Moody College Students Take Home Awards at the American Academy of Advertising Conference

Two Ph.D. students, Y. Greg Song and Jiemin Looi, who are currently studying at UT Moody College, have been selected as winners of the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Best Student Conference Paper Award. Y. Greg Song also won a Graduate Student Conference Scholarship at the conference. 

The AAA is an essential part of the advertising industry. It funds research and provides scholarly contributions to better advertising education and professions. It "fosters research relevant to the field and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among its academic and professional members."  

Y. Greg Song and Jiemin Looi were nominated for the Best Student Conference Paper Award for their research paper titled “Call Me by Your Brand Image”: Assessing How the Satan Shoes Scandal Affected Nike’s Brand Image. In the article, they use the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) to consider how unofficial brand collaborations can affect brand image, particularly in the case of Nike's Satan Shoes. The summary for the paper can be read below. 

"Prior research has extensively examined how firms leverage social media to restore brand image during severe crises, yet limited research has evaluated the impact of social media in addressing trivial forms of crises, such as the spread of rumors or misinformation. Drawing upon the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), this study addresses the research gap by examining the impact of unofficial brand collaborations on brand image and the efficacy of approaches in restoring reputation. This study is premised upon Nike's Satan Shoes scandal, whereby musician Lil Nas X and the art collective MSCHF released "Satan Shoes," bespoke Nike sneakers, without permission from Nike. This study investigates whether Nike's crisis response successfully rehabilitated its brand image after the controversy and the role Twitter had in this regard. Sentiment analysis of 160,188 tweets related to Nike's Satan Shoes scandal revealed that the Satan shoe controversy harmed Nike's brand image. Congruent with the SCCT, this study argues positioning the company as a victim is an effective response strategy to rumors. Furthermore, this study suggests firms may effectively communicate through news sources and allow news to be distributed via Twitter as secondary messages in the crisis of rumor spreading." 

We are proud to have these students represent the Moody College and Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations at such a prestigious conference. We can’t wait to see where the future takes these bright members of our Moody family!