Tombras School Well Represented at AAA where Assistant Professor Sitan (Stan) Li Wins Best Conference Paper Award
The Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations had a strong presence at the 2025 American Academy of Advertising (AAA) conference, from faculty winning the Best Conference Paper Award to ensuring the event ran smoothly.
AAA supports research that is important to the advertising field and creates opportunities for academic and professional members to share ideas.
Many faculty members, students, and alumni from the Tombras School gathered at this year’s conference, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Assistant Professor Sitan (Stan) Li Wins Best Conference Paper Award
Assistant Professor Li won the 2025 Best Conference Paper Award for his paper on virtual influencers’ emotional voices.
“To circumvent consumers’ psychological resistance to artificial intelligence and make video content more engaging, these technologically created social media influencers mimic human behaviors, such as expressing emotions through voices. Using computational sentiment analysis and an online experiment, this research explores the impact of their human vs. AI-powered voices on consumer engagement and the effect of voice emotionality in virtual influencers’ audiovisual advertising on luxury automobile brand choice behavior,” he explained.
Li added that winning the award was motivating for his future work and that he was grateful to have his colleagues there to cheer him on.
“The collaborative environment within the Tombras School fosters a sense of community and stimulates intellectual exchange that inspires a career in innovative research and exploration.”
From Leading the Conference to Being Volunteers and Sharing Research
Professor Eric Haley, the executive director of AAA, represented the school and worked diligently to ensure the event went smoothly.
“The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Tombras School was highly visible at this year’s AAA annual conference. Not only did many faculty members and students present their work, but our school also played a significant role as a major sponsor,” Haley stated.
The Tombras School headlined the opening reception, ensuring attendees recognized UT’s College of Communication and Information and the Tombras School right from the start of the conference.
“Our prominent presence at major events enhances our program’s reputation as a leader in advertising scholarship and education among a global audience of peers,” Haley explained.
Qinran Li, a graduate teaching associate and second-year PhD student, was one of three doctoral students from the College of Communication and Information who volunteered at the conference.
Li, whose concentration is advertising, attended a pre-conference session focused on academic careers. The session emphasized the importance of building a LinkedIn presence, self-promotion, and engaging with professional communities, including Facebook groups where professors share teaching resources.
“Throughout the conference, many presentations focused on AI, virtual influencers, disclosure, labeling, and privacy concerns—topics that align with emerging trends in the field. Since my research revolves around influencer advertising, these insights have given me new ideas for integrating current trends into my future projects,” he noted.
Mokhlisur “Numan” Rahman, a doctoral student pursuing a PhD in advertising, also volunteered at the event and shared that attending the conference was one of his “best decisions.”
“After participating in the conference, I truly feel I have found my academic community. This is a small conference that I believe fosters a tight-knit community dedicated to advertising research and education. It was an enriching experience for me, both academically and professionally. As a doctoral student, I gained valuable insights into research and teaching. Volunteering at the conference gave me valuable skills and networking opportunities,” he shared.
Some of their assignments included assisting with registration and providing directions to attendees, which allowed them to interact with a diverse group of scholars and gain a behind-the-scenes perspective on conference organization.
Numerous faculty members and students presented their research during the conference, including:
– School of Journalism and Media Professor Erin Whiteside, Tombras School Associate Professor Maria DeMoya, and Haley, who addressed Disability DEI in Advertising: Preparing Future Advertising Professionals to Embrace Disability Authentically in Their Work.
– College of Communication and Information Doctoral Candidate Jie Chen, Associate Professor Matthew Pittman, and Haley, who focused on Congruence Matters? The Impact of Contextual Alignment on Reducing Intrusiveness and Mind Wandering in Advertising.
– Chen and Haley discussed Disclosure in AI-Generated Advertising: How Source Credibility Affects Consumer Purchase Intention.
– Pittman and Haley, who presented on Environmental Concern & Green Demarketing: Non-Green Consumers Aren’t Buying It.
– Haley, who spoke about “Personalization vs. Privacy Concerns in Data-Driven Advertising.
– Assistant Professor Sitan (Stan) Li, who explored Virtual Influencers’ Emotional Voices: Effects of Voice Type and Message Appeal on Consumer Engagement and Brand Choice Behavior.
– Haley and Pittman, who covered The Impact of Utilitarian Product Reviews on Brand Perception”
The Tombras School is proud to be a major sponsor of AAA, and its faculty and students look forward to the annual event. Next year’s conference will be in Austin, TX, on March 26-29, 2026. You can learn more about AAA here.
Tombras School Well Represented at AAA where Assistant Professor Sitan (Stan) Li Wins Best Conference Paper Award written by Kristen Gallant and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.