True, but to have any effect it would need to be really overwhelming, unquestionable, and most importantly, make the headlines and create enough buzz so even CEOs most set in their ways start wondering. Don't forget there is a whole (very rich and influential) business branch living (quite well) off this, not to mention individual marketing departments which won't relinquish power and budgets without a fight.
A research team publishing such a paper will immediately feel the burning gaze of Google, Facebook and other billion-dollar companies on them. Their research paper will have to be strong enough to survive the millions of dollars spent to make it disappear, and the authors will need to be solid enough to be able to withstand all attempts to buy or discredit them.
IMHO only the targeted masses can really fight this war: The advertising industry has little leverage on them (can't sue or buy them, can only try to seduce/influence them), but most important, they are the vital cog which makes the whole engine work. Without people interacting with advertisement, advertisement has no reason to be. If companies expect ad campaigns to have no, or even negative results, they obviously won't pay for them anymore. And the millions of the ad giants won't be able to do more than pay for vast seduction campaigns which might or might not work. Definitely more challenging than making disappear a small research paper which few people would had read anyway.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
