Research Honor Fuels Executive DBA Student’s Progress Toward Dissertation
Responding to a business setback formed the basis of an Executive Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) student’s dissertation, and that solutions-driven approach has now earned him a prestigious research award.
Based on an early dissertation draft, Vincent Vazzana ’27 was selected to present at the 16th Annual Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship (EMS), organized by the Executive DBA Council (EDBAC) and Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain. After traveling to Spain to present alongside several members of his DBA cohort, his presentation, “Let’s Eat: A Human vs AI Marketing Endorsement Investigation on Purchase Intention in the Restaurant Space,” received the Outstanding Contribution to Research award.
The paper has its roots in a business venture, a café and juice bar near Vazanna’s home in New Jersey, outside of New York City, that struggled to attract customers. “I have about 60 clients that I work with on a daily basis, and I just couldn’t get this one off the ground,” he says. “I asked, ‘what am I doing wrong?,’ and then thought to focus my dissertation on that.”
In addition to serving as an assistant professor and director of entrepreneurship at St. Francis College, Vazzana has an extensive background in food sales and restaurant consulting. “I’ve been in sales and marketing throughout my whole career, so I came to the DBA program with a strong interest in consumer behavior,” he says.
His experience with paid online endorsements for the café, along with the recent proliferation of AI-generated videos and graphics in the restaurant and hospitality industry, led him to examine the consumer responses to different styles of ads.
“I was paying individuals to do advertisements on TikTok and Instagram, and it just couldn’t get any traction,” he says. “I really wanted to apply what I’m learning at Drexel to conduct an experiment and try to help other people besides myself.”
Vazzana developed a study examining the difference in consumer responses to advertisements featuring endorsements from a real-life human being and two different AI-generated “influencers”: a realistic-looking human and a cartoon-style animated character. In addition to identifying specific certain consumer segments with the goal of influencing behavior and increasing purchase intention, he also worked to develop skills using AI animation software to create his virtual spokespeople.
He cites guidance from his dissertation advisor Assistant Dean for Social Impact and Professor of Marketing Trina Andras, PhD, as well additional support from Associate Professor of Marketing Michaela Draganska, PhD, and Professor of Economics Teresa Harrison, PhD, in honing in on this topic.
“Vince has been clear about the real-world problem that he wanted to work on from the beginning, and he has been absolutely passionate about it and committed to it while being open to suggestions and direction,” Andras says.
Vazanna entered the LeBow DBA program in 2024 and is on track to receive his doctorate in spring 2027. He notes that “The further I get into [the DBA], and the more I understand the research process, the more it has helped me in the businesses I run and in my teaching.”
“I feel I’ve become a more well-rounded professional, educator and strategist,“ he adds.
Based on the feedback from reviewers ahead of the conference and the encouragement he received from both judges and fellow presenters in Madrid, Vazzana came away from the experience feeling inspired for the final stretch of writing and defending his dissertation.
“This is a very, very proud moment for me,” he says. “It feels great, and it just gives more motivation to work to completion and to do more research in marketing and consumer behavior.”
