The College of Communication Arts and Sciences announce that two teams co-led by Department of Advertising and Public Relations faculty members Saleem Alhabash and Susan McFarlane-Alvarez were awarded Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa grants.

 

PIRA strategic funding is a highly competitive award aimed at supporting groundbreaking research and fostering collaborative relationships with African institutions that will significantly advance knowledge and innovation on the African continent and beyond.

The recognition of Alhabash and McFarlane-Alvarez's work highlights their dedication to building equitable partnerships and advancing excellence in research.

Alhabash co-leads the project titled, "Changing Public Attitudes and Behaviors of Buying Counterfeits through Evidence - Based Education and Awareness - Raising Campaigns in Kenya." McFarlane-Alvarez will collaborate on "Promoting Science Communication and Engagement through Training and digital media platforms." Both researchers are excited about the potential outcomes and impact they will have on broader academic and international research communities.

"The grant comes at a time when our work in the college as well as in the center of anti-counterfeiting and product protection is attempting to amplify their focus on counterfeiting as a global phenomenon," Alhabash said. "There is a lack of awareness on the dangers of buying counterfeits products across the globe. We believe with the research team here and in Kenya there is an opportunity to examine the phenomena on the ground while extending the work we are doing in the college."

"The Alliance for African Partnerships holds great significance for the work they do partnering MSU faculty with universities in Africa," McFarlane-Alvarez said. "This is a tremendous honor and I look forward to deepening relationships with University of Botswana, and collaborating with my colleagues to broaden their audiences and research impacts."

Alhabash shared that counterfeiting affects each product category and creates significant impacts on personal lives. Examining consumer motivation, his research is looking for reasons why consumers engage in risky behaviors.

"That was the inspiration behind this project," Alhabash said. "We are trying to distill the research that we conducted while examining more in-depth methods that are unique aspects of buying counterfeits in Kenya and beyond. We are formed a research team with our collaborators from the United States International University-Africa to explore how Kenyan consumers think about buying counterfeits. The impact of this study will hopefully allow us to develop a nation-wide campaign disseminated by our partner, Kenya's Anti-Counterfeit Authority, to change consumers' counterfeit buying attitudes and behaviors."

The MSU team includes Department of Advertising and Public Relations' Dr. Anastasia Kononova and Patricia Huddleston, along with Anti-Counterfeiting and Production Protection staff, Kari Kammel and Carrie Feeheley. Partners in Kenya include faculty from the United States International University-Africa, Robi Koki Ociehng and Maureen Kangu and in partnership with Kenya's Anti-Counterfeit Authority's John Akoten and Henry Maina.

McFarlane-Alvarez's work with the University of Botswana science and chemistry program will explore the transcendent discoveries in science while communicating them in ways that are applicable to broader audiences.

"I believe global partnerships are extremely important," said McFarlane-Alvarez. "In terms of cross-cultural understanding, research looks different in each country. I'm hoping that we can facilitate discussions around the role of communication in helping researchers to reach their defined audiences."

Faculty research is the cornerstone of MSU. At ComArtSci, faculty research contributes to the advancement of knowledge that propels real-world learning applications for students in the classroom. As recipients of the PIRA grant, Alhabash and McFarlane-Alvarez believe their projects align with the mission and vision of the college.

"This project aligns very well with ComArtSci's mission for facutly research," Alhabash said. "This really speaks to the translational nature of research that we conduct here at ComArtSci. We are experts in messaging and trying to understand how we can strategically communicate with various constituents, stakeholders and consumers. The power of communication shifts context while attempting to improve the human condition wherever we can."

"Our focus is on building access to messages through the strategies of communication," McFarlane-Alvarez said. "We want to utilize the insights and expertise we have as communicators toward audience definition and design of specific tactics to reach those audiences. This project expounds everything that ComArtSci works towards. That includes understanding audiences, thinking from an audience-centered perspectives and building meaningful messages to produce measurable impact."

The Alliance for African Partnerships virtual PIRA launch and showcase event will take place on Tuesday, February 25 where Alhabash and McFarlane-Alvarez will be discussing their projects.

This story was originally published on the Communications Arts and Sciences website.