Category: AAA

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AAA Awards and Projects Conference

Shaping the Future of Advertising: TAI’s Success at the 2025 AAA Conference

The 2025 American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Meeting brought together educators, students, and professionals from around the world, all dedicated to advancing advertising knowledge and education. Held at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA from March 6 to 9, this year’s conference was an incredible opportunity for members of the advertising community to share research, gain new insights, and celebrate achievements within the field.

“I am consistently honored to work at TAI, a thriving department with incredible colleagues who are passionate about teaching, research, and the future growth of the industry.” – Dr. Carrie La Ferle

The Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) had a standout presence this year, with several prestigious awards and paper presentations that showcased the impactful work of our faculty and student. Here’s a recap of the honors and papers presented at the conference:

Awards:

  1. Best “Journal of Interactive Advertising” Reviewer Award
    Dr. Quan Xie was recognized for his exceptional contributions to the Journal of Interactive Advertising as a reviewer. Her dedication to providing insightful feedback and advancing the field through peer review is truly commendable.
  2. Best “Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising” Article Award
    Dr. Carrie La Ferle and Dr. Steve Edwards alongside Dr. Pam Richardson-Greenfield and Dr. Yashar Dehdashti were awarded for their article, “Addressing the Damage of Deception: Determining Effective Crisis Response Strategies Following Allegations of Deceptive Advertising.” This important work delves into how brands can manage crises related to deceptive advertising and the strategies that can rebuild consumer trust.
  3. Best DEI Advertising Conference Paper Award
    Dr. Quan Xie, Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan, Dr. Joe Phua, and Shivani Kosuri, TAI student, received the DEI Advertising Conference Paper Award for their paper, “How Women Respond to Computer-Generated Inclusive Advertising: Advocating for Body Positivity in the Age of AI.” This paper explores the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, and AI-generated advertising, with a focus on body positivity and its impact on women’s perceptions.
  4. Best “Journal of Interactive Advertising” Article Award
    Dr. Quan Xie, Dr. Yang Feng, and Dr. Huan Chenwere awarded for their article, “AI Influencers in Advertising: The Role of AI Influencer-related Attributes in Shaping Consumer Attitudes, Consumer Trust and Perceived Influencer-Product Fit.” This cutting-edge research examines the role of AI influencers in modern advertising and how their attributes influence consumer behavior and trust.

Papers Presented:

In addition to these impressive awards, TAI researchers shared their latest findings through two notable presentations:

  1. “Is this Real or Fake? Examining the Effects of Disclosure of AI-Generated Content and Source Type in Instagram-based Travel Destination Marketing on Consumer Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions”
    Dr. Joe Phua and his co-author, Dr. Delia Balaban from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, presented this paper. They investigated how the disclosure of AI-generated content and the source type (e.g., influencer vs. brand) affects consumer attitudes and behavioral intentions in the context of Instagram-based travel marketing.
  2. “How Women Respond to Computer-Generated Inclusive Advertising: Advocating for Body Positivity in the Age of AI”
    Dr. Quan Xie, Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan, Dr. Joe Phua, and Shivani Kosuri presented this important work on how women engage with AI-generated, inclusive advertising that advocates for body positivity.

Dr. Alice Kendrick was part of a Special Topics panel discussion titled “The Exhausted Educator 101” at the 2025 AAA annual conference.  The 2025 AAA Annual Meeting was a remarkable success, highlighting the incredible work being done in the field of advertising and celebrating the strides TAI faculty and students have made in advancing knowledge and research. Congratulations to all award winners and presenters—your work is shaping the future of advertising in powerful ways.

“I am so proud of our faculty who won major awards at this year’s American Academy of Advertising (AAA) annual conference! We won Best Article awards from 2 of the 3 AAA academic journals: Journal of Interactive Advertising (JIA) and Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising (JCIRA)! Kudos to Quan Xie, Carrie La Ferle, Steve Edwards, and their respective co-authors for this amazing achievement. Also, Quan Xie, Sid Muralidharan and DMS student Shivani Kosuri were part of a paper presentation which won the Top DEI Advertising Conference Paper Award. Quan also won the Best Reviewer award from the Journal of Interactive Advertising. These accolades plus the research productivity of our faculty testify to the strength and excellence of the Temerlin Advertising Institute in advertising academic research and helps SMU continue to be one of the premier research universities for Advertising in the United States and abroad. Congratulations to our amazing team!” – Dr. Joe Phua

We look forward to next year’s conference and to continuing to contribute to the academic community’s understanding of the ever-evolving world of advertising.

