Frank Dardis

Offering a substantial mix of both professional and academic experience, Frank Dardis teaches courses that encompass many areas of advertising and marketing communications: COMM 424 Advertising Campaigns, COMM 422 Advertising Media Planning, COMM 450A Digital Campaigns, and COMM 420 Research Methods in Advertising and Public Relations. He also teaches a graduate seminar in strategic communications (COMM 520), an online M.P.S. course in strategic communications theory and practice (COMM 531), and a first-year seminar on non-traditional marketing-communications methods. From 2015-2018, he was lead faculty of the online strategic communications program.

Dardis is a senior research fellow at the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and is a faculty affiliate of Penn State’s Media Effects Research Laboratory. Most of Dardis’ current research focuses on the persuasive and psychological effects that strategic communications and messages have on individuals. His consumer-oriented research focuses on the impact of advertising messages and corporate communications on individuals’ information processing and brand/corporate attitudes. Much of his recent research explores the effects of branded content within interactive media. He also has investigated attitude formation and change pertaining to sociopolitical topics such as social movement organizations, war protest, environmentalism, capital punishment and political apathy.

In addition to regularly presenting research papers at major conferences, Dardis’ work has appeared in publications such as Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Mass Communication and Society, Media Psychology, Journal of Promotion Management, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, and Public Relations Review. He also currently is associate editor of Journal of Promotion Management and sits on the editorial boards of Journal of Interactive Advertising and Mass Communication and Society.

Prior to earning his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina, Dardis earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Florida. During most of the 12-year period between his bachelor's degree and Ph.D., he worked in advertising and marketing communications for several large corporations, including an Anheuser-Busch subsidiary, a golf course/community developer and a professional baseball team.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Vafeiadis, M., Dardis, F. E., Diddi, P., Overton, H., & Buckley, C. (2025). Saying the right things to the right audience: The influence of message strategy and consumer demographics on reactions to corporate social advocacy (CSA) communications. International Journal of Business Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884251336354

Dardis, F. E., Haigh, M. M., Overton, H., & Bailey, E. (2025). Optimizing brand perceptions by aligning corporate communication strategy with message framing strategy in CSR messages. Journal of Promotion Management, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2025.2484713

Overton, H., Vafeiadis, M., Diddi, P., Buckley, C., & Dardis, F. E. (2025). Examining the impact of corporate social Advocacy (CSA) issue ownership and message content on authenticity perceptions and behavioral intentions. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 30(7), 21-43. DOI: 10.1108/CCIJ-05-2024-0080

Dardis, F. E., Buckley, C., Mitra, P., Heaton, C., & Xiao, A. (2025). Improving nonprofit engagement on social media: Using big data, machine-learning, and sentiment analysis to evaluate leading nonprofits’ message strategies on Twitter/X. International Journal of Information Technology, 17(1), 395-407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41870-024-02263-5

Wei, L., Schmierbach, M., Liu, B., Kang, J., Chen, C., Dardis, F. E., Tan, R., & Cohen, E. (2025). Amplifying player experience to facilitate prosocial outcomes in a narrative-based serious game. Media and Communication, 13. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.8637

Maksi, S. J., Long, J. W., Keller, K. L., Dardis, F. E., Freeman, J., Veechi, M., Emond, J. A., & Masterson, T. D. (2024). Exploring adolescent vulnerability to influencer product endorsement on snack intake within a livestreaming context. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 5(2), 1-11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb000...

Maksi, S. J., Keller, K. L., Dardis, F. E., Veechi, M., Freeman, J., Evans, R. K., Boyland, E., & Masterson, T. D. (2024). The food and beverage cues in digital marketing (FBCDM) model: Special considerations of social media, gaming, and livestreaming environments for food marketing and eating behavior research. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10, 1-15. DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1325265

Harrison, V., Vafeiadis, M., Diddi, P., Buckley, C., & Dardis, F. E. (2022). Understanding how corporate social responsibility partnership factors influence nonprofit supportive intentions. Public Relations Review, 48(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102184

Freeman, J., & Dardis, F. E. (2022). Kidfluencing: The role of selling intent, logo presence, and disclosure modality on parental appraisal. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 43(3), 256-273. DOI: 10.1080/10641734.2022.2037111

DiRusso, C., Buckley, C., Diddi, P., Dardis, F. E., Vafeiadis, M., & Eng, N. (2022). Designing effective corporate social advocacy campaigns using valence, arousal, and issue salience. Public Relations Review, 48(3), 1-12.

Vafeiadis, M., Harrison, V., Diddi, P., Dardis, F. E., & Buckley, C. (2021). Strategic nonprofit communication: Effects of cross-sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) alliances on nonprofits and the mediating role of social-objective achievement and consumer brand identification. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 15(4), 275-292.

Dardis, F. E., Schmierbach, M., Sherrick, B., & Luckman, B. (2019). How game difficulty and ad framing influence memory of in-game advertisements. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 36(1), 1-11. [Lead Article.]

Dardis, F. E., Schmierbach, M., Sherrick, B., Waddell, F., Aviles, J., Kumble, S., & Bailey, E. (2016). Adver-where? Comparing the effectiveness of banner ads and video ads in online video games. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 16(2), 87-100. [Lead Article.]

