Texas Student, Alum and Faculty Member Awarded AAA Fellowship

The American Academy of Advertising recently awarded $2,700 to the team of Jennifer Ball, Hyojin Kim and Patricia Stout for their proposed project on "The Effects of Corporate Credibility, Endorser Credibility, and Brand Credibility on Consumer Responses to DTC Advertising."

The project will be a two-part study that will assess the effects of pharmaceutical advertising on consumers. The first part of the project will involve extensive surveying of how consumers' attitudes and decision-making processes are linked between the industry as a whole, various pharmaceutical companies and different prescription medications. The second part of the study will be composed of two experiments, which will examine the role of corporate credibility and ad endorser credibility on responses to DTC advertisements. DTC, which stands for "Direct to Consumer", is a controversial advertising practice to many because the product is something that is prescribed, and should typically not be asked for by consumers.

The University of Texas is the common thread connecting this powerful research team. Dr. Patricia Stout is the John P. McGovern Regents Professor in Health and Medical Science Communication and Professor in the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas. Stout's areas of interest are in the effectiveness of health-promotion messages as well as the use of social marketing. Dr. Hyojin Kim, currently an assistant professor at the University of Florida, received her Doctorate from the University of Texas. The third member, Jennifer Ball, is a second year Ph.D. student also at the University. Ball received her undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and Psychology from Northwestern University, and came to Texas to obtain her Master's. Ball wrote her Master's thesis on DTC, where she began conducting research with Dr. Stout, and learned she had a shared interest with Dr. Kim.

As the group began collaborating Dr. Kim learned of the opportunity for the fellowship and let the others know she was hopeful of submitting a proposal.

In March, the fellowship will be awarded to the team at the annual AAA conference in San Mateo, California. Once the project is complete the Academy's publication, The Journal of Advertising, will have first rights of refusal. Additionally, the group has great hopes for applying for additional external funding in order to extend their studies even further.

2/19/2008