Advising Undergraduate Research

Here are some past projects my students presented at the Student Scholar Symposium:

Spring 2024: "Celiac Disease in Native American Communities" by Jolea Hutt (Advisor: Dr. Cristina Nistor ) (Spring 2024 pdf abstract)

This study investigates the prevalence of celiac disease among populations. It examines the interplay between celiac disease and other autoimmune diseases, the role of wheat consumption, and the significance of HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQB1 gene variants. This investigation

highlights the need for targeted screening, especially among individuals with other autoimmune diseases. My work underlines the need for better data collection and a need to focus on Native American individuals who are underrepresented in health surveys and patient trials.

Fall 2023 "Lady Meta and Online Avatar Fashion" by Alexa Morgan (Advisor: Prof. Nistor) (Fall 2023 pdf Abstract)

In this project I am working with Professor Gokcen Balli and Professor Nistor to understand the consumer motivation for use of online avatar fashion. With the advent of NFTs and online avatars, consumers have adopted various forms of online fashion. On the business side, brands are creating online fashion both for the mass market and as unique expression of high-end luxury. For example, Nike has offered shoes in Roblox and the Metaverse fashion week showcased many high brands who are creating unique online fashion. Consumers adopt online avatar fashion and also interact with each other on sites like Discord and Reddit where they find a community to share ideas and comments. Our project aims to complete the gap for online avatar fashion consumption: I have researched the popular news sources, and analyzed a large dataset of consumer comments for a fuller picture of consumer motivations.

Fall 2023 "Deinfluencers" by Misha Harneja and Emma Han (Advisors: Prof Balli, Prof Chu, Prof Myhr and Prof Nistor)  (Fall 2023 pdf Abstract)

Social media is a way for brands as well as consumers to engage with each other through shared content and conversations. Influencers are content creators who collaborate with brands to promote a brand image or specific products to their followers. In a new social media trend, influencers have also become “deinfluencers” who advocate against certain behaviors or products. In this project we aim to understand the new phenomenon of “deinfluencers”, social media content creators whose posts encourage consumers against certain purchases or habits. For example, some deinfluencers talk about consumerism while others recommend against purchasing a specific hair mask. The diversity of opinions and motivations for deinfluencers makes it challenging to uncover their motivations for creating this type of content. Our project combines secondary data research on popular press articles and primary data collection on Instagram in order to study the deinfluencer motivations.

Spring 2023 "Business Strategy and the Metaverse" (with Prof. Niklas Myhr) (Spring 2023 pdf abstract) 

Graduate Student Presenters: Tod Brewster and Stephanie Mohl (independent study BUS699) - recognized as Graduate Research Fellows and were awarded the Argyros School Research Award for Business Innovation.

The Metaverse is expected to become an important part of the business world of the future. Mainstream companies like Walmart, Salesforce, Audi, Nike, and many others have established a presence with virtual goods (NFTS), spaces for consumers to interact, and employees to collaborate and train. Yet there is little research into Metaverse strategies that are efficient and sustainable over time. We researched the top 500 global brands to uncover lessons from the many Metaverse entry approaches taken and our work has practical implications for business managers looking to make impactful entrances into this space. Firms selling physical products are entering with NFTs and spaces for customers to engage with products virtually. Energy firms are using augmented reality to help employees engage with infrastructure with added information through headset usage. Banks are creating virtual spaces where customers can learn more about financial products offered. Ultimately, each industry has begun adopting strategies unique to their products, needs, and the needs of their customers. Our research aims to identify these similarities and differences in an effort to determine the viability both in short term and long.

Fall 22 "Data Analytics for Marketing and Accounting in Horse Auctions: Yearling Sales in the Texas Market For Yearlings" Fall 2022 Abstract

Student Presenter: Khushi Patel (independent study BUS491) wrote a fantastic blog describing her work!

This research project focuses on using data analysis methods with accounting, finance and marketing applications in a new empirical setting. I aim to uncover new empirical knowledge as well as create and maintain a novel dataset to be used for further research in future projects. I used several sources of data to design a dataset structure for 10 years of a large US based industry. My main focus is the Texas area for Thoroughbred Horse Industry auctions. My project includes a detailed analysis of price changes over time as well as a snapshot of the Covid disruption for this industry. 

Spring 22 "Gently Loved: A Framework for Two Sided Platforms" Spring 2022 Abstract Cover (chapman.edu) 

Student Presenter: Elissa Shorokhova 

Fashion is a way for customers to express their personality, to connect socially, to express their authentic self within a society and participate in a shared experience of consumption. Consumers may have different motivations for choosing what types of fashion they purchase and sell. “Used” or “second hand” apparel has been sold traditionally in brick-and-mortar stores, however technology advancements have allowed the newer consumers (eg Gen Z tweens or college students) to make purchases easily in an online context that mirrors social media environment engagement. The apparel, considered “gently loved”, is sold on two-sided platform with users being the buyers and sellers. We aim to understand the reasons for consumers to adopt “gently loved” fashion. We rely on previous literature and recent public press articles to develop a framework to understand the new market for used clothing. 

