Zarzosa receives marketing grant

Zarzosa receives marketing grant

Dr. Jennifer Zarzosa, assistant professor of marketing at Henderson State University, has received a grant from the American Marketing Association Foundation (AMAF) to assist in her research program that focuses on how aesthetics impact consumer response to advertisements.

Zarzosa’s study will center on ad immersion, or the way in which consumers view advertisements as works of art. She plans to construct a scale to measure how involved consumers are in viewing ads as pieces of art and how that process works.

“The research findings will help inform how advertising has a cultural and social impact on society,” Zarzosa said. “In this way, ads can be seen as cultural artifacts and marketers as culture engineers. The novel findings will be discussed in marketing classes, especially the promotions management course.”

Zarzosa was a prior recipient of a Valuing Diversity Ph.D. Scholarship. The AMAF established a scholarship program in 2003 to create scholarship funds for populations underrepresented in the marketing profession. To support the expansion and enhancement of the Valuing Diversity Fund, the AMAF, in partnership with the Ph.D. Project, and the Sheth Foundation, established the first Valuing Diversity New Faculty Research Grant in 2015 to assist newly minted Ph.D. Project alumni faculty just starting out in their academic career.

“The Valuing Diversity Ph.D. Scholarship Program and New Faculty Research Fund are important platforms for widening the opportunities for underrepresented populations in the marketing professions,” said Russ Klein, CEO of the American Marketing Association. “We believe these inspiring scholars and faculty represent the future of marketing. Our scholarship and grant program celebrates diversity and creates a more culturally relevant generation of marketers.”

Through a competitive process, a group of five jurors selected grant recipients based on their commitment to marketing.