancement of the DX of the travel industry by enhancing reservation management and direct sales activities.
With advanced technology and a wealth of data, ValueCommerce is working to realize a sustainable future in which businesses, consumers, and society co-create value.
https://www.valuecommerce.co.jp/en/

 

Contact for inquiries about this event
Sales Support, ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.
E-mail: Sales_Promotion@valuecommerce.co.jp

Contact for media inquiries about this event
Public Relations, ValueCommerce Co., Ltd.
Inquiry form: https://www.valuecommerce.co.jp/contact/press/