My name is Alyssa Croft, and I am a junior at Florida State University. I am majoring in public relations and minoring in business. Originally from Seminole, Florida, I decided that I wanted to join the Nole family after visiting a friend and falling in love with the school. Not knowing what I wanted to do in my future yet, I started off as an exploratory major. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I discovered my interest in public relations, which led to me joining the major the following semester. As part of the required courses, I took a research methods class taught by the School of Communication director Dr. Patrick Merle. He offered me the opportunity to join in on a study outside of class, which gave me a greater interest in conducting research myself. From there I joined the Honors in the Major program, where I planned to continue my research. I am very grateful to have been one of the students awarded the IDEA Grant and will use this money to fund my Honors in the Major experiment.
My experiment will test a method of a common phenomenon known as scienceploitation. Scienceploitation is the use of misleading scientific claims as a means to generate capital. Studies have been conducted on its effects in specific areas such as stem cell therapies, however there are no known studies that reveal its effects on consumer purchasing behaviors. My experiment will test if there is a relationship between purchasing behaviors and scientific terminology in advertisements. The experiment will be over the course of two different studies, and for each study there will be an English and Spanish version. When I was designing my experiment and conducting initial research, I found that most studies related to scienceploitation were primarily done in English. I wanted to add a cross-cultural element to my experiment to examine whether the results will differ amongst different cultures. I also plan to test whether the credibility of a source would influence any potential effects.
This study will be conducted over the course of the next two semesters, and I plan to begin my experiment in the summer. I am very excited to begin work, and the reason I chose this topic is because I think it is a very prevalent and potentially harmful occurrence in the consumer world. We see products every day such as anti-aging creams, energy boosting supplements, and haircare that insinuate they will produce results they may not be able to provide. I hope to help people with the knowledge I gain and continue diving deeper into this concept.
Currently I am working on designing my experiment and finishing up my classes for the semester. I am also applying to the Bachelors/Masters program, where I will continue my education at FSU. I am planning to continue my research as well as begin new studies. This past March, I attended a public relations research conference with Dr. Patrick Merle, where we presented a previous study conducted In the Fall. I hope to attend other conferences in the Fall and Spring semester next year.
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