Dr. Quan Xie has conducted new research on “Prosocial Campaigns With Virtual Influencers: Stories, Messages, and Beyond” alongside Eunjin Kim, Joo-Wha Hong, and Hye Min Kim.
How can virtual influencers be used to promote prosocial messages? In the digital age, virtual influencers (VIs) hold great potential to enhance prosocial campaigns. This research aims to identify effective strategies for using VIs to create a greater impact, build deeper connections with consumers, and drive meaningful social change. Specifically, it examines how VIs can promote socially responsible behaviors, such as raising awareness about cyberbullying. The study explores whether storytelling (narrative messaging) can make VIs more effective in delivering prosocial messages.
The study concentrates on the ways in which social media platforms have revolutionized the curation and diffusion of material. Influencers are leading the way in these changes, with Virtual Influencers (VIs) occupying a unique space in digital interaction. The use of virtual influencers (VIs) to encourage socially conscious behavior is examined in this research. By contrasting human-like (HVIs) and anime-like (AVIs) influencers, as well as narrative vs. non-narrative messaging approaches, it looks at how VIs can successfully transmit prosocial messages.
The research tested two types of VIs: one that looks human-like (human-like virtual influencers, HVIs) and another with an anime-style appearance (anime-like virtual influencers, AVIs), across two messaging styles—narrative (storytelling) and non-narrative (informational). Focusing on Gen Z and younger Millennials, the results showed that HVIs were more effective than AVIs in increasing support for the social cause and enhancing message credibility, especially when the message was non-narrative. However, when using a narrative style, this advantage of HVIs disappeared, with no significant difference in effectiveness between HVIs and AVIs in terms of message credibility and intent to support the cause. This study offers valuable insights for marketers and non- profit organizations on the effective use of VIs in disseminating prosocial messages.
In addition, the study highlights how look and narrative influence viewers understanding and reaction to prosocial messages from VIs, providing useful information for companies and marketers.
This research was presented in the annual 2024 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in August.
In the ever-evolving landscape of advertising and digital marketing, Dr. Quan Xie, an accomplished assistant professor at the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, has earned herself a spotlight moment. Last year, she not only added another accolade to her impressive resume but left an indelible mark on the industry by clinching the prestigious AAA Research Fellowship Award at the 2023 American Academy of Advertising Annual Conference in Denver.
Dr. Xie is now a two-time recipient of the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Research Fellowship Award (2023 and 2017) and also received the fellowship from the ANA Educational Foundation Visiting Professor Program in 2018, partnering with Publicis Media in New York City. Her commitment to education extends to serving on the Educational Board of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Dallas.
This coveted national award is a testament to Dr. Xie’s exceptional contributions and unwavering dedication to the field. Her winning proposal, “Product Endorsement of Wellness Influencers Who Fuel the Anti-Vaccine Movement,” reflects her commitment to exploring uncharted territories within influencer marketing. Dr. Xie’s research delves into the impact of misinformation labels on influencer meanings and endorsement effectiveness, addressing a critical gap in the current marketing literature and navigating the complexities of the post-pandemic era. Dr. Xie’s research confronts the challenges of the anti-vaccine movement, a timely and pressing concern. She poses intriguing questions such as, “How does anti-vaccine advocacy impact endorsement effectiveness, and what distinctions emerge between supporters and opposers of the movement?” Dr. Xie aims to unveil the intricate dynamics of misinformation labels, pre-existing schemas, and social proof in influencer marketing through meticulously designed experiments.
Beyond the walls of academia, Dr. Xie’s work holds promise for reshaping influencer marketing strategies. Her research aims to empower practitioners with valuable tools for proactive influencer evaluation and selection. She said, “Results will extend influencer marketing literature and provide insights for practitioners.”Dr. Xie’s accomplishments in the realm of influencer marketing research are undeniable. Her dedication to understanding the broader social-cultural context of influencer meanings sets a precedent for aspiring researchers. Grounded in her established expertise, Dr. Xie’s unique perspective adds depth and nuance to her exploration of the effects and implications of digital technology in advertising. Her work exemplifies the Temerlin Advertising Institute’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge in advertising and digital marketing.
