I had the opportunity to present a research project I have been working on with professors Cristina Nistor, Ph.D., Kara Bentley, Ph.D., and Charlene Chu, Ph.D. about Social Media Engagement for Global Influencers. I am a double major in Accounting and Business Administration (Finance Emphasis) with a minor in Data Analytics graduating in May 2023. Additionally, I am the President of the Accounting Society, treasurer of the South Asian Student Association, Chapman Ambassador, and Executive Finance Assistant for the Student Government Association.

My faculty advisors and I analyzed social media engagement for global eco-influencers. I spent most of my time researching influencers and generating reports on their engagement rates, where their followers come from, their gender, and other variables. The goal of the project is to analyze how followers engage with the influencers depending on the countries they live in. We computed the cultural distance (based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions) between each eco-influencer and her followers. While working on this project, I gained valuable knowledge about compiling data and conducting analysis across influencer datasets.

At the Student Scholar Symposium, I was the only student from the Argyros School of Business and Economics, and was excited to share what we found in our research project. We found that cultural distance is a crucial factor for social media engagement. Customers are more likely to follow eco-influencers who are culturally close to them. I hope to continue working on research projects and to start working with other undergraduate students as well in the future.