About

Dr. Matthew S. Eastin is the Director of the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin. He has served as the Director of PhD Studies at the same school from 2017 to 2025. In 2021, he founded the Social Engagement and Media Influence (SEMI) Research Group, which serves as a platform for mentoring graduate students in media, advertising, and consumer behavior research. As Co-Director of the Nelson Center for Brand & Demand Analytics from 2022 to 2025, Dr. Eastin has been actively involved in engaging both undergraduate and graduate students in data analytics and research processes. Dr. Eastin is a leading researcher in advertising and media studies, with a focus on social cognitive approaches to consumer behavior, information processing, and emerging technology adoption and engagement. His work addresses critical societal issues such as media consumption and psychological well-being, consumer privacy perceptions, and the impact of immersive technologies like mixed and virtual reality, as well as AI engagement. He has contributed significantly to various fields including advertising, consumer behavior, media, information science, psychology, and communication. In addition to his academic research, Dr. Eastin has collaborated with several companies within the executive education program at McCombs Business School and organizations such as Lerma and the Texas Department of Transportation, maintaining strong connections with industry trends relevant to analytics and media engagement.

Research topics

• Advertising
• Marketing
• Business
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Social psychology
• Computer Science
• World Wide Web

Selected publications

• Too real for comfort? The impact of social cues and human-like behaviour dynamics in virtual influencer marketing on consumers’ perceptions and attitudes

  Journal of digital & social media marketing. · 2026-03-01

  articleSenior author

  With their human-like appearances and personas, virtual influencers are reshaping the digital and social media landscape, further blurring the lines between reality and virtuality. However, there is a gap in understanding the varied effects of these realistic-looking virtual influencers on contemporary consumers. This study, involving 244 social media users, investigated how human-like behaviours and social cues of realistically human-looking virtual influencers impact consumers’ perceptions (anthropomorphism, warmth, competence and realism) and attitudes toward them. Drawing on anthropomorphism and human-computer interaction theories, such as the sociality motivation, effectance motivation, the elicited agent knowledge model and the computers are social actors paradigm, the research expands understanding about virtual influencers. Findings indicate that while certain humanlike behaviours enhance anthropomorphic perceptions, pronounced human-like behaviours and social cues, such as consuming food next to a real human, cause discomfort. This study contributes empirical evidence of cognitive discomfort resulting from the hyper-realistic appearance and behaviour of virtual influencers. This insight sheds light on critical consideration for marketers and advertisers, as overly human-like portrayals of virtual influencers in food-related content may inadvertently evoke unease rather than engagement. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at http://hstalks/business.

  PublisherDOI

• Expanding the Influencer Spectrum: How Influencer and Product Type Interact to Shape Purchase Intentions Through the Mediating Roles of Expectancy Violation, Source and Message Credibility

  Journal of Interactive Advertising · 2026-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Not another ad! Expectancy violation effects of advertising clutter on social media

  Journal of digital & social media marketing. · 2025-06-01

  articleSenior author

  This study examines the interaction of social media users’ expectations regarding advertisement clutter, actual physical advertisement clutter and information processing needs when estimating the perceived intrusiveness of advertisements and attitude towards advertisements. Specifically, an online experiment (n = 170) supports the three-way interaction of expected advertisement clutter, physical advertisement clutter and need for cognition (NFC) vis-à-vis perceived advertisement intrusiveness, and the intrusiveness of an advertisement subsequently impacts attitude towards that advertisement. The findings suggest that perceived advertisement intrusiveness is influenced by the extent to which the expected advertisement clutter correlates with the actual advertisement clutter, and this effect is dependent upon the individual’s NFC level. The results also highlight the long-term negative effects of advertisement clutter and that high advertisement relevance might not be sufficient to offset the negative effects of both physical advertisement clutter and expected advertisement clutter. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.

  PublisherDOI

• “Failure to Notice or Noticing the Failure”

  Journal of Information Policy · 2025-07-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The current challenges of privacy self-management regulations and the inadequacy of notices pose challenges to protecting consumers’ privacy. This study introduces the concept of social contract literacy, blending social contract theory, privacy self-management, media literacy, and self-efficacy to understand consumers’ relationships with digital media and privacy. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, this research develops a new scale measuring social contract literacy in the contexts of digital media and privacy. This approach bridges the gap between consumer literacy and legal obligations, offering guidelines for practitioners and policymakers to improve privacy protection measures and better understand consumer relationships with online companies.