Stay tuned for updates on Dr. Xie’s research journey and further accolades from the Temerlin Advertising Institute. Driven by enthusiasm and professionalism, Dr. Quan Xie continues to pave the way, leaving an enduring legacy in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Learn more about the AAA Research Fellowship Award and more below and here: https://www.aaasite.org/research
Research Proposal Abstract
Although extant literature provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of influencer marketing, one research gap remains: there is a lack of understanding of how the broad social-cultural context shapes consumers’ interpretations of an influencer’s meanings, which, subsequently, affects the influencer’s endorsement effectiveness. To address the gap, we will focus on the misleading anti-vaccine advocacy sent by wellness influencers and explore how the misinformation label (attached to an anti-vaccine post) affects perceived influencer meanings and endorsement effectiveness. Through three experiments, we will unveil the interaction effect among the use of a misinformation label, people’s pre-existing schema of vaccination, and two types of social proof (expert counterargument, number of “likes”) on influencer credibility, influencer transparency, influencer-follower relationship, product attitudes, and purchase intentions. Results will extend extant influencer marketing literature and provide insights for practitioners to adopt a proactive influencer evaluation and selection strategy.
Intro to the Research Question
In the post-pandemic era, vaccination is critical in the fight against COVID-19. According to federal health officials, Americans may need yearly shots to protect against the virus. Nevertheless, the anti-vaccine movement is still accelerating, given the widespread vaccine hesitancy. Many wellness influencers (influencers who cover topics of health, fitness, nutrition, and spirituality) have been fueling this movement, via posting fiery but false content questioning the safety of vaccinating, which was often labeled as “misinformation” by social media platforms. As such, for wellness influencers, how will their misleading anti-vaccine advocacy (with the misinformation label) affect their endorsement effectiveness? And how will such impacts differ between the supporters and opposers of the anti-vaccination movement? The proposed study aims to answer these questions.
Leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl, Executive-in-Residence Amber Benson spoke with CBS 11 regarding her expectations for this year’s ads. In the interview, Benson noted that Super Bowl staples such as Budweiser, Coke and Pepsi chose to sit out the game, which provided space for newer and smaller brands to play. Benson accurately anticipated more humor in this year’s ads, explaining that advertisers know people needed a comedic break this year. What we didn’t expect to see was the humorous Oatly CEO singing off-key in a field, alone.
Professor Mark Allen agrees with Benson’s insights, citing GM’s “No Way Norway” with Will Ferrell as a big winner of the night. “This one had all the ingredients of a classic Super Bowl commercial: big-budget, big celebrities, big laughs. But this spot was much smarter than it may seem on the surface. Instead of interrupting the big game with a drive-by guilting about carbon emissions, fossil fuels and global warming, GM kept us laughing with an appeal to American patriotism and our competitive spirit. But this time it was all in the service of selling electric vehicles (without taking a cheap shot at gas-guzzling muscle cars). And Will Ferrell was perfect for this one—hilarious,” Allen explains.
Temerlin’s Ad Club organized a socially distant ad viewing party on February 10 and invited LERMA/ agency’s Brian Linder and Bill Cochran to share their creative insights with students. Temerlin senior Sarah Scambray helped organize the event. She says, “I’m so glad we were able to host an in-person event because it allowed everyone to see one another’s reactions as we watched the ads and discuss them openly afterward. It was a great break from the impersonal nature of meeting on Zoom. We also invited a couple of industry professionals to give their take, and it was really cool to hear their in-depth perspective on which ads were truly successful or not.”
Ad Club’s mission is to create a student community of those with an interest in and passion for advertising. The club offers agency and advertising-inspired events, career-building workshops and professional panels that give students the opportunity to learn about the advertising industry, develop the necessary skills to earn internships and jobs, and network with fellow students, alumni and industry professionals. To learn more about Ad Club or join, please contact Ad Club President Meredith Welborn at mjwelborn@smu.edu.
Stone Boutique is a Dallas-based fine and rare stone showroom that brings cutting-edge slab technology to the interior design consumer. Owners Francisco and Margarita Acosta are dedicated to disrupting the industry by leveraging their patented technology to pioneer a new start-to-finish purchasing experience. They explain:
“For us, discovering a once-in-a-lifetime slab is a magical experience. Over the course of our first 30 years in the industry, we watched in awe as pieces forged by the history of the world’s most intriguing places were unearthed, only to be delivered to the customer through a lifeless, inefficient, and frustrating processes. It wasn’t good enough for the customer or for us.”
