Biography and education
Kristen L. Sussman, Ph.D. (University of Texas at Austin), is an advertising scholar and computational social scientist whose research examines how artificial intelligence reshapes persuasion, emotion, and engagement in digital environments. Her work sits at the intersection of advertising, social media, and AI-mediated communication (AI-MC), with a particular focus on how language, framing, and affect influence behavioral responses.
Dr. Sussman’s research integrates computational methods (e.g., natural language processing, computational linguistics, machine learning, network analysis) with theory from advertising, psychology, and communication to study real-world social media and advertising systems. Her work contributes to emerging scholarship on AI-MC, moral and emotional framing, and digital engagement, and has been published in leading journals and conference proceedings across advertising, marketing, computing, and health communication.
She recently launched the Social Media, AI, and Persuasion Lab, where she leads interdisciplinary research on the social and behavioral implications of generative AI in advertising, emergency communication, and public-facing information environments.
Before entering academia full-time, Dr. Sussman founded and led Social Distillery, one of Austin’s first social media marketing agencies. There, she used social media data to develop strategic, data-driven programs for national and global organizations, including Facebook (now Meta), H-E-B, John Deere, Dairy Queen, and Chuy’s Restaurants, as well as global enterprise technology firms. Dr. Sussman’s industry experience continues to inform her work as a researcher and professor.
Dr. Sussman joined Texas State University in 2022, where she teaches Advertising Strategic Planning (MC4317), Advertising Campaigns (MC4307), and graduate-level Social Media Campaigns. She is a two-time nominee for Texas State University’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities, recognizing her contributions to research and scholarship.
Dr. Sussman previously taught in the Stan Richards School of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin and the Bill Munday School of Business at St. Edward’s University, and currently collaborates with the Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics on initiatives examining AI ethics and the responsible integration of artificial intelligence into advertising and brand practice.
Dr. Sussman’s research integrates computational methods (e.g., natural language processing, computational linguistics, machine learning, network analysis) with theory from advertising, psychology, and communication to study real-world social media and advertising systems. Her work contributes to emerging scholarship on AI-MC, moral and emotional framing, and digital engagement, and has been published in leading journals and conference proceedings across advertising, marketing, computing, and health communication.
She recently launched the Social Media, AI, and Persuasion Lab, where she leads interdisciplinary research on the social and behavioral implications of generative AI in advertising, emergency communication, and public-facing information environments.
Before entering academia full-time, Dr. Sussman founded and led Social Distillery, one of Austin’s first social media marketing agencies. There, she used social media data to develop strategic, data-driven programs for national and global organizations, including Facebook (now Meta), H-E-B, John Deere, Dairy Queen, and Chuy’s Restaurants, as well as global enterprise technology firms. Dr. Sussman’s industry experience continues to inform her work as a researcher and professor.
Dr. Sussman joined Texas State University in 2022, where she teaches Advertising Strategic Planning (MC4317), Advertising Campaigns (MC4307), and graduate-level Social Media Campaigns. She is a two-time nominee for Texas State University’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities, recognizing her contributions to research and scholarship.
Dr. Sussman previously taught in the Stan Richards School of Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin and the Bill Munday School of Business at St. Edward’s University, and currently collaborates with the Nelson Center for Brand and Demand Analytics on initiatives examining AI ethics and the responsible integration of artificial intelligence into advertising and brand practice.
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Featured grants
- Sussman, Kristen Leah, Ngondo, Prisca. Verena and Kenneth J. Wilson Research Program, Center for International Studies, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $500. (Funded: December 2025). Grant.
- Sussman, Kristen Leah. AI-Mediated Communication in Real-World Contexts: A Comparative Study of Human-Authored Text on Social Media, Texas State University, $8000. (Submitted: October 8, 2024, Funded: May 1, 2025 - August 31, 2025). Grant.
- Sussman, Kristen Leah. Multilingual AI-Assisted Emergency Preparedness: Enhancing Resilience and Equity in Underserved Communities during Climate Change-Induced Weather Events, City of Austin, State, $10200. (Funded: September 2023 - August 2024). Grant.
Featured scholarly/creative works
- Sussman, K. L., Anderson, J., Upshaw, S., Williamson, L., Ntang Beb, J.-L., Atkinson, L., & Kahlor, L. A. (2025). Moral framing in AI-mediated communication: Exploration of LLM effects on engagement patterns among Black Americans. Journal of Interactive Advertising.
- Grimes, T., & Sussman, K. L. (2025). A commentary on methodological considerations for studying the psychological impact of social media. Current Research in Psychiatry.
- Sussman, K. L., & Carter, D. W. (2025). Detecting Effects of AI-Mediated Communication on Language Complexity and Sentiment (pp. 2689–2693). New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3701716.3717543
- Jiao, J., Park, J., Xu, Y., Sussman, K. L., & Atkinson, L. (2025). SafeMate: A Modular RAG-Based Agent for Context-Aware Emergency Guidance. arXiv, 1. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.02306
- Sussman, K. L., Looi, J., & Park, H. (2024). Examining Implications of Search Query Construction on Sentiment Analysis: The Case of Brandwatch. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, (Special Issue “Emerging Issues in Computational Advertising”). https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2024.2383695
Featured awards
- Award / Honor Nominee: AAA Mary Alice Shaver Promising Professor Award, American Academy of Advertising. November 26, 2025 - March 2026
- Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities. December 2025 - Present
- Award / Honor Nominee: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Texas State University. January 12, 2024 - August 31, 2024
- Award / Honor Recipient: American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Ad-hoc Graduate Committee, American Academy of Advertising (AAA). January 2021 - May 2022
- Award / Honor Recipient: ANA Educational Foundation’s Future Visiting Professor Program, ANA Educational Foundation’s Future Visiting Professor Program. 2021
Featured service activities
- Participant
Pac-12 Image & Reputation Work Group
- Organizer
Digital Media Research Work Group
- Reviewer / Referee
Journal of Advertising
- Reviewer / Referee
Journal of Interactive Advertising
- Reviewer / Referee
Journal of Current Issues in Research in Advertising
- Participant
Grad Committee Meeting