Dr. Nathaniel J. Evans
About: Dr. Evans teaches advertising and society, advertising management, and graduate level advertising foundations courses. His research interests examine consumers’ processing and evaluation of immersive and non-traditional advertising formats that include advergames, branded apps, in-game advertising, and native advertising with a focus on public policy implications.
Education
Ph.D., Communication and Information, University of Tennessee
M.S., Communication and Information/ Advertising, University of Tennessee
B.A., Psychology, Eckerd College
Research Interests and Activities
Dr. Evans’ research examines the blurring of boundaries between entertainment and commercial content, and the impact on issues related to consumer information processing, evaluation, and policy. He uses experimental and survey methodology to examine consumers’ information processing, evaluation, and behavioral outcomes of exposure to in-game advertising, advergames, branded games, native advertising, and other immersive or covert advertising formats. His research has examined regulatory and policy related topics in advertising, marketing, communication and health. Dr. Evans’ published work is featured in the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Health Affairs, andTelevision and New Media.
Selected Research
- Going Native: Effects of Disclosure Position and Language on the Recognition and Evaluation of Online Native Advertising
- Coddling Our Kids: Can Parenting Style Affect Attitudes Toward Advergames?
- Parents’ Presumed Persuasion Knowledge of Children’s Advergames: The Influence of Advertising Disclosure Modality and Cognitive Load
- Measuring Sponsorship Transparency in the Age of Native Advertising
- Exploring The Impact Of The US Measles Outbreak On Parental Awareness Of And Support For Vaccination
Joe Phua, Nathaniel J. Evans, Youngjee Ko (Ph.D. candidate), and Janice Lee (Ph.D. candidate) (Forthcoming) “Can Virtual, CGI-Generated, Influencers Help Sell Products on Instagram? Effects of Perceived Realism and Disclosure […]
Read MoreNathaniel Evans, “Leveraging Influencers to Improve Quality of Life: Implications and Insights for Healthy Behaviors and Prosocial Outcomes.” Keynote conference talk presented at, “Under the Influence: A Comprehensive Look at […]
Read MoreNathaniel Evans and Delia Balaban presented their forthcoming published article in the Journal of Advertising Research titled, “How the Impact of Social Media Influencer Disclosures Changes over Time. Discounting Cues […]
Read MoreNathaniel Evans, “Covert Advertising and Consumer Understanding: Implications for Practice and Policy.” Research talk presented to Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, October 5th, 2022.
Read MoreEline Brussee, Eva Van Reijmersdal, Nathaniel Evans, and Bart Wojdynski (forthcoming), “Disclosure-Driven Recognition of Native Advertising: A Test of Two Competing Mechanisms,” Journal of Interactive Advertising Abstract: This study aims […]
Read MoreNathaniel J. Evans, Delia Cristina Balaban, Brigitte Naderer, Meda Mucundorfeanu (forthcoming), “How the Impact of Social-Media Influencer Disclosures Changes Over Time: Discounting Cues and Exposure Level Can Affect Consumer Attitudes […]
Read MoreNathaniel J. Evans was awarded the International Journal of Advertising’s Best Reviewer Award at the 2022 ICORIA conference, Prague, Czech Republic.
Read MoreNate Evans, associate professor of advertising, Jay Lim (MA ’16, Ph.D. ‘21) and Ph.D. student Marilyn Primovic (AB ’18, MA ’18) received runner-up for the Best Article Award in the […]
Read MoreAbstract: Given the increasing amount of public and government related attention devoted to issues surrounding e-cigarette use, the current study examined how disclosure source and content-publication fit in an ENDS […]
Read MoreFaculty and doctoral graduates in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations in Grady College were the most visible authors or co-authors in the three leading peer-reviewed advertising research journals from 2008-2019, […]
Read MoreAbstract: Despite industry and academic attention to disclosures in sponsored content over recent years, questions remain on how consumers process message and context related characteristics. Primarily building upon the Covert […]
Read MoreNathaniel Evans has been awarded OIBR seed funding ($5020) through the Grantsmanship Development Program (GDP) for his proposed project titled, “Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Vaccine Hesitant Parents Using Psychological […]
Read MoreAbstract: Listicles are a new media phenomenon that appear on a news organization’s website; they are articles that use a ranked list and offer concise details about a topic to […]
Read MoreAbstract: Through an online experiment with a 2 (no ad disclosure/standardized ad disclosure ’paid partnership with the (brand)’) x 2 (single exposure to the influencer content/multiple exposure to the influencer […]
Read MoreAbstract: Only one-third of adults 18 to 49 years old in the United States receive a recommended annual influenza vaccination. This study examined whether supplementing vaccine information statements (VIS) with […]
Read MoreAbstract: Sport companies frequently make product claims in advertisements to influence consumer purchase decisions. Sport beverages, in particular, often tout health benefits and performance claims. Unfortunately, some sport beverage claims […]
Read MoreAbstract: Covert advertisements, or those that utilize the guise and delivery mechanisms of familiar non-advertising formats, differ from other more direct forms of advertising in several ways that are important […]
Read MoreAbstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of advertising format and cognitive load in shaping the effect of covert advertisements on participants advertising recognition and outcomes. […]
Read MoreABSTRACT: The present study (N=82) employed a 2 (advertisement format: advergame vs. video commercial) x 2 (brand prominence: low (Asus) vs. high (KFC)) between-subjects factorial experiment to investigate the effect […]
Read MoreAbstract: This study first investigated the effect of advertising format (advergames vs online video commercials) on consumers’ ability to recognize advertising. Second, we tested how advertising format differentially impacted consumers’ […]
Read MoreAbstract: While it seems intuitive that highly visible vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks should impact perceptions of disease risk and facilitate vaccination, few empirical studies exist to confirm or dispel these beliefs. […]
Read MoreAbstract: The Children’s Advertising Review Unit’s (CARU) recent cases involving child influencer unboxing videos expressed concern that they did not appropriately disclose sponsorship. Placement of pre-roll advertising was also cited as […]
Read MoreAwards and Fellowships
Dr. Evans has received top paper awards at the American Academy of Advertising (2016), best article in the Journal of Interactive Advertising (2014), and the Research Fellowship Award from the American Academy of Advertising (2015).
