Abstract

One type of virtual community that has emerged prominently within the commercially-driven marketing research industry is the online panel. Online panels are opt-in, informed consent, privacy-protected subject pools recruited for Web-based research. Unlike virtual communities forged from interpersonal motivations, online panels represent a community of participants who have agreed to provide information at regular intervals over a period of time. This study presents and tests a theoretical framework governed by the functional theory of attitude that serves to explain motivations for online panel participation. Analysis of data from a survey administered to an online panel (N=1,822) indicates that a person's attitude toward joining an online panel will vary by his or her source of motivation, and that an online panel is capable of evoking a sense of community despite the lack of social interaction among members.

Introduction

With over 69% of the U.S. population online (Nielsen, 2004), the Internet has become an important mainstream medium adept at facilitating interpersonal as well as organizational forms of communication. The result is an information society increasingly mediated and dependent on technology capable of establishing, maintaining, and promoting a multitude of virtual communities. While the majority of investigations exploring online communities have focused on interpersonal computer-mediated environments (e.g., Rheingold, 1991, 1993), virtual communities are not limited only to social entities and may constitute aggregate groups of people who hardly know one another (Etzioni & Etzioni, 1999). At the same time, the dramatic rise in the online population has attracted corporate organizations toward establishing commercially-driven virtual communities (Allen, Kania, & Yaeckel, 1998). One such virtual community that has emerged prominently within the marketing research industry is the concept of the online panel.

Online panels represent a virtual community of participants who have agreed to provide information at regular intervals over a period of time. Unlike virtual communities forged by interpersonal motivations, online panels are established primarily by organizations seeking opinions and knowledge on any number of topics. As we enter the 21st century, there is no doubt that technology has changed how we conduct research, with online panels serving as the byproduct of this evolution. James (2000) predicts that over 50 percent of all marketing research will be conducted using online panels in the very near future. Despite the significance of this type of virtual community, very little is known as to why millions of people participate in online panels, calling for actionable research. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate individuals' underlying motivations for joining an online panel. First, we conceptualize online panels as a form of organizational-sponsored virtual community. Second, we present a theoretical framework governed by functional theory of attitude that serves to explain motivations for online panel participation. Finally, we test our proposition that individual attitudes vary depending on the function served, and we assess whether there is a connection between being a member of an online panel and a sense of community belonging.

Literature Review

Conceptualizing Virtual Communities

At its most fundamental level, the Internet can be defined as a series of networks serving to interconnect digital environments globally (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2002). Of the more than 800 million people now online worldwide (Internet World Stats, 2004), in excess of 80% of Internet users have participated in some form of a virtual community (Horrigan, 2001). Despite the widespread adoption of this computer-mediated experience, there remains a great deal of difficulty in precisely defining and categorizing the phenomenon of virtual community (De Souza & Preece, 2004; Porter, 2004; Stanoevska-Slabeva, 2002). While the term "virtual" today tends to refer primarily to the Internet, defining community within an online environment has proven to be more of a challenge.

A virtual community has been described as any group of people who communicate shared interests electronically (Dennis, Pootheri, & Natarajan, 1998), as people who interact online in a sustained and repetitive manner who are not bound by physical geography (Ridings & Gefen, 2004), and as an intentional social action derived from distinct common interests (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2002), among other conceptualizations. Membership is not defined by individual participation, as community participants may make very few specific contributions themselves, even as they absorb the information or experience garnered from the community (Ridings & Gefen, 2004). While group interaction appears to be an important facet of virtual communities, members may characterize their participation as a superficial association with no expectation or need for communication with other members (Dholakia, Bagozzi, & Pearo, 2004). Thus, people join virtual communities for a variety of reasons and can operate with minimal, and sometimes, no interaction.

