Meet Paytn Green, a first-generation graduate student and two-time CCIM alumna.
With the help of Green’s co-author, Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Rebecca VanMeter-Brown, and Dr. Sungwon Chung, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication, Green turned one of her first research papers from an in-class assignment into a professional success!
Green’s paper, “Consumer Behavior Based on Influencer Authenticity,” was accepted into the 2024 Society of Marketing Advances (SMA) Conference in Tampa, Florida.
The conference was centered around artificial intelligence and its effect on the marketing world. Green had the opportunity to both attend and present her work at the conference.
“The whole conference was so good, and I was kind of mad at myself for not booking it longer. I did not want to go home,” Green said. “I just met so many great people and had such a great time. It’s so hard to pick a favorite part. It was really cool getting to present my research.”
When she initially began writing her paper, Green was surprised she could research and write about social media and artificial intelligence because they’re both things she’s deeply interested in and interacts with every day.
Through her paper and academic pursuits in general, Green has often sought out ways to combine her passions.
As an undergraduate student, a class with Dr. Grace Park, Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication, helped her decide that she would earn a degree in public relations, and when looking for a minor, “my advisor was like, marketing pairs perfectly with PR – it’s like peanut butter and jelly!”
She graduated with her Bachelor of Science 2023 and immediately went on to pursue a master’s in public relations, which she recently completed in December 2024.
Now, she is pursuing a Masters of Business Administration in Artificial Intelligence at the Miller College of Business.
Before and after the conference, CCIM Outreach Office Assistant and Journalism Major Amelia Harker (‘28) sat down with Green in 2024 to explore the topic of Green’s paper, the impact being accepted into and attending the conference had, and Green’s educational journey at Ball State.
CONDUCTING RESEARCH
Your paper is about consumer behavior and influencer authenticity. How did you choose this topic?
Influencer marketing is a huge thing right now — everyone has an opinion on it almost. If you’re on social media, you have an opinion on influencers.
I also focused on authenticity — authenticity has been a big word lately — and looked at what makes an influencer authentic. I looked at six components that dive into what makes an influencer authentic, what drives people to follow someone. You may follow someone because you like their content, but is it really just that? Is there something else that makes you want to follow them? Is it because you relate to them? Is it because you think they’re really passionate about the topic or they may know a lot about it?
I never thought I was going to be able to research something as cool as social media and then the more you dive into knowing the theories behind different things like branding and stuff it almost makes it cooler to knowing what all goes into everything, seeing behind the scenes.
How did you first approach writing this paper?
It started as a class assignment and then it kind of just branched off from there. I submitted it to Dr. Sungwon Chung’s class. We wrote chunks of that paper throughout the semester. That was really nice. I love when it’s broken up into like let’s write the methodology, let’s write the literature view, let’s write the limitations. The paper in full was like I believe almost 40 pages. So, it’s a lot at once, and it’s intimidating. Just being able to take it piece by piece really helps.
Dr. Sungwon Chung really helped me dive into it and kind of work out some of the kinks on it, and then with Dr. Rebecca VanMeter-Brown we elaborated and added some to it.
What research did you do to further explore this topic?
For this paper, I did a focus group. I had never done a focus group before, and I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was like, “Okay, I’m going to do this.” I went to a bunch of professors, and I was like, “I’ve never done a focus group before, what do you think? How do I do this?” and they all sent me tips and tricks.
I had five students come, and it was pretty cool — it was pretty interesting. There’s so many ethical considerations that go into it, like I wasn’t allowed to talk because I’m the primary researcher for the focus group, so I had to find a moderator and then a nonbiased notetaker. But I got to sit in and have them read through the interview questions, so that was pretty cool.
This was your first focus group, was it also the first time you conducted research?
Yes and no. In Spring 2024, I got to dive into research with Dr. VanMeter-Brown by sifting through interviews with her. Also, with Dr. Chung, I got training that allowed me to interview and talk with people for research.
Writing and researching for this paper was a whole other level.
Was research and the process of creating this paper intimidating?
I was really intimidated at first coming in. I was like, “I don’t think I’m smart enough for this, I don’t think I can do this.” But all of the professors are just so amazing. Any time I struggled with something, I never felt scared to be like, “Hey I’m kind of nervous about this,” or “I don’t know if I can do this,” and they work you through it.
There’s a lot of planning that goes into research you can’t just sit down and type it. There’s so many little pieces that go into submitting the research paper and there’s so much organization that goes into this field and into research, having to remember, “Oh, I need to cite this but where did I find it? I know I read it somewhere but where?” That’s been really challenging. It’s a lot of reading through literature, but I think it’s really interesting.
What was it like finding out your paper had been accepted to the conference?
I had waited forever to see if it was going to get accepted and I was just like, “It’s not going to get accepted so I’m not going to look,” and I went on there and it said accepted and I was like, “What? Is this a joke?” And I kept reading it and I was like, “This isn’t real.”
Every time something good happens to me I have like a list of people I have to call; I call my best friend, my boyfriend, my mom, my dad, my Mamaw, I called all my professors — I was texting everyone.
I was so excited. It was like a big weight lifted off my shoulders. Then I also kept going back to it and being like, “Are they sure? Did they mean to do that? Are they going to take it away?”
Is this the first conference you’ve participated in?
Again, yes and no. I did do a conference with my professor Mr. Chris Wilkey, Assistant Lecturer of Marketing, and Mr. Austin Hostetter, Assistant Lecturer of Marketing.
Marketing students did their capstone project in New Castle right before the eclipse. We helped students pair with small businesses in New Castle and then helped them prepare for this big eclipse event because the whole city of New Castle was having a big celebration with all the small businesses.
So, all the marketing students and I helped them with their marketing for the event, and it got into an online conference where we presented.
AFTER ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE
What was it like attending and presenting at the conference?
The other people who presented were professors and PhD students who had been working on their projects a lot longer than I worked on mine, so it was really intimidating. I was also like, “It’s a start; everyone starts somewhere and this is my start.”
After I was done, I got to go and watch other presentations, and it was so fun getting to see other people’s research, and then it kind of got me excited to write other papers and do other research, so I tried not to look at it as being intimidating and more of a learning experience.
Did anything at the conference surprise you?
I wasn’t expecting everyone to be so sweet and nice. Everyone there was just amazing. I didn’t know anyone there besides VanMeter-Brown, and by the end I just felt so comfortable, like you could just go up to anyone and have a conversation. The professors there really liked that I was a graduate student interested in their field so getting to talk to them, hear about their journeys, and get advice was pretty cool.
What was one of the best pieces of advice you received at the conference?
A woman I talked to who was also a professor – she was around my age and had just gotten through her PhD program – took me to the side and gave me the best analogy ever. She took a rock, and she was like, “Think of your PhD program and your master’s degree like a slingshot. You could have gone to a university, and then you would have gone here,” and she took the rock and flung it. “Or, you’re getting your master’s degree, your PhD, and you’re pulling back that slingshot, so you’re going to shoot ahead.” It was just so beautiful, and it was really inspiring.
Why was this conference important for you to attend as a student?
It really helped me decide what I want to do with my career path. It really gave me that drive and ambition to go get my PhD, and when I came back, I was just so refreshed. I was like, “This is what I’m working for, this is what I want to do.”
Never in undergrad did I ever think I was smart enough to get a master’s or PhD, but I’ve kind of learned it’s not about being smart enough, it’s about having the drive to do it. I think that applies to a lot of careers. You may not think you’ll be able to do something, but if you’re willing to get up and go and just try it, it goes a long way.
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