Key digital advertising measurement challenges in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Digital advertising in Kazakhstan is expanding rapidly, yet the growing volume of platform-generated data does not necessarily provide a complete account of advertising effectiveness. Because these indicators inform campaign optimisation and advertising decisions, uncertainty about the constructs they can validly represent creates a practical need for a structured assessment of the broader measurement environment. This study aims to identify, prioritise, and map the macro-environmental conditions shaping the adequacy and interpretation of conventional digital advertising metrics in Kazakhstan. Its scientific significance lies in integrating documentary analysis with multi-criteria modelling to distinguish the local importance of measurement-related conditions from their structural influence. Its practical relevance concerns the selection and interpretation of metrics for advertising decision-making.

A sequential documentary and mathematical modelling design combined an adapted PESTEL framework with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), a DEMATEL-informed adjustment of AHP priorities, and sensitivity analysis. Four dimensions were identified: Political-Legal, Economic, Social, and Technological. AHP ranked Technological conditions first (0.3854), followed by Social (0.3399), Economic (0.1813), and Political-Legal conditions (0.0934). DEMATEL identified Technological and Political-Legal conditions as net drivers, whereas Economic and Social conditions occupied net effect positions. The network adjustment preserved the ranking while producing a more balanced priority distribution. The principal ranking and driver-effect structure also remained stable under the tested alternative judgments.

The findings indicate that Kazakhstan’s measurement challenge is not simply insufficient data, but a potential mismatch between sophisticated systems of digital delivery and the narrower constructs captured by routine platform indicators. The study contributes a transparent preliminary framework for aligning advertising objectives, target constructs, metrics, and interpretive boundaries. In practice, the framework can support advertisers, agencies, and analysts in determining when platform metrics are sufficient and when complementary evidence is required.

Keywords: digital advertising, advertising measurement, advertising effectiveness, AHP-DEMATEL, Kazakhstan.