Some of the difficulty in defining virtual communities has been attributed to the multidisciplinary interest in the construct (De Souza & Preece, 2004). While the majority of early work exploring virtual communities has focused on understanding personal membership stemming from social and/or professional motivations (Kozinets, 2002; Lee, Vogel, & Moez, 2003; Ridings & Gefen, 2004), researchers have begun to broaden this conceptualization to include virtual communities originated by organizations. Porter (2004) presents a dual-typology of virtual communities formulated as either member-initiated or organization-sponsored. The typology recognizes traditional individually-created social and professional communities, while extending this conceptualization to include organizationally derived communities, which are the focus of this study. Further, Porter (2004) asserts that organization-sponsored virtual communities may be derived by commercial, nonprofit, and governmental entities for the purpose of satisfying the sponsoring organization's mission and goals. Organization-sponsored virtual communities are task-oriented and created for the informational value they provide their sponsor (Kozinets, 2002), with a tendency to be less social than member-initiated virtual communities (Porter, 2004). The realization of the Internet as a means for the collection, dissemination, and commercial use of information makes it easier now for any firm to gather data than ever before (Cavoukian & Tapscott, 1996). Thus, organizations are turning online not just to establish identities, but to expand their ability to acquire information through data collection (Masci, 1999), with organization-sponsored virtual communities increasing as a result (Balasubramanian & Mahajan, 2001). One such organizationally-derived virtual community type that has emerged prominently within the marketing research industry is the online panel.

Online Panels are Virtual Communities

An online panel is a consortium of registered persons who have agreed to take part in online research on a regular basis (Göritz, Reinhodl, & Batinic, 2002). For the most part, online panels serve as opt-in, privacy-protected subject pools comprised of members who have provided informed consent to participate in research over a period of time. A virtual community has been defined in the most general sense as a group of people with a shared purpose administered by guidelines and policies within a computer system (Preece, 2000). According to this conceptualization, it becomes apparent that an organization-sponsored online panel initiated for research purposes and governed by established policies constitutes a virtual community. Unlike member-initiated virtual communities forged by interpersonal motivations, online panels are established primarily by organizations seeking opinions and knowledge on any number of topics.

The same features that are generally found in virtual communities derived for social purposes can also be found in online panels. Just as people communicate common interests in social communities online, they do so similarly in online research panels. Panelists tend to participate in studies that they find interesting. Although participants do not exchange their responses, they, along with others who are equally engaged with the topic, do communicate their responses to the research organization via the Internet. Another feature of virtual communities that online panels share is sustained and repetitive interaction. Because online panel participants elect to join a panel based on personal motivations, their participation may span numerous studies over a lengthy period of time. Online panels, like virtual communities, are not physically bound by location: the Internet allows such groups to transcend physical barriers. In addition, virtual communities and online panels are not necessarily defined by the participation of any one member. Rather, it is the cumulative effect of all the members' participation that contributes to the community experience. In the case of online panels, membership can be defined by a sense of belonging, and participants may be gratified to know that they have personally contributed to generating new knowledge. Meaningful association is not necessary for membership in either social communities or online panels.

Corporate, non-profit, and governmental organizations are just beginning to recognize the potential of online panels for conducting research efficiently and facilitating two-way communication with their publics. Online panels have the ability both to reduce the cost associated with locating appropriate respondents and to ensure their immediate availability. Further, they can provide an easy means of identification of key sample segments, increased response rates, augmented response quality, shorter field times, and ethical advantages in research (Göritz, 2004). Moreover, the ability to examine large samples quickly and inexpensively while cross-referencing data enables researchers to reduce the need for redundant questions when compiling trend data.

Organizations typically populate online panels by first driving people to their panel website. This is done via a combination of tactics, such as banner ads, viral marketing, email invitations, key words, sponsored links, word-of-mouth, etc., all designed to elicit immediate registration by the visitor (Göritz et al., 2002). The registration questionnaire is used to create a password-protected login and establish the visitor's initial demographic profile. The data are then stored in a database and used for subsequent study notifications. To attract members and maintain participation rates, various types of extrinsic (e.g., cash payments, merchandise, drawings/raffles, etc.) and intrinsic (e.g., assuring members that their opinions make a difference, benefiting society, sharing of findings, etc.) strategies are used as incentive (Göritz et al., 2002). Essentially, three basic motivations determine a participant's willingness to take part in any type of research. First, participants may feel a moral obligation to take part in the research for the betterment of society. Second, situational and/or contextual factors, such as a participant's interest in the topic or affiliation, can serve as a strong influence. Third, personal characteristics, such as the desire for self-knowledge and growth, may lead to compliance with research requests. Bosnjak and Batinic (2002) successfully confirmed these motivations and further verified that material incentives can also serve as catalysts for research participation when the aforementioned motivations are absent. While material incentives may provide the necessary inducement for some participants, research also indicates that online panelists often partake in research for reasons other than receiving cash or material incentives (Göritz, 2004). What is clear is that individuals participate in research for varying motivational reasons, suggesting that their attitudes toward online panel membership are also diverse.