  PublisherDOI

• Virtual Influencer Marketing

  2025-01-01

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• “Whispers from the Wrist”: Wearable Health Monitoring Devices and Privacy Regulations in the U.S.: The Loopholes, the Challenges, and the Opportunities

  Cryptography · 2024-06-19 · 25 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The growth of wearable technology has enabled the collection of even more personalized information on individuals. New health-related devices marketed to consumers collect health information that might not fall under the traditional category of Protected Health Information, and thus, HIPAA protections do not fully apply. Meaning, commercial wearable health devices do not fall under FDA oversight, and data not paired with a doctor–patient relationship do not fall under HIPAA privacy protection; thus, much of the gathered health-related metrics are left without regulation and open to be sold to data brokers. As such, these data can be leveraged by health insurance, law enforcement, and employers, to name a few. This manuscript explores the loopholes in current regulations and suggests a framework that categorizes wearable data and addresses challenges in data transfer. Furthermore, taking a user perspective, the suggested framework offers solutions that aim to guide users and policymakers in navigating privacy issues in wearable technology.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Are Virtual Influencers More Effective In Real-World Advertisement Settings?

  Journal of Advertising Research · 2024-06-24 · 6 citations

  articleSenior author

  Do virtual influencers generate greater advertising effects when they are in a setting with more physical-world elements or more virtual-world elements? Grounded in the computers are social actors (CASA) framework, this study presents two experimental data collections investigating the effects of social cues (<i>i.e.</i>, a virtual influencer with a real human versus being alone) and product type (<i>i.e.</i>, a virtual influencer endorsing a real-world product versus a realistic virtual product versus an unrealistic virtual product) on consumers’ perception of authenticity and attitudes toward the virtual influencer and, ultimately, attitudes toward the brand and implicit brand selection. Findings include practical guidance for social media advertising practitioners and a framework for future research.

  PublisherDOI

• Virtual humans as social actors: Investigating user perceptions of virtual humans’ emotional expression on social media

  Computers in Human Behavior · 2024-02-09 · 101 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Toxic positivity intentions: an image management approach to upward social comparison and false self-presentation

  Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication · 2024-05-01 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Media users are often overwhelmed with excessive amounts of positivity on social media. While a healthy positive outlook acknowledges both the positive and negative aspects of life, a growing term in popular media referring to toxic positivity suggests users leverage positivity and avoid negativity for personal gain. Employing a two-study, multi-method design, Study 1 is framed within the impression management literature to conceptually and operationally define perceived toxic positivity intentions (TPI) through qualitative and quantitative measures. Study 2 is framed within the bandwagon and descriptive norm literature to investigate the role of perceived TPI in upward social comparisons and digital self-presentation behaviors. Results of Study 1 indicate a five-factor solution of perceived TPI on social media. Results of Study 2 suggest the relationship between (most) dimensions of perceived TPI and false social media self-presentations is significantly mediated by upward social comparison.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Advertising Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents: The Effects of Social Presence, Sincerity, and Social Benefit Appeals

  Journal of Interactive Advertising · 2024-07-02 · 11 citations

  articleSenior author

  The present study investigates the distinct advantages that conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agents provide consumers, including social benefits and communication sincerity. Additionally, this research examines how the exhibition of these attributes in advertisements impacts consumer perceptions. In doing so, this study represents an initial look at how advertisers can strategically promote conversational AI agents to consumers. The present study employed a 2 (AI agent sincerity condition vs. control condition) × 2 (AI agent benefits appeal: social benefits condition vs. utilitarian benefits condition) between-subjects online experimental design with a sample of 256 U.S. adults. Study results suggest that promoting social benefits of AI agents and emphasizing a sincere personality influence consumer social presence perceptions in human–AI interaction. Consumers' perceived social presence leads to more favorable attitudes toward the advertisement and the use of the AI agent. In contrast, without the mediating role of social presence, accentuating the utilitarian benefits of AI agents in the advertisement is more effective than highlighting social advantages in influencing consumers' positive attitudes. The current study contributes to the literature on consumer AI interactions, social presence, parasocial interactions, and brand personalities.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Nancy H. Brinson

  University of Alabama

  12 shared

• Robert LaRose

  Michigan State University

  10 shared

• Terry Daugherty

  Ohio University

  10 shared

• Kenneth A. Lachlan

  University of Connecticut

  8 shared

• Laura F. Bright

  8 shared

• Bradley S. Greenberg

  7 shared

• Gary B. Wilcox

  7 shared

• Jeongmin Ham

  The University of Texas at Austin

  7 shared

Labs

• The LabPI