The Acosta’s aspire to increase sales, expand offerings globally, and roll out a proprietary process to revolutionize the consumer journey. They have partnered this fall with Professor Peter Noble’s campaigns course seeking a complete integrated marketing and messaging strategy to achieve this goal. “We partnered with Stone Boutique for two reasons. First, they provide our senior advertising students with an unusual challenge — their business spans both business-to-business and business-to-consumer product categories. And second, with their proprietary technology Stone Boutique has the potential to rapidly grow from a relatively recent start-up into a leading global brand. They’re poised to disrupt the entire stone industry. At this stage in their brand development, Stone Boutique was interested in raising and enhancing awareness of their revolutionary stone selection process,” Noble explains. Temerlin students are eagerly working on the campaign; two teams will present a plans book and virtual presentation to the client early next month.
Our students greatly benefit from working with real-world class clients such as Stone Boutique.
Temerlin Advertising Institute’s Senior Lecturer Mark Allen shares his journey from high school art class to advertising professor on the We Are Next podcast. Allen found his love for advertising early on, established RedCape consultancy working with clients such as Martha Stewart, and currently feeds his passion for teaching wildly talented students at SMU.
In fact, one of Allen’s former wildly talented students, Elizabeth Entenman (B.A. Advertising 2010), introduced him to We Are Next founder Natalie Kim for the sit-down and sharing of advice learned over his varied career in the field of advertising. We Are Next is a resource for students and junior talent entering the advertising and marketing industry. This platform offers mentorships, a robust jobs board, and a variety of career advice-related content.
An interest in art, followed by a design course in high school, led Allen to major in drawing & painting and communication design and minor in advertising while in college. Post-graduation, Allen recounts leaving his creative work with recruiters at many notable agencies. He once found a note from an agency principal inside his book. Allen says, “I was so excited to see the note, but it read Nice book. Can’t tell if you’re an art director or copywriter.”
He fondly retells this story to students as a critical moment in the progression of a career in advertising to help prepare them for the ups and downs that come along with building a reputation in the field. In the podcast, Allen recommends making creative portfolios stand out to potential employers by:
Showing your best work.
Making sure big ideas are supported by great craft.
Showing a sense of restraint, whether it is in art direction, writing or the selection of products and clients. It shows a sense of maturity.
Developing a good sense of taste over time by looking at lots of great work in Communication Arts annuals and The One Show, as well as Cannes and Clio award winners, to start. It is one of the most valuable things a student can do.
Showcasing quality work over quantity. Recruiters usually skim portfolios, so make sure to highlight your strengths and capabilities. Also, include class or spec work that you are excited about, as it gives employers a sense for the types of clients that would be a good fit for your skills.
Identifying and articulating problems, not only in a brief, but in brainstorming and day-to-day interactions. It helps to refine your craft and identifies you as somebody who can help other people, setting you up for director-level positions.
In advising students, Allen adds, “Look at ads and ask yourself questions such as, what is the problem? How did they solve it? When you see good work, identify what is compelling and deconstruct it a little bit. What makes it great? How and why did they make that?”
Listen to the full episode of the We Are Next Podcast.
Careers in the advertising industry heavily rely on networking opportunities; jobs are often found through referrals, former colleagues, and various industry events and organizations. The Meadows School of the Arts recently conducted research that revealed current students want to engage with fellow alumni but don’t always know how to make the first step. With traditional agency tours, internships, and industry events on pause, the need for student networking opportunities is critical. Recently, SMU launched a new platform, The SMU Network, to bridge the gap between current students and alumni.
Nikki Koenig graduated from Meadows in 2005 with her B.A. in Advertising. She founded Cykochik, a handbag, apparel and lifestyle company, from her dorm room during her undergraduate degree at SMU. Koenig used the tools acquired through her advertising courses to build a successful brand and quit her corporate job to focus full-time on Cykochik in 2013.
While Koenig was an SMU student, she also interned at Group Baronet, now MasonBaronet, an agency owned by Willie Baronet. Baronet, now the Stan Richards Professor in Creative Advertising at the Temerlin Advertising Institute, joined SMU in 2014. Over the past sixteen years, they have remained close; now she regularly speaks to his Intro to Creativity students, and guest critiques many of his creative courses and senior portfolios.
