Dr. Alexander Pfeuffer
About: Dr. Pfeuffer teaches strategic communication research and management. His research interests include the psychology of advertising effects and native advertising regulation.
View Curriculum Vitae
Education
Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Minnesota
M.C.M., Communication Management, University of Southern California
B.A., Communication, George Mason University
Research Interests and Activities
Dr. Pfeuffer’s research takes a social psychological approach to the examination of advertising effects. His work is at the nexus of online advertising, consumer behavior, and consumer protection and explores the effects and mechanisms of native and covert online advertising formats. Recently, he has focused on the effects of sponsorship disclosure in electronic word-of-mouth communication. He has presented his research at national and international conferences.
Abstract: Online, consumers often cannot develop trust through cumulative experiences with another party but must instead rely on heuristic cues for their trust formation. Drawing on the theoretical construct of cue-based trust and signaling theory, we conducted an online experiment as the final study of a three-study multi-method research project aimed to identify content attributes […]
Read MoreAbstract: Forest certification has emerged as a market-based tool to safeguard the sustainability of the world’s forests. Since media can shape public opinion, this study examines media treatment of forest certification in the United States, the world’s largest producer and consumer of forest products. This study utilizes 309 print and digital newspaper articles published in […]
Read MoreAbstract: Trust is a significant factor in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) effects. Online, consumers often need to form judgments about others using heuristic cues when they cannot rely on previous cumulative experiences with an online entity. Drawing on the theoretical construct of cue-based trust and signaling theory, this study aimed to identify and examine the efficacy […]
Read MoreAbstract: Facing the rising trend of sponsored product reviews posted on social media, government regulatory agencies have published industry guidelines requiring disclosure of sponsorship in social media product reviews. However, research about the effects of online product review sponsorship disclosures, especially in the social media context, is still limited. To address this problem, the current […]
Read MoreAbstract: Addressing the problem of increasing sponsored eWOM and diverse and confusing disclosure practices, this study examined the effects of different types of sponsorship disclosure messages on (1) consumers’ trust in the sponsored product reviewer and (2) attitudes toward the reviewer and the sponsoring brand. An online experiment revealed several key effects of sponsorship disclosure […]
Read MoreAbstract: Addressing the problem of increasing and diversifying sponsored eWOM on social media, this study examined the effects of different types of sponsorship arrangements and disclosure messages, with focus on (1) consumers’ perceived trust in the sponsored content creator and (2) attitudes toward the content creator and the sponsoring brand. An online experiment revealed interesting […]
Read MoreTeaching Specialties
His primary teaching interests include research methodology, mass communication theory, and communication management.
Awards and Fellowships
• He was the recipient of the 2017 Ralph D. Casey Dissertation Award (University of Minnesota.)
