Bobi Ivanoff

Read Bobi Ivanoff’s hiring announcement.

What are you teaching this semester?

This semester I am teaching a course titled Social and Consumer Psychology in Advertising. The goal of the course is to inspire students to gain and seek a deeper understanding of the processes and motivations individuals use to make social and purchase decisions in different situations, which should better inform advertising strategy.

What is your area of expertise?

My expertise resides at the intersection of strategic communication and message design. More precisely, my primary interests are closely related to understanding how we can maximize the efficacy of persuasive messages (e.g., style, content, structure, length, language, etc.) for strategic purposes. This work necessitates in-depth knowledge and understanding of social influence, resistance, and persuasive principles, but also expertise in attitudinal composition, structure, and function as well as consumer/audience behavior and psychology, message distribution channels, and strategic executions. As such, my work is acontextual, which has allowed me to explore its success in numerous contexts including commercial, health, intercultural, instructional/educational, interpersonal, political, and risk/crisis management.

What research are you working on?

I am presently working on multiple projects, as I suspect is the case with most of our faculty. The majority of those are tied to my work with message design as applied in the context of inoculation theory. As a sample of this work, I can mention my current exploration of the efficacy of shorter (terse) inoculation messages in the context of mental health promotion on college campuses. I am also testing the efficacy of different types of refutational messages in different pro-social contexts (e.g., prevention of drinking and driving; encouragement of recycling). I am also exploring the efficacy of inoculation messages prepared for, and delivered over social media in, international settings in the context of pollution prevention. 

I am currently also co-editing the first book-length manuscript on the theory since its introduction more than 60 years ago. The Handbook of Inoculation Theory and Practice—a 35-chapter volume—will be the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art contribution to our understanding of the theoretical processes and variables that drive inoculation-elicited resistance. 

Significant other, children, pets?

My wife and I have three boys between 16 and 20 years of age. Two attend college and the youngest one has two high school years remaining.  We also have two rescue dogs entering their 11th and 9th years with us, respectively.

What excites you most about coming to Gainesville?

I look forward to joining the Gator Nation in a more official capacity. A fan since high school, I now get a chance to work at my favorite university. I cannot wait to start.

What accomplishments, personal or professional, are you most proud of?

If I were answering this question earlier in my career, I would undoubtedly have listed scholarly honors received, top paper awards, tier one publications, keynote lectures, top 1% scholar ranking, and similar accolades. Those remain relevant and important, but the professional accomplishments I am most proud of today center on the positive personal and professional contribution I hope to have made in the lives of my younger colleagues and our graduate and undergraduate students. Personally, I am most proud to see the positive impact my wife and I have had on our children and the great young men they have become.

Your hero or biggest inspiration (alive or historical)?

I believe heroes and inspirations come from many different places. Some provide us with examples of who one can be or strive to become, and others provide us with lessons we want to learn and mistakes we want to avoid. As such, I look to different individuals and fictional characters to guide and inspire my day-to-day actions. Professionally, I have been inspired by the consistent excellence, dedication, and scholarly focus demonstrated by my late doctoral advisor, Dr. Michael Pfau. Personally, I have admired my late father-in-law’s graceful perseverance over numerous health challenges, which he faced with an enormous resilience, grit, and smile. Even though life was a daily struggle for Leath Parker, his exuberance for life and quiet strength spoke volumes about his character showing us how true heroes confront adversity. Finally, I also keep Jack London’s Martin Eden character close to my thoughts. To me, Martin Eden represents a character who set very challenging goals for himself, but once he accomplished those goals, he lost his sense of purpose and ultimately his desire to continue his life. His character is a constant reminder for me to be prepared to evolve and reshape my goals and sense of purpose in my daily activities, so I can continue to find joy in my work and life.

What three things don’t we know about you?

1. One thing that most will not know about me is that I am a native Macedonian, having spent a significant portion of my formative years in the small European country. 
2. I also stumbled into the most defining area of my research—on inoculation theory—quite accidentally, by being at the right place, at the right time, and meeting the right person. There was nothing profound or planned about it. 
3. Finally, what most may also not know about me is that I am quite unremarkable (CJC administration, I have already signed my contract, so you cannot withdraw it ). I am the second-best scholar in my household and second favorite with the dogs. I wish I were the second-best athlete in my family, but that ship left the port some years ago. I am the worst singer in the house. I am the second-best cook, although my moussaka and breakfast crepes have drawn some good praise. I would like to suggest that I am the most detailed house cleaner, but I expect my wife will dispute that fact, so I am happy to settle for a tie (which I expect she will dispute as well). So, unfortunately, no greatness to speak of, but I am pretty adequate in most areas, so there is that.