“Koenig has inspired many of my students with her edgy and illustrative designs and her passion for brand building with environmentally sustainable materials,” Baronet explains.
Koenig now serves on the Meadows 2050 Council to engage and connect Meadows alumni with students and serves as a mentor for The SMU Network.
As of late, luxury brands have shifted their focus to engage consumers with more meaningful and compelling digital content. According to Dr. Quan Xie, Assistant Professor of Advertising in the Temerlin Advertising Institute, only a small percentage of consumers can afford high-end luxury products, but it is not surprising to see those who aspire to this lifestyle also engross themselves in luxury branded content.
In recent research published in the Journal of Interactive Advertising, Dr. Xie studies luxury fashion brands’ content marketing practices on YouTube, and demonstrates that consumers’ perceived experiential value, social value, and unique value of the luxury branded content are positively related to their perceived brand exclusivity and customer intimacy, which in turn, will boost consumers’ loyalty toward the brand. In addition, consumers’ perceived functional value of the luxury brand’s YouTube channel is positively related to their perceived brand prestige and exclusivity. However, viewers’ perceived informative value was found not relate to brand prestige, exclusivity, or customer intimacy, suggesting that the informative value of luxury content may not play a role in brand building of high-end luxury fashion brands.
While a luxury brand like Bentley boasts around 7.8 million Instagram followers, Hermès has more than 10 million followers, and Dior maintains a following of 32.7 million. Having a large group of followers may generally be seen positively, but for luxury brands seeking to build long-term loyalty, marketers must boost consumers’ perceived brand exclusivity and concentrate on building an intimate customer-brand relationship.
Dr. Xie points to Chanel as the cornerstone for luxury brand-consumer engagement through an ambitious and meticulously planned content strategy. At the beginning of this year, they had around 52 million followers on Twitter and Instagram, and 1.65 million fans on YouTube, which makes Chanel the leading luxury brand across all platforms. For example, they post regularly and consistently while adopting a video-first strategy. This well-crafted content has successfully transformed general viewers into faithful audiences. That said, any time the focus is on luxury brand interactions, the experience must leave consumers with the perception of brand scarcity.
Brand scarcity refers to the rareness of the product or service (e.g., scarce materials, limited accessibility, and distribution) that enhance consumers’ desire or preferences. Since luxury experiences provide more customized services and cost more than conventional experiential purchases, luxury experiences are entitled to greater exclusivity. Luxury brands also aim to evoke exclusivity at all customer contact points.
In the end, Dr. Xie’s research suggests luxury brands should aim to create content that offers experiential value, such as backstage stories, intriguing legacy narratives, and content that is unique to luxury branding – like aesthetic close-up of craftsmanship, as well as content that promises social value to followers. These content values will contribute to followers’ perceived scarcity and intimacy of luxury brands, which, in turn, can build up to greater brand loyalty. Additionally, reliable social media channels can also contribute to increased brand exclusivity. Luxury brands should strategically humanize their owned social media channels to transform them into credible information sources among followers.
Dr. Carrie La Ferle, Marriott Endowed Professor of Ethics & Culture, participated in the Global CMO Growth Council meeting last week in NYC examining Brand Experience, Creativity, & Media. The meeting focused on putting people first to drive growth through innovation, insights, creativity, experiential, and media.
Over the past two years, the ANA, Cannes Lions, and the Global CMO Growth Council have identified four priorities for driving industry growth: 1) Data, Technology, and Measurement; 2) Talent and Marketing Organization; 3) Brand Experience, Creativity, and Media; and 4) Society and Sustainability.
Anheuser-Busch graciously hosted the event last week and several CMOs cutting across multiple companies joined from Ernst & Young and Moet Hennessy to Subway, Stoli Group and Viacom as well as from Cannes Lions. Marcel Marcondes, U.S. CMO Anheuser-Busch provided a great overview of how Anheuser-Busch is working to drive growth by learning and listening more to consumers while also diversifying their offerings. Spencer Gordon, VP, Digital for Anheuser-Busch shared some of the recent wins that were driven by starting small and local to ensure relevance, using social media, then listening to reactions, and broadening the scope when reactions were good.