Functional Sources of Attitude

A person's attitude represents a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular object, and can serve various motivations (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Katz's (1960) seminal work on functional theory is considered by many to be essential for understanding the complex motivational underpinnings and functions of attitudes. Functional theory states that attitudes may serve various motivations depending on the purpose, and that one's behavior is a function of one's attitude toward that behavior (O'Keefe, 2002, p. 29). At the center of this theory lies the view that in order to impact behavior one must understand the motivational source of the attitude. For instance, a person's willingness to join an online panel will be determined by his or her attitude toward participation and possibly the organizational sponsor. However, because people's motivations can vary greatly, members may decide to participate in the same organization-sponsored virtual community for different reasons.

Overall, functional theory has been widely accepted as a robust framework for recognizing the diverse motivational patterns of attitudes (Abelson & Prentice, 1989; Herek, 1987; Locander & Spivey, 1978). In particular, Katz's (1960) typology posits that any given attitude held by any given individual will serve one or more of four distinct personality functions: a utilitarian function, a knowledge function, an ego-defensive function, and a value-expressive function. The utilitarian function acknowledges that people are motivated to gain rewards and avoid punishment from their environment. Specifically, this function represents attitudes based on self-interest. In terms of online panel participation, members served by this motivational function would join primarily for the cash or material incentives.

In contrast, the knowledge function recognizes that people are driven by the need to gain information in order to organize and understand their environment. We are motivated by the need to understand and make sense out of our experiences. Online panel members served by this function participate because it helps them understand society, the particular research, and ultimately themselves. Subsequently, the value-expressive function is served by attitudes that allow individuals to express their self-concepts or values. This function is perceived as enhancing one's image in the eyes of the world. Thus, online panel members motivated by this function would feel inherently gratified by self-esteem for being a member. Membership helps them feel good about who they are. Finally, the ego-defensive function represents motivations that are designed to protect people from internal insecurities or external threats. It serves the internal function of defending one's self-image. Online panel members motivated by this function would participate in order to minimize their own self-doubts, to feel a sense of belonging, and possibly to reduce guilty feelings for not contributing.

While these four functions remain the core constructs for understanding attitudinal motivations, contemporary researchers have continued to clarify and explore additional contributions. For instance, Smith (1973) proposed an extension of the value-expressive function and focused on the motivation for social adjustment in expressing attitudes or behaviors that are agreeable to others. The function has since evolved to include motivations concerning relationships with others. In particular, this social function compels people to seek opportunities to be with friends or to participate in activities perceived favorably by important others (Clary et al., 1998). Within member-initiated virtual communities, the social function would be a strong motivator; however, among online panels there is practically no direct social interaction. Therefore, members motivated by this function would be more likely to participate because of how important reference groups would perceive their membership.

Hypotheses

This study attempts to expand our understanding of organization-sponsored virtual communities by investigating people's motivations and subsequent attitudes toward participating in online panels within the functional theory framework. Based on the previous discussion, we propose the following hypotheses:

Method

An online survey was conducted of an online panel established and operated by a public university in the southwestern United States. The panel is an opt-in privacy protected subject pool recruited for Web-based research. For joining the panel and subsequently participating in research, panelists are eligible for both monthly ($250) and study specific ($150-$200) cash prize drawings.

Sample and Procedure

A total of 5,381 panelists were notified by email that they had been identified for this study. The notification message explained the estimated time to complete the survey, offered a monetary incentive in the form of a drawing, and provided respondents with a URL to participate. By following the URL, participants were directed to a secure server and required to sign in using their ID and password specified when joining the panel. A second email was sent four days after the initial invitation to serve as a reminder and again encourage participation. Correcting for 252 invalid notifications resulted in a total of 1,822 completed questionnaires and a response rate of 35.5% (1,822 out of 5,129), which is within the normal range of returns for online panel surveys (Göritz et al., 2002).