Fall 21 "Can Strong Business Networks Help or Hinder Survival?" (with Prof. Charu Sinha) 2021-fall-abstract-volume---final.pdf (chapman.edu) 

Student Presenter: Shaan Parol 

Business relationships embed companies into a market network that ensures efficiency and superior returns: good partners can influence future profits and open doors for future partnerships. In this paper, we conceptualize just how important relationships are in a dense, close knit, and large industry network by considering examples from what happens when a business partner disappears in the Thoroughbred Horse Industry. We describe and analyze several types of node deletions due to bankruptcies, owner death, and owner retirement. 

Spring 21 "The Effect of Influencer Reach on Consumer Engagement and Persuasion Knowledge" (with Prof. Charlene Chu) spring-2021-abstract2.pdf (chapman.edu) 

Student Presenter: Kimia Abolhoda

Influencer marketing is being used more and more as brands attempt to engage consumers across the world. Social media influencers create organic and sponsored content that engages and attempts to persuade their followers about brands and products. We use three novel datasets to analyze the effect of influencer reach on consumer engagement and persuasion knowledge. Our results indicate that the number of followers (the influencer’s reach) affects the consumer engagement with the content created by the influencer. We find that smaller influencers are able to engage consumers more deeply than large influencers. Moreover, influencers with a larger reach are less likely to be regarded as credible in sponsored posts, suggesting that persuasion knowledge plays a key role in the ability of smaller influencers to engage consumers more deeply. The managerial implications are notable: influencer advertising is an effective promotional tool, but the reach of the influencer is an important consideration for marketing managers as the level of engagement and perceived credibility of the source and message depend on the reach of the influencer. 

Fall 20 "Social Media Engagement for Global Eco-Influencers" (with Prof. Kara Bentley, Prof. Charlene Chu) fall-2020-abstract-volume-31.pdf (chapman.edu) 

Student Presenter: Khushi Patel (Blog about her research experience)

Consumers use social media to create content, generate online word-of-mouth, communicate with brands and other consumers across a global marketplace. Influencers have a truly global reach across the world. Their followers choose to engage with influencers who deliver content that is timely and interesting. However, there is little research on international aspects of social media, such as country of origin effects or variety seeking behavior across countries. Our project seeks to analyze the forces that drive consumer engagement across countries using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. We rely on a novel dataset of global sustainability influencers to empirically determine the forces that drive engagement for followers across the world. Our results indicate that the country match between the influencer and the followers is an important driver of engagement and is correlated with followers’ consumption behavior of social media content. 

Fall 19 "Trusted Recommendations: Estimating Consumer Trust in Influencers" (with Prof. Kara Bentley, Prof. Charlene Chu) final-abstract--pdf-for-website.pdf (chapman.edu) 

Student Presenter: Zina Gorin (Blog about her research experience)

Theoretical models of reputation and consumer trust imply that influencers with many followers (Super Celebrities) should only create ads that are authentic, and that followers should trust them implicitly. At the same time, smaller influencers will have less to lose if they advertise products that are not high quality (because their reputation is less salient and thus less important). However, the advertising industry believes that Micro influencers and small Celebrity influencers (under 1 million followers) are more valuable than Super Celebrities. They claim that customers trust smaller influencers and these smaller influencers are better at creating authentic content that can speak to their followers. There is a disconnect between previous models of trust and reputation and the current social media world. We plan to use empirical estimates to solve the puzzle and rely on extensive data collection focused on Eco-Influencers across countries. 

Fall 16 "Business Relationship Networks And Bankruptcies: A Big Data Investigation" (with Prof. Darcy Fudge Kamal) final-abstract-volume-fall-2016.pdf (chapman.edu) 

Angela presented this research poster at INFORMS 2016 Nashville using an Undergraduate Travel Grant from Chapman University (OURCA Grant and SGA travel grant).

Student Presenter: Angela King (current PHD student at UCI Marketing Dept)

I look at how social influence in the Thoroughbred Horse Industry network can influence the value for goods at auction. Firms going through a bankruptcy are forced to sell off their goods while the network of social connections is affected by the news of their impending bankruptcy. I analyze whether the network takes into account that these firms will not exist in the future. I use clustering analysis to find network patterns in which account for the differences in network structures related to the node deletion from 2010-2014.