Kayla Powers, an agricultural communications master's candidate within Texas Tech University's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications was awarded the ‘First Runner-Up People's Choice Poster' on Monday (Feb. 14) at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium in New Orleans.

The poster's title was “Exploring Brand Awareness and Loyalty within the GO TEXAN Certification Program.” Authors included Powers, Assistant Professor Laura Fischer and Associate Professor Courtney Gibson with Tech's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications.

Powers' poster broadly focused on Texas residents' brand awareness and loyalty for the GO TEXAN Program, which is the Texas certification program that strives to connect consumers with Texas-based businesses and products. Brand awareness and loyalty work hand-in-hand with one another. 

The study found that brand awareness must be present in order to increase the likelihood of repeat purchases and brand loyalty. Powers' results found that Texas residents were simply unaware of the GO TEXAN certification program and its products, and recommend additional marketing strategies should be used to further increase the public's knowledge and awareness of the certification program. 

Powers, a native of Katy, Texas, received her bachelor's degree in agricultural communications and journalism from Texas A&M University (2021). She has a strong background with the National FFA Organization and the livestock industry, and looks forward to future agricultural communications research projects. 

The Department of Agricultural Education & Communications is one of seven departments within the Tech's Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. The department has 14 faculty members, 287 undergraduate students and 110 graduate students. Faculty members within the department specialize in one of three disciplinary areas, including teacher education, agricultural communications, and agricultural leadership. 

CONTACT: Laura Fischer, Assistant Professor, Department of Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-0630 or Laura.Fischer@ttu.edu 

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