Donna L. Hoffman & Thomas P. Novak
Using the Virtual to Better Understand the Real World
We moved to UC Riverside because we believed it offered a life-changing opportunity to make a real difference. The challenge and opportunity to move our Sloan Center here and help re-build the business school and be a part of making AGSM the next great UC business school at the next great UC is exciting on a daily basis. The fact that UCR is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation with a large proportion of first-generation college students is also an important attraction. It means a lot to both of us as we were both the first generation in our families to graduate from college. The idea that we now have the chance to motivate a new generation of students to live their promise not only feels good — it’s another way that UCR and its faculty are making a positive impact in peoples’ lives and influencing Southern California and beyond.
How and why do consumers use social media? Are attitudes about brands contagious? Does sex sell on eBay? What is the quality of virtual life in worlds such as Second Life? These wide-ranging subjects are just some of the research being conducted at UCR’s Sloan Center for Internet Retailing and the answers are helping businesses adapt in this fast-moving, ever-changing world.
The Sloan Center is a part of UC Riverside’s School of Business Administration and is co-directed by the team of Professors Donna Hoffman and Tom Novak, both award-winning, internationally-recognized scholars of electronic commerce and Internet marketing.
Hoffman, who specializes in research into social media, is chancellor's chair and professor of marketing as well as the chair of the Department of Management and Marketing in the UCR School of Business Administration.
Novak, whose interest lies in virtual worlds, is the Albert O. Steffey professor of marketing. In the fall of 2010 he was a visiting scholar at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California
Hoffman’s research into social media is helping businesses better understand the medium, including improving return on investment in social media marketing campaigns by measuring the investments and engagements that customers make with marketers brands. She is also looking at how businesses can better adapt for Web 3.0 as well as motivations for consumers on the social Web.
The Sloan Center also extends into the virtual world with a presence in the online community, Second Life. Since consumer behavior in Second Life parallels real world behavior, the virtual lab, known as eLab City, allows researchers to achieve a better understanding of users’ attitudes and behaviors. In addition, the virtual world allows researchers to conduct studies using elaborate events and settings, even ones that could not exist in real life. This gives them a great deal of freedom in their work, allowing their projects to be as elaborate as they want without having to deal with cost issues.