About

Heather Shoenberger is a faculty member associated with the Media Effects Research Lab at Penn State. The provided page text does not include specific details about her research focus, background, or key contributions. Therefore, no detailed biography can be extracted from the available information.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Business
• Advertising
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Marketing
• Internet privacy
• Medicine
• Engineering
• World Wide Web

Selected publications

• Effects of Immersive Experience in the Branded Metaverse

  Journal of Interactive Advertising · 2026-04-03

  article

  With the growing number of brands entering the metaverse, the influence of consumer interactions on brand-related attitudes and behaviors remains understudied. To address this gap, we conducted an experiment involving participants who used the Meta Quest 2 headset to interact with objects or products in a branded metaverse. Our findings revealed that presence positively impacted brand attitudes and enjoyment, whereas cybersickness had a negative effect. Importantly, enjoyment mediated the effects of presence and cybersickness on attitudes toward both the brand and the immersive experience as well as behavioral intentions. These results offer valuable insights for both theoretical understanding and practical application of interactive brand engagement in the metaverse.

  PublisherDOI

• Inclusion in action: how brand commitment impacts perception of transgender-inclusive activist ads

  International Journal of Advertising · 2025-07-13 · 3 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
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• To Tell or Not to Tell: Investigating the Persuasive Appeal of Information Transparency for AR-Powered E-Commerce Sites

  International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · 2025-05-08 · 2 citations

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• Effects of state-sponsored political posts on perceived credibility and persuasion

  Journal of Information Technology & Politics · 2025-04-15

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• Navigating Political Disagreement on Social Media: How Affective Responses and Belonging Influence Unfollowing and Unfriending

  Media and Communication · 2024-12-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  While recent research has demonstrated how exposure to cross-cutting political opinions intensifies politically motivated disconnectivity on social media, there has been a notable gap in examining the influence of emotions and psychological traits in this process. Guided by the theories of selective avoidance and affective intelligence, our study employed a survey through Qualtrics panel drawn from a population-matching sample (<em>N</em> = 498) of the US population to investigate how perceived political disagreement on social media affects decisions to unfollow and unfriend others through the induction of affective responses (e.g., anger, anxiety) and the role of psychological trait—need to belong. Controlling for demographics and political ideology, our mediation analysis revealed that perceived political disagreement was significantly related to anger, which was further positively associated with both unfollowing and unfriending on social media. Perceived political disagreement was also related to anxiety while anxiety was positively associated with individuals’ behaviors of unfollowing and unfriending. Furthermore, results showed that the need to belong played a significant role in moderating the relationship between perceived political disagreement and unfriending. When perceiving the same level of political disagreement, individuals with a higher need to belong were less likely to unfriend others on social media, compared to those with a lower need to belong. However, the need to belong did not exert a significant impact on how perceived political disagreement influenced unfollowing behavior. This study contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of disconnectivity on social media, particularly in navigating political disagreements.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Softening the Blow: The Power of Rhetorical Frames Used by Social Media Influencers with Sponsorship Disclosure

  Journal of Interactive Advertising · 2024-04-02 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  This study explores how social media influencers' (SMIs) endorsements preceding commercials can increase positive response, even when sponsorship is disclosed. We employed three rhetorical frames—transparency, co-orientation, and downplaying—in a real-world test scenario involving TV commercials for two energy corporations with problematic reputations. A national survey with 644 respondents revealed that each rhetorical frame significantly bolstered positive attitudes toward the featured corporations. These attitude shifts were mediated by reductions in persuasion knowledge and increases in message credibility. Our findings not only support but also extend existing theories on endorsement effectiveness by integrating the insights from rhetorical theory. It shows that understanding the nuances of 'how' a message is delivered, through rhetorical framing, can be as crucial as 'what' is being said.

