Dr. Josh Bramlett, Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, was recently recognized for his political communication research at annual meetings of the Southern States Communication Association and Central States Communication Association.
Southern States Communication Association
At SSCA, held from April 8-12 in Birmingham, AL, Dr. Bramlett presented the top paper in the political communication division. Dr. Bramlett’s paper, “How the 2024 US Presidential Debates Shaped Candidate Brand Associations,” was recognized at the political communication business meeting. It was co-authored by Dr. Benjamin Warner and Ms. Breck Gillespie, both of the University of Missouri.
The study examined viewer responses to the 2024 U.S. presidential debates and measured voters’ associative memory and attitudinal evaluations toward candidates. The study incorporated a political marketing lens and theoretical perspectives of brand associative memory and social identity theory to assess how Democratic, Republican, and Independent debate viewers thought about and evaluated the candidates who participated in the 2024 debates. Bramlett and his team found that former President Joe Biden received the least favorable brand associations while Vice President JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz received the most favorable associations. The study is now published online in the American Behavioral Scientist and will be included in a special issue on the 2024 presidential election. American Behavioral Scientist has published special issues on elections since the 1988 election.
Dr. Bramlett presented his paper on a panel that also featured research from two C&IS PhD students. Gustavo Lanz (center in picture) presented “The Prosecution Stands: A Rhetorical Criticism of Climate Homicide” and Fredrick Daoyenikye (right in picture) presented “A Clash of Global Giants: Media Nationalism and Framing in the U.S.–China Trade War 2.0.”
Dr. Bramlett said, “I am honored to be recognized by the SSCA Political Communication division for our latest study on presidential debate effects. I’m also proud of the great job that Gustavo and Fredrick did in their presentations. UA was well-represented at SSCA in Birmingham!”
Central States Communication Association
At CSCA, held from April 14-19 in Minneapolis, MN, Dr. Bramlett was recognized with the 2026 Judith S. Trent Award for Early Career Excellence in Political Communication. The award is bestowed by the CSCA Political Communication Interest Group. First awarded in 2019, the Trent Award is national in scope in recognizing early career research achievements by political communication scholars. “Early career” is defined as being with the first ten years since earning a doctorate. The award criteria states that “The Judith S. Trent Award for Early Career Excellence in Political Communication honors an early career scholar who has an outstanding record of research in the area of political communication.”
Dr. Xavier Scruggs, and assistant professor of communication at Wake Forest University and chair of the political communication interest group (left in picture), presented the award to Dr. Bramlett.
Dr. Bramlett reflected on the Trent Award. “I am deeply honored to receive the 2026 Judith S. Trent Award, to have my research accomplishments recognized at the national level, and to join a list with previous honorees who I admire. Dr. Trent was a legendary icon within political communication who quite literally wrote the textbook on political campaign communication. While she was a prolific scholar, what people remember most about her is the impact she made on them as a professor, mentor, and colleague. I will work daily to uphold the scholarly, pedagogical, and collegial standards of the late Dr. Trent.”
Traveling to CSCA was a full-circle moment for my academic career. It was the first conference I presented at as a doctoral student in 2017 coincidentally also in Minneapolis. I’m honored to be recognized now as more seasoned faculty scholar and look forward to continuing research in political communication as well as mentoring students pursuing careers in strategic communication roles within politics and government.
Josh Bramlett
Dr. Bramlett is currently working on projects related to how corporate brands communicate about social and political issues and will spend the summer designing research focused on campaign advertising in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. He encourages any student interested in strategic political communication to email him to chat.