Areas of Expertise

Advertising, Social Media, Online Word-of-Mouth, Political Marketing

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., Marketing, Emory University, 2016
• B.B.A., Business and Studio Art, Millsaps College, 2010

Professional Experience

• Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2016-present
• Senior Political Consulting Associate and New Media Director, Chism Strategies, Jackson, MS and Washington, D.C., 2009-2011

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Faculty Fellow, Indiana University, 2021
• Harry C. Sauvain Undergraduate Teaching Award, Indiana University, Nominee, 2020
• Early-Career Faculty Consortium Fellow, Marketing Strategy Consortium, Indiana University, 2019
• John D. C. Little Award, Finalist, 2018 ( Awarded annually for the best marketing paper published in an INFORMS journal)
• MSI Research Grant, 2018
• Trustee Teaching Award, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Winner
• MSI Research Grant, 2016
• Goizueta Business School Doctoral Fellowship, Emory University, 2011-2016
• MSI Alden G. Clayton Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition, 2015
• ISMS Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition Award, 2015
• ISMS Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, 2015
• AMA-Sheth Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Northwestern University, 2014
• ISMS Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Emory University, 2014
• Sheth Fellowship, Emory University, 2014
• Else School of Management Scholar, Academic Scholarship, Millsaps College, 2009-2010
• Presidential Scholar, Millsaps College, 2006-2010
• ESPN The Magazine All-American Academic Team, NCAA Tennis, Millsaps College, 2008

Selected Publications

• Fossen, B., Kim, D., Schweidel, D. A., and Thoadsen, R. (2022). The Role of Slant and Message Consistency in Political Advertising Effectiveness: Evidence from the 2016 Presidential Election. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 20(1), 1-37.
• Venkatesh, S., Grewal, D., Sunder, S., Fossen, B., Agarwal, A., and Peters, K. (2022). Digital marketing communication in global marketplaces: A review of extant research, future directions, and potential approaches. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 39(2), 541-565.
• Fossen, B., Mallapragada, G., and De, A. (2021). Impact of Political Television Advertisements on Viewers’ Response to Subsequent Advertisements. Marketing Science, 40(2), 305-324.
• Fossen, B., and Bleier, A. (2021). Online Program Engagement and Audience Size during Television Ads. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, 743-761.
• Fossen, B. L., and Schweidel, D. A. (2019). Measuring the Impact of Product Placement with Brand-related Social Media Conversations and Website Traffic. Marketing Science, 38(3), 481-499.

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Advertisers are growing increasingly concerned about the ease with which traditional television advertising can be avoided. Product placement activities, where brands are visually and/or verbally incorporated into television and movies, have continued to grow. In contrast to television commercials that can be avoided by viewers, product placement is embedded in the programming itself and is more difficult to avoid. Despite its popularity, there is limited research in marketing that has investigated the impact of product placement. In this research, the authors investigate the relationship between product placement in television programs and the volume of social media activity and website traffic for the featured brand. Using data on nearly 3,000 product placements for 99 brands from the fall 2015 television season, the authors find that prominent product placement activities—especially verbal placements—are associated with increases in both online conversations and web traffic for the brand, with some evidence of decreasing returns at high levels of prominence. The authors also find that, for most placement modalities, television advertising occurring in close proximity to placement activities does not enhance these increases in online viewer engagement.

• Fossen, B. L., and Schweidel, D. A. (2019). Social TV, Advertising, and Sales: Are Social Shows Good for Advertisers? Marketing Science, 38(2), 274-295.

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Television viewers are increasingly engaging in media-multitasking while watching programming. One prevalent multiscreen activity is the simultaneous consumption of television alongside social media chatter about the programming, an activity referred to as “social TV.” Although online interactions with programming can result in a more engaged and committed audience, social TV activities may distract media multitaskers from advertisements. These competing outcomes of social TV raise the question: are programs with high online social TV activity, so called “social shows,” good for advertisers? In this research, we empirically examine this question by exploring the relationship among television advertising, social TV, online traffic, and online sales. Specifically, we investigate how the volume of program-related online chatter is related to online shopping behavior at retailers that advertise during the programs. We find that advertisements that air in programs with more social TV activity see increased ad responsiveness in terms of subsequent online shopping behavior. This result varies with the mood of the advertisement, with more affective advertisements—in particular, funny and emotional advertisements—seeing the largest increases in online shopping activity. Our results shed light on how advertisers can encourage online shopping activity on their websites in the age of multiscreen consumers.

• Fossen, B. L., and Schweidel, D. A. (2017). Television Advertising and Online Word-of-Mouth: An Empirical Investigation of Social TV Activity. Marketing Science, 36(1), 105-123.
• Fossen, B. L., Andrews, M., and Schweidel, D. A. (2017). Sociodemographic versus Geographic Proximity in the Diffusion of Online Conversations. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 246-266.

Edited on February 28, 2025