Design

A 70-item questionnaire was developed and pre-tested on a small sample of academic professionals to insure clarity. Measures included five functional sources of attitude (utilitarian, knowledge, value expressive, ego defensive, and social adjustment), attitudes toward online panel participation, a sense of community belonging, and five demographic variables (additional data were collected that were not analyzed for this study).

The measures for functional sources of attitude were derived from established scales found in the literature and restated to match the context of this study. The items are seven-point Likert type scales anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7). To assess the utilitarian function, respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with four items focused on identifying whether they would participate in the online panel if there were no cash prize drawings, without financial compensation (i.e., cash drawing or payment), whether they believe financial compensation should be offered, and if the online panel helps them get what they want (Bosnjak & Batinic, 2002; Gastil, 1992). The knowledge and ego-defensive functions were measured by scales adopted from Clary et al. (1998). The three knowledge items used measured respondents' agreement with whether they learn more about things by participating in this online panel, whether the online panel allows them to learn things, and whether their membership enables them to gain a new perspective on things. The four-item ego-defensive measures assessed agreement with the notion that participating in this online panel makes them feel important, increases their self-esteem, makes them feel needed, and makes them feel better about themselves. Subsequently, the value-expressive function was measured by ascertaining respondent's level of agreement with statements such as "Participating in this online panel represents my most cherished values," and "I feel morally obligated to participate, and my participation is based on my moral beliefs" (Gastil, 1992). Finally, the social function of attitude was measured by assessing three items focused on assessing agreement with whether participating in this online panel is a good way to meet people, allows them to interact with people, and is a great way to make new friends (Clary, Snyder, Ridge, & Miene, 1994). In order to minimize response bias, all subsequent items were randomly ordered.

Respondents' attitudes toward online panel participation were measured using an established six-item seven-point semantic differential scale (unpleasant/pleasant, negative/positive, harmful/beneficial, punishing/interesting, bad/good, foolish/wise) with higher values representing a more positive attitude (Bruner, James, & Hensel, 2001). Last, respondents' sense of community was measured by a single-item seven-point Likert type scale anchored by strongly disagree (1) and strongly agree (7). Specifically, participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the notion that being a member of this online panel makes them feel like they are a part of a community (Leary & Schreindorfer, 2001).

Results

Data Analysis

Of the responding sample, 61% were men and 39% female, with the largest portion (54.7%) between the ages of 25 to 44 (M = 40.26). Further, the majority of respondents classified themselves as Caucasian (78.2%), have a four-year college degree (39.8%), and have a household income greater than $50,000 (71.8%). For a complete profile of the sample characteristics, see the Appendix.

All functional source measures were tested for internal consistency and a specified factor structure based on theory-driven indicators using principal components factor analysis. The analysis was performed in order to verify that the items used were indeed measuring different functions. Varimax rotation confirmed five separate extracted factors (Table 1). Reliability assessment was conducted using Cronbach's Alpha with each scale (Social α = .93; Ego-Defensive α = .89; Knowledge α = .91; Utilitarian α = .81; Value-Expressive α = .83; Attitude α = .90) exceeding the generally accepted guideline of .70 (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998).

While factor analysis is capable of verifying the measurement of each source of attitude, it does not reveal how an individual's attitude is served by the function. Therefore, hierarchical cluster analysis of each respondent's factor score for the various functions was analyzed. This technique is designed to standardize measurement while maintaining the contribution of each function for identifying meaningful clusters (Locander & Spivey, 1978). Even though a person's attitude may be served by more than one function (Katz, 1960), high scores within a cluster are assumed to indicate the central source of influence. Based on the cubic clustering criteria, the results suggest five clusters for each of the functional sources of attitude (Table 2).

Surprisingly, the number of respondents identified within each cluster is closely proportionate. However, while the clusters are useful for classification purposes, it is obvious that multiple functional sources are being served within each cluster. For instance, knowledge and utilitarian functions are also contributing positive influences in the ego-defensive cluster. Thus, these findings support the theoretical assertion that one's attitude stems from a multitude of origins.

