HCD Research Partners with Missouri School of Journalism to Conduct Advanced Consumer Advertising Research

Paul Bolls Strategic Communication Faculty Glenn Leshner Strategic Communication Faculty Kevin Wise Strategic Communication Faculty

Links

Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute HCD Consumer Studies HCD Research PRIME Lab University of Missouri

Columbia, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2008) -- The Missouri School of Journalism and HCD Research formally announced today that they are joining forces to conduct consumer advertising research studies using sophisticated research techniques and advanced online methodologies.

Home pages of the PRIME Lab and HCD Research Web sites.

HCD Research is partnering with the Psychological Research on Information and Media Effects (PRIME) Lab, while the project is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI). The PRIME Lab and RJI are both part of the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

"We are very pleased to partner with HCD Research," said Glenn Leshner, associate professor and co-director of the PRIME Lab. "We believe the type of data that we obtain in our lab, combined with the data that HCD Research collects will allow us to advance our understanding of how people make sense of televised political ads."

Current efforts are focused on testing consumer reactions to political ads that have been produced by the presidential candidates and political action committees. The PRIME Lab offers cutting-edge psychophysiological measures to both academe and industry of peoples' responses to media. The PRIME Lab will collect data to complement the advanced online measures obtained by HCD Research.

"The partnership enables us to align ourselves with one of the premier communications research organizations in the nation in order to correlate the results of our cognitive studies and the University of Missouri's physiological measures," said Glenn Kessler, president and CEO of HCD Research. "By working with the University of Missouri, we will gain new insights into the communications research that we conduct for our clients."

Headquartered in Flemington, N.J., HCD Research conducts communications research for clients in the pharmaceutical, financial, food and beverage, politics and entertainment industries. For additional information on the company's consumer studies go to: mediacurves.com, or for research services go to: hcdi.net.

Founded in 2004, RJI has launched more than 60 journalism initiatives, most of them in collaboration with the nation's leading private media companies and professional journalism and advertising organizations. RJI brings together professional journalists, scholars and industry leaders to collaborate and connect with citizens, and its programs are aimed at improving journalism in the service of democracy.

Housed in a 50,000-square-foot facility, RJI was funded with an initial $31 million gift from the Las Vegas-based Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. RJI houses state-of-the-art resources to test and demonstrate new technologies, experiment with convergence news production and delivery systems, and conduct real-time and virtual seminars and conferences.

Since publishing the student-staffed University Missourian on Sept. 14, 1908, the Missouri School of Journalism has been the international leader in hands-on journalism education, also known as the "Missouri Method." The first to offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in the field, the School is also the distinguished home of several national journalism organizations, mid-career professional programs and a thriving research agenda.

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