Future meetings are planned over the next few months across the four priorities leading up to Cannes Lions, where the Global CMO Growth Council originated in 2018.
Evictions are a serious national issue and extreme weather events displace thousands, houselessness is one of our society’s biggest challenges. Professor Willie Baronet is excited to participate in the new exhibition Houseless where Alaska’s Anchorage Museum invites visitors to considers ways design can contribute to solutions.
Design thinking helps break down complex problems and integrate new information and opinions while acknowledging there is no one right answer. The Houseless project provides a space for awareness, education, and creative problem-solving around housing security supporting individuals and communities in problem-solving together.
Willie Baronet began WE ARE ALL HOMELESS in 1993 due to the awkwardness he felt when he pulled up to an intersection and encountered a person holding a sign, asking for help. Like many, Baronet wrestled with whether or not he was doing good by giving them money. “Mostly I struggled with my moral obligations, and how my own choices contributed in conscious or unconscious ways to the poverty I was witnessing. I struggled with the unfairness of the lives people are born into, the physical, mental and psychological handicaps. In my struggle, I avoided eye contact with those on the street, unwilling to really see them, and in doing so avoided seeing parts of myself. That began to change once I began asking them if they would sell their signs.” Baronet’s relationship to the homeless has been powerfully and permanently altered. The conversations and connections have left an indelible mark on his heart. He explains “I still wrestle with personal questions regarding generosity, goodness, compassion, and guilt. And what it means to be homeless: practically, spiritually, emotionally? Is home a physical place, a building, a structure, a house? Or is it a state of being, a sense of safety, of being provided for, of identity? I see these signs as signposts of my own journey, inward and outward, of reconciling my own life with my judgments about those experiencing homelessness.”
Houseless is an installation of hundreds of the signs Baronet has purchased over the past two decades. “This is the largest WE ARE ALL HOMELESS exhibit to date, and I’m honored to be a part of Houseless at the Anchorage Museum. I love how this project is integrated into the classes I teach at SMU, where many of my students have volunteered to help AND have been inspired to start their own purpose-driven projects, which contributes to our desire to teach principled advertising. I’m also very excited to be working with students from SMU’s Human Rights program led by Rick Halperin. Some of his students have volunteered to work on the WE ARE ALL HOMELESS non-profit impact campaign in order to meet their class requirements. I always love finding ways to collaborate across disciplines at SMU” explains Baronet.
SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute is home to three undergraduate advertising tracks specializing in their respective disciplines: Creative, Digital Media Strategy and Strategic Brand Management. Mimicking an advertising agency setting, NSAC unites the three tracks to collaborate on a multi-media marketing plan while providing national exposure for students to land internships and full-time opportunities. Hillery Lemon ’19 recounts her time on last year’s winning team as “A really valuable experience. Especially as a creative student, because I got to work with the other advertising specializations and see what it really takes to put a campaign together. It’s so satisfying seeing your work do well!”
The National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) is the premier collegiate competition founded by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Led by Professor Amber Benson, each team is asked to devise a completely integrated campaign and pitches their work to savvy advertising professionals which are judged at the district, semi-final, and national levels. Prior NSAC clients include Ocean Spray, Snapple, Nissan, Coca-Cola, State Farm (and more). This year it’s Adobe. Yes, that Adobe.
Collaboration, presentation, and strategic planning are invaluable skills for students preparing to enter the ad industry. The SMU Ad Team exists to nurture these skills and give students a chance to present their work to a real client and a panel of industry experts. And we’ve been pretty successful. Last year, SMU won 1st place at the NSAC District 10 Competition and was a national finalist with an insightful advertising campaign for Wienerschnitzel.
The SMU 2020 Ad Team: Professor Amber Benson, Kathryn Chavez, Sarah Jane Eckelkamp, Jackson Ferris, Avery Fuller-Monk, Sebastian Gutierrez, Caillie Horner, Sarah Katsikas, Meryn Kennedy, Lauren Kobayashi, Erin McCraw, Abhinav Nadella, Ankita Padarthy, Riley Preston, Susan Slaton, Lizzie Venditti, and Whitney Wilkerson.
How do I join?
Temerlin’s highest-performing students need to apply to compete on the NSAC stage. Applications open each fall, keep an eye on your email. Pony Up Team Adobe!