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• Novelty vs. trust in virtual influencers: exploring the effectiveness of human-like virtual influencers and anime-like virtual influencers

  International Journal of Advertising · 2024-08-07 · 68 citations

  article

  This research explores influencer trustworthiness and stimulus novelty as important paths for the effectiveness of virtual influencers. We compare human-like virtual influencers (HVIs) and anime-like virtual influencers (AVIs) operating either with sponsorship disclosure or non-disclosure. In two experiments, we found that HVI (vs. AVIs) produced higher content engagement and purchase intent via greater influencer trustworthiness only when sponsorship was not disclosed. Upon disclosure, the advantage of HVIs over AVIs disappeared. We also found that the influencer's status, whether mega or micro, significantly moderated the influence of sponsorship disclosure. Perceived novelty of AVIs are consistently higher than HVIs, and perceived novelty mediates the effect of the AVIs (vs. HVIs) on content engagement, but only when sponsorship was disclosed. These findings offer important insights into how virtual influencers may influence consumer engagement and purchase decisions.

  PublisherDOI

• Mollifying green skepticism: Effective strategies for inspiring green participation in the hospitality industry

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2023-06-15 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  Environmental awareness is a growing concern for consumers, and effective green messaging strategies are crucial for businesses. This 2 × 2 between-subject experiment investigates the influence of message style and sidedness on consumer participation in green practices and explores the role of message usefulness and skepticism. Our results show that a narrative message style and a two-sided message increase perceived usefulness, reduce skepticism, and lead to greater behavioral intent. Further, the study supports the moderated serial mediation role of message usefulness and skepticism. These findings offer significant implications for businesses seeking to promote sustainable practices and engage consumers in green initiatives.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Elite athletes more authentic?: Diet and exercise effects of athletes v. models in ads

  Journal of Marketing Communications · 2023-01-10 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author

  People automatically determine the authenticity of an advertisement, with more authentic ads resulting in more positive advertising evaluations and subsequent behaviors. Building on these past findings, this study sheds light on the exposure of women to images of elite female athletes and athletic-ideal models and subsequent attitudes and behavioral intentions. The study (N = 444) found that elite athletes are seen as more authentic and more influential on health outcomes. Our results suggest opportunities for sports, health, or athletics advertisers (or general advertisers) to capitalize on the potential of elite or professional athlete endorsers in an effort to increase positive health-related behaviors and suggest intent to use products advertised.

  PublisherDOI

• Social media influencers talk about politics: Investigating the role of source factors and PSR in Gen-Z followers’ perceived information quality, receptivity and sharing intention

  Journal of Information Technology & Politics · 2023-02-01 · 39 citations

  articleSenior author

  Afforded by the unprecedented interactivity of social media, social media influencers (SMI) can build strong and trusting relationships with their followers. Such connections carry great potential and may be a powerful asset for political campaigns. Drawing on the existing literature on parasocial relationships (PSR) and political persuasion, we examined the effect of source factors and PSR on followers’ perceived message quality, receptivity, and sharing intention in a political advocacy context. An online survey of 390 U.S. university students showed that, in general, SMIs who engage in sharing political messages would influence a young audience’s opinion formation. Our findings offered a unique and significant perspective: source characteristics of expertise, similarity, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and interactivity will foster parasocial relationships, which leads to a higher level of perceived information quality, and then further predicts higher receptivity toward the SMI’s political advocacy and elicits the followers’ sharing intention.

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Frequent coauthors

• eunjin Kim

  University of Southern California

  22 shared

• Sidharth Muralidharan

  Southern Methodist University

  9 shared

• Erika Katherine Johnson

  East Carolina University

  7 shared

• Paul D. Bolls

  Washington State University

  4 shared

• Bingbing Zhang

  4 shared

• Edson C. Tandoc

  Nanyang Technological University

  3 shared

• Esther Thorson

  Michigan State University

  3 shared

• Fuyuan Shen

  Pennsylvania State University

  3 shared

Labs

• Media Effects Research LabPI

  Investigates social and psychological effects of technological elements unique to web-based mass-communication.

Awards & honors

• Bellisario College honors faculty, staff with Deans’ Excelle…