Hypotheses Tested

Hypothesis 1 posits that a person's attitude toward joining an online panel will vary by his or her source of motivation. Multiple regression was employed to confirm the hypothesis with composite measures used in the analysis to reduce measurement error. Overall, the regression equation was found to be significant (F(5,1820) = 127.48, p<.01; R²=.26). Furthermore, each of the functional sources significantly predicted a respondent's attitude (M = 5.60 SD = .96) toward joining the online panel individually (Table 2). The knowledge, value-expressive, and ego-defensive functions were positive predictors, suggesting that as these motivations increase, so too will a panelist's attitude. In contrast, a negative relationship was detected between attitude and both the utilitarian and social functions. Specifically, those panelists with stronger motivations based on utilitarian and/or social sources would subsequently have a weaker attitude toward joining the panel. Despite the directional commonalities, it is apparent that each functional source contributes in varying degrees toward the variance explained, suggesting attitude is affected differently, which leads us to accept the hypothesis.

In an effort to broaden our understanding of the relationship between the functional sources and online panel membership, a post hoc analysis of respondents' attitudes toward joining the panel was conducted across the previously identified functional clusters. The results overall revealed fairly positive perceptions (Table 3). This is not unexpected, because respondents are already members and would have more than likely dropped out by now if they were unhappy or had a negative attitude toward this organization-sponsored virtual community. However, because an individual's attitude may be served by more than one function, it is possible to dichotomize each functional source into a high versus low attitude effect in order to gain more insight into the impact of the source contribution (Locander & Spivey, 1979). Therefore, respondent's attitude toward joining the online panel was analyzed in a 2 (High vs. Low Functional Source) x 5 (Social, Ego-defensive, Knowledge, Utilitarian, and Vale-expressive Functional Clusters) between-subjects factorial design, in order to identify precisely the role each functional source serves within each functional cluster.

Significant source by cluster interactions were detected for attitudes toward joining the online panel for the social, F(4,1814) = 4.86, p < .01, knowledge F(4,1814) = 7.68, p < .01, and value-expressive F(4,1814) = 4.65, p < .01 functions. As Figure 1 illustrates, parallel lines with high source levels above the low source levels indicate a consistent pattern across functional clusters. However, when source levels vary this could reveal a stronger or weaker functional source contribution toward the attitude in that cluster, depending on the direction. For instance, the high level of knowledge function is contributing less than the low level for the ego-defensive cluster. Furthermore, the negative relationship between the social and utilitarian functions of attitude can be easily interpreted because the low source levels exceed the high levels, with the exception in the knowledge cluster of the social function source. That is, as low levels of social and utilitarian functions contribute, then attitude increases, and vice versa. Significant source by cluster interactions were not detected for ego-defensive F(4,1814) = .16, p > .05 or utilitarian F(4,1814) = 1.13, p > .05 functions.

Hypothesis 2 sought to verify whether a person's attitude toward joining the online panel is positively related to their perceived sense of community belonging since becoming a panel member and participating in research. Bivariate regression was used in the analysis and revealed that a panelist's attitude toward joining the online panel (M = 5.60, SD = .96) is significantly associated with a self-reported sense of community (M = 4.28, SD = 1.63) (Β = .35, t(1820) = 15.98, p < .001, R² = .12). Given the somewhat neutral mean value for sense of community, attitude toward the online panel was transformed into a high attitude versus low attitude dichotomy in order to examine in more detail the main effect. The results of the regression were qualified as respondents having high levels of attitude toward joining the online panel reported a significantly greater sense of community (M = 4.87, SD = 1.63) than those with low attitude levels (M = 3.79, SD = 1.45), t(1820) = 14.97, p < .01. These results support the hypothesis and lend support to the notion that an online panel is capable of evoking a sense of community despite a lack of social interaction among members.

Social Function	Ego-defensive Function
Knowledge Function	Utilitarian Function
Value-expressive Function

Conclusion

With organization-sponsored virtual communities becoming more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important to understand why consumers are willing to join such communities. Although trust, privacy, and security-related issues remain the major barriers to any form of online data collection (Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999), other factors such as personal motivations may also impact compliance with panel invitations. Therefore, understanding people's attitudes toward online panels, and especially the functional sources of their attitudes, should result in a better model for predicting behavior (i.e., membership). This is important to both scholars and industry professionals interested in virtual communities.

