Graduate Student Awarded AMA Diversity Scholarship

Nakeisha Ferguson, a third year PHD student, was recently awarded the Valuing Diversity Scholarship by the American Marketing Association Foundation for her research she calls Hip-hopertising. The scholarship program was established in 2003 to increase the presence of underrespresented populations in the marketing profession.

"Hip-hopertising resides at the intersection of hip hop culture and advertising" Nakeisha explains. It seems Nakeisha's research is quite timely considering the increasing presence of hip-hop in mainstream media. However, the dynamic ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic status of the urban consumer makes studying this segment somewhat elusive. "What I like most about my research is that captures not only my interest in advertising but ethnic issues as well," Nakeisha said. In one of her studies, she plans to explore how ethnicity and cultural identity affect the perception of racial cues in Hip-hopertising.

Nakeisha touts that her interest in hip-hop culture surged after she began volunteering as a youth director at her church. "I remember hearing the kids rattle off brands from songs they heard and thinking is this the new brand placement." After she could not find any literature that could capture the effects of brand mentions in popular press, Nakeisha made it her goal to understand how they are processed and their effect on memory.

By exploring a culture that National Geographic describes as a major youth culture, she hopes that her research will be insightful for not only the promotion of brands but for social messages as well. Overall, Nakeisha hopes that her research will make a big contribution to and impact on our field for years to come.

9/13/2007