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AAA Better Advertising. Better World. Faculty Social Responsibility

Dr. Carrie La Ferle Recognized for Career Promoting Advertising Ethics and Social Responsibility

Dr. Carrie La Ferle of the Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University was awarded the prestigious Kim Rotzoll Award for Advertising Ethics and Social Responsibility. The award has only been given nine times since 2004 with La Ferle following the likes Ivan L Preston (2005), Herbert Jack Rotfeld (2006), Richard W. Pollay (2007), Wally Snyder (2009), Les Carlson (2010), Meme Drumwright (2013), Jerome Williams (2018) and Kim Sheehan (2019). Carrie said she was honored and absolutely beaming with gratitude to be included among these esteemed colleagues.

Kim Rotzoll spearheaded the teaching and research of ethics in advertising, from media ethics to the study of advertising as a social and economic institution in society. He was Dean of the College of Communications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for over ten years and prior to that, head of the department of advertising, one of the best ranked research advertising programs in the country. Kim died in 2003 at the age sixty-eight and the award was created to recognize individuals demonstrating an outstanding commitment to advertising ethics and social responsibility.

Dr. La Ferle was praised for….over twenty years of teaching ethics in advertising to undergraduate and graduate students, contributing to the design and now thriving MA in Advertising program at TAI with social responsibility at its core, her outstanding contribution to research, and her continued active service to the profession nationally and internationally, promoting teaching and research in ethics and social responsibility in advertising.

The American Academy of Advertising is the top advertising organization for advertising scholars interested in advertising research and education. It oversees many advertising journals, including the premier journal in the field, the Journal of Advertising.

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AAA Conference Faculty Presentations Faculty Research

Faculty Highlights: 2021 Conference of the American Academy of Advertising

During the annual American Academy of Advertising conference held virtually from March 18-20, 2021, Dr. Quan Xie of SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute captivated a global audience with her research titled, “Advocating Corporate Social Responsibility in these Uncertain Times of Covid-19? The Moderating Effect of Threat Persuasion in CSR Advertising.” Dr. Xie also is an active member of the AAA Membership Committee, helping to interact and grow the existing membership, currently located across 20+ countries.

Contributing to this growth, Dr. Sid Muralidharan and Dr. Carrie La Ferle joined in meetings with their Global & Multicultural Committee members to foster research and teaching across a broad range of local, national, and international cultural issues. 

Distinguished Chair, Professor of Advertising and Director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Dr. Steven M. Edwards was also front and center at the American Academy of Advertising Conference, being thanked for his past service as Treasurer on AAA’s Executive Committee, continued support of doctoral research awards.

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AAA Better Advertising. Better World. Conference Faculty Faculty Presentations Faculty Research International Advertising Research

TAI Professor Dr. Hye Jin Yoon Visits Tokyo for AAA Global Conference

This July, TAI Professor Dr. Hye Jin Yoon travelled to Tokyo, Japan for the 2017 American Academy of Advertising Global Conference. With her co-author Dr. Hongmin Ahn, she presented a paper titled, “When Two Worlds Collide – The Dark Triad Personality and the Humor in Comedic Violence Ads.”

“AAA partnered with Waseda University and held sessions on its vibrant campus,” Yoon said. “The conference started with a keynote speech from Yoshito Maruoka, President and COO of Dentsu Digital Inc. and ended with a tour of Tokyo with a visit to Mt. Fuji. Many advertising and marketing scholars from the United States, Europe, and other Asian countries attended the conference.”

Dr. Yoon has been published in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Health Communication, Health Communication, Journal of Advertising Research, and Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, among others. She teaches Advertising Media, International Advertising, and Quantitative and Qualitative Research at SMU.

Below are pictures from Dr. Yoon’s time in Tokyo.