Eunjin (Anna)
Kim
Eunjin (Anna)
Kim
Tabs
Anna Kim is an associate professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her research focuses on the persuasive power of storytelling in advertising, with an emphasis on the intersection of technology, entertainment, and strategic communication. She is particularly interested in how social media influencers, virtual influencers, and AI-driven platforms shape branding, audience engagement, and prosocial messaging in digital environments.
Her work has appeared in top-tier journals, including the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising, Psychology and Marketing, Marketing Letters, Health Communication, Journal of Information Science, Social Media + Society, American Behavioral Scientist, and International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, among others. She has received multiple recognitions for research excellence from the Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, the American Academy of Advertising, the American Marketing Association, and the D.C. Health Communication Conference.
Kim currently serves as senior associate editor for the International Journal of Advertising and associate editor for the Journal of Interactive Advertising. She also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and the Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising.
She received her PhD from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with a minor in psychological statistics. Prior to joining USC, she was an assistant professor of advertising at Southern Methodist University. At SMU, she received two teaching awards, the Classroom Innovator Award (2017) and the Teaching and Learning Innovator Award (2016). She taught digital media strategy, consumer insight and persuasion, strategic brand management, topics in digital media, and media analytics.
Read more about her work on ResearchGate and Google Scholar.
Awards and honors:
Best Reviewer Award, International Journal of Advertising (2024)
Outstanding Reviewer Award, Journal of Advertising (2023)
Early Career Teaching Excellence Award, Advertising Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (2023)
Mary Alice Shaver Promising Professor Award, American Academy of Advertising (2019)
Runner-Up for the 2017 Best Article, Journal of Advertising (2018)
Selected Publications
“Bridging the Identity Gap: Exploring the Role of Self-Discrepancy in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Purchase” (2025, Journal of Advertising).
“Novelty vs. Trust in Virtual Influencers. Exploring the Effectiveness of Human-like Virtual Influencers and Anime-like Virtual Influencers” (2025, International Journal of Advertising).
“A Narrative Approach for Overcoming the Message Credibility Problem in Green Advertising” (2022, Journal of Business Research).
“Covid-19 Advertising: Exploring Perceived Brand Message Authenticity and Potential Psychological Reactance” (2021, Journal of Advertising).
“Under the Influence: Social Media Influencer’s Impact on Corporate Reputation Advertising” (2021, Journal of Advertising).
“The Role of Empathy and Efficacy in Public Service Announcements: Using Narratives to Induce Bystander Intervention in Domestic Violence” (2019, Journal of Advertising Research).
“Why Narrative Ads Work: An Integrated Process Explanation” (2017, Journal of Advertising).
“Brand Image Congruence Through Sponsorship of Sporting Events: A Re-inquiry of Gwinner and Eaton (1999)” (2016, Journal of Advertising).
Media Coverage
Courses
PR 463: Strategic Public Relations Research, Analysis and Insights
PR 490: Directed Research
PR 590: Directed Research