Dardis, F. E., Schmierbach, M., Ahern, L., Fraustino J., Bellur, S., Brooks, S., & Johnson, J. (2015). The effects of in-game virtual direct experience (VDE) on reactions to real-world brands. Journal of Promotion Management, 21(3), 313-334.

Kim, K., Schmierbach, M., Bellur, S., Chung, M. Y., Fraustino J., Dardis, F., & Ahern, L. (2015). Is it a sense of autonomy, control, or attachment? Exploring the effects of in-game customization on game enjoyment. Computers in Human Behavior, 48, 695-705.

Dardis, F. E., Schmierbach, M, Sherrick, B., Waddell, F., & Aviles, J. (2015). “Which way to go? The relative effectiveness of branded advergames, banner ads, and pre-roll ads on brand recall in video games.” Proceedings of the 2015 Conference of the American Academy of Advertising.

Dardis, F. E., & Schmierbach, M., & Limperos, A. (2012). The impact of game customization and control mechanism on recall of integral and peripheral brand placements in video games. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 12(2), 1-12. [Lead Article.]

Schmierbach, M. Xu, Q., Oeldorf-Hirsch, A., & Dardis, F. E. (2012). Electronic friend or virtual foe: Exploring the role of competitive and cooperative video game modes in fostering flow and enjoyment. Media Psychology, 15(3), 356-371.

Haigh, M. M., & Dardis, F. E. (2012). The impact of apology on organization–public relationships and perceptions of corporate social responsibility. Public Relations Journal, 6(1), 1-16. [Lead Article.]

Dardis, F. E, & Schmierbach, M. (2012). Effects of multiplayer videogame contexts on individuals’ recall of in-game advertisements. Journal of Promotion Management, 18(1), 42-59.

Dardis, F. E., & Schmierbach, M., Ahern, L., Bellur, S., Fraustino, J., Brooks, S., & Johnson, J. (2012). The effects of in-game product performance on recall of and attitudes toward the real-world brand. Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the American Academy of Advertising.

Limperos, A., Schmierbach, M., Kegerise, A. D., & Dardis, F. E. (2011). Gaming across different consoles: Exploring the influence of control scheme on game player enjoyment. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(6), 345-350.

Shen, F., Dardis, F. E., & Edwards, H. H. (2011). Advertising exposure and message type: Exploring the perceived effects of soft-money television political ads. Journal of Political Marketing, 10(3), 215-229. [Lead Article]

Dardis, F. E., & Haigh, M. M. (2009). Prescribing versus describing: Testing image-restoration strategies in a crisis situation. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 14(1), 101-118. [Awarded Top-Three Article of the Year]

Dardis, F. E. (2009). Attenuating the negative effects of perceived incongruence in sponsorship: How message repetition can enhance evaluations of an “incongruent” sponsor. Journal of Promotion Management, 15(1/2), 36-56. [Top-Ten Most Cited Article in journal, 2012-2015]

Dardis, F. E. & Shen, F. (2008). The influence of evidence type and product involvement on message-framing effects in advertising. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 7(3), 222-238.

Dardis, F. E., Baumgartner, F. R., Boydstun, A. E., De Boef, S., & Shen, F. (2008). Media framing of capital punishment and its impact on individuals’ cognitive responses. Mass Communication and Society, 11(2), 115-140. [Lead Article]

Dardis, F. E., Shen, F., & Edwards, H. H. (2008). Effects of negative political advertising on individuals’ cynicism and self-efficacy: The impact of ad type and message exposures. Mass Communication and Society, 11(1), 24-42.

Dardis, F. E. (2007). The role of issue-framing functions in affecting individuals’ beliefs and opinions about a sociopolitical issue. Communication Quarterly, 55(2), 247-265.

Dardis, F. E. (2006). Military accord, media discord: A cross-national comparison of UK versus US press coverage of Iraq War protest. International Communication Gazette, 68(5/6), 409-426.

Dardis, F. E. (2006). Marginalization devices in US press coverage of Iraq War protest: A content analysis. Mass Communication and Society, 9(2), 117-135. [Lead Article]

Dardis, F. E., & Shen, F. (2005) Message framing and brand evaluations: The role of evidence type and product involvement. Proceedings of the 2005 Conference of the American Academy of Advertising.

BOOK CHAPTERS AND SECTIONS

Dardis, F. E. (2017). The advent of virtual direct experience (VDE) research in video games: Integrating, augmenting, and informing brand-communication strategies in digital/interactive media. In S. L. Rodgers & E. Thorson (Eds.), Digital Advertising: Theory and Research (3^rd ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis.

Dardis, F. E. (2007). Food advertising, gender, ethnicity, and age. In J. J. Arnett (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media. (Vol. 1, pp. 344-346). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Dardis, F. E. (2007). Promotional tie-ins. In J. J. Arnett (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media. (Vol. 2, pp. 678-679). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Bellisario College faculty member pairs warm heart with analytical mind
• 'A video game to increase literacy of health misinformation'
• The true and false about media portrayals of fathers
• Faculty earn support from President's Fund