Faculty Awarded Grants to Explore Bentley-Gallup Survey Data
We live in a time of technological change and political tension. Businesses are caught in the middle. When should they speak out? How should they adopt AI? What should they do about diversity, equity and inclusion? These are among the questions asked in the latest Bentley University-Gallup Business in Society report, which surveyed 5,835 adults across the U.S. for their opinions about where businesses are succeeding in bringing about positive change — and where they are falling short.
Results from the third annual survey, announced in September during an event at Gallup’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, found that most Americans (63%) believe business has a positive impact on people’s lives, up from 55% in 2002. Despite this positive view, an overwhelming majority (77%) say they don’t trust businesses to use artificial intelligence responsibly. And while most people would like businesses to take a leading role and speak out on policy areas such as climate change (54%), diversity, equity and inclusion (53%) and mental health (53%), in other areas — including political candidates (17%) and religion (13%) — the message from Americans to companies is clear: “Stick to business.”
The partnership with Gallup “has allowed Bentley to gather a robust and unique data set that can be used by our community to further explore the relationship between business and society,” says Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Tesluk. Together with Vice President for Marketing and Communications Chris Joyce, Tesluk recently awarded grants to five faculty members who aim to do just that by incorporating Bentley-Gallup survey findings into their wide-ranging research and classroom projects.
Read on for more details:
Researcher: Moinak Bhaduri, assistant professor of Mathematical Sciences
Objective: “Echo chambers are emerging concepts in opinion mining and get developed when individuals sharing common traits (gender, politics, etc.) agree substantially more among themselves when it comes to touchy topics than with people with other traits,” Bhaduri explains. “Their detection gets tough in the presence of amplitude (how large is the extent of agreement among like groups) and phase nuisances (how wide the 'base' of the chambers ought to be).”
Using data from all the Bentley-Gallup survey in 2022, 2023 and 2024, he hopes to detect and quantify variations that exist among these structures in order to “highlight the predictive (and, where possible, causal) reach an issue has on its immediate correlates ... and accentuate and exploit redundancies: whether, for instance, knowing someone’s outlook towards reducing wage gaps is enough to their guess their attitude towards profit-making, regardless of their age, gender or political leanings.”
Researchers: Fei Gao, assistant professor of Marketing (pictured top left) and Lan Xia (bottom left), professor of Marketing
Objective: “As Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) develops, an increasing number of marketers are employing Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney and Canva Magic Media to generate diverse content for use in various marketing initiatives,” Gao and Xia explain. “However, the lack of transparency is concerning as it essentially deceives consumers into believing they are interacting with authentic human-created content. Moreover, it significantly escalates the risk of fraud and manipulation of public opinion, given the substantial productivity enhancements that GenAI brings to ad creation.”
Through their study, the professors will investigate to what extent customer concerns can be alleviated by AI-related information disclosures. “In the application of