The findings of this research were successful in connecting functional theory and subsequent sources of motivation to attitudes toward joining online panels. Specifically, knowledge and value-expressive functional sources serve as strong contributors to attitudes formulated about online panels from this sample. The knowledge function recognizes that people are driven by the need to gain information in order to organize and understand their environment. In this study, panelists who have the highest levels of motivation to understand and make sense of their experiences seem to have developed a more favorable attitude toward joining the online panel. Likewise, the value-expressive source speaks to those members looking to bolster their own self-worth.

Organizations interested in establishing this form of virtual community should work to identify the key functional sources of attitude for existing and potential panelists in order to ensure success. For example, strategic initiatives could be designed to provide thorough and detailed descriptions of research in order to cater to the functional knowledge sources of panelists. Further, providing these community members access to brief results may help them understand themselves better within society while serving to enhance their perceived self-worth. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that each of the functional sources is capable of making motivational contributions to the formulation of a person's attitude. This is precisely why a thorough understanding of the psychological makeup of any online panel is critical, so that recruitment and retention messages can be refined for maximum impact.

In addition, the confirmed positive relationship between one's attitude toward joining an online panel and the perception of a sense of community is critical as we move into the future of online research. This relationship suggests that by increasing an individual's attitude, a sense of belonging is established in the absence of any synchronous real-time social interaction. If online panel members believe they are part of a larger community, the frequency and duration of research time invested will almost certainly increase.

Organization-sponsored virtual communities such as online panels hold a great deal of promise for the future of research, communication, marketing, psychology, and sociology disciplines, among others. As the digital information society we live in today continues to evolve, identifying the key motivational sources that lead to the functional change or reinforcement of attitude is essential for leading a successful online panel. The key is to remember that the greatest assets of any online panel are the members who comprise the community. Researchers who never lose sight of this fact will continue to drive the value of online panels (Wansink & Sudman, 2001, 2002).

Limitations

Inherent within any study are limitations that affect the overall validity and reliability of the results. In this research, the sample was obtained from a panel of people who have agreed to participate in research studies on an ongoing basis. As a result, their response rates are likely to be high. While this obviously meets our needs for surveying an online panel, the fact remains that the data reported on in this study are not representative of all online panels. The online panel is an initiative at a large university and therefore is likely to include more educated individuals from higher income households than most online panels. Given the university affiliation, potential differences in the incentive method and amount, education, and income levels of members in this particular panel, there is reason for caution when interpreting these findings.

The objective of this research, however, was not to generalize findings to the entire online panel universe, but rather to explore the relationships among the proposed theoretical constructs. Even though the study has been successful in testing functional theory as it applies to understanding the motivations for joining an online panel, a great deal of research is still needed before a complete grasp of this type of virtual community is obtained. The findings discussed represent an important first step in this direction.

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Appendix: Respondent Profile

About the Authors

Terry Daugherty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising at The University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on investigating virtual experiences and strategic media management, with work appearing in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Interactive Marketing, among others.
Address: Department of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1200, Austin, TX 78712 USA

Wei-Na Lee is an Associate Professor of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include cross-cultural consumer behavior, multicultural marketing communication, and consumer acculturation in a technology-mediated environment. Her previous work has appeared in Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, and Journal of International Consumer Marketing, among others.
Address: College of Communication, CMA 7.142, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1200, Austin, TX 78712 USA

Harsha Gangadharbatl is a doctoral student in the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include consumer behavior, presence, virtual reality, and the economic effects of advertising. His research has appeared in the Journal of Interactive Advertising and Advances in Electronic Marketing, among others.
Address: Department of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1200, Austin, TX 78712 USA

Kihan Kim is a doctoral student in the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on survey and experimental designs related to information technology, persuasive communication, non-traditional advertising tactics, and interactive advertising.
Address: Department of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1200, Austin, TX 78712 USA

Sounthaly "Tune" Outhavong is a doctoral student in the Department of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary research interests explore branding via The Center for Brand Research at the University of Texas.
Address: Department of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1200, Austin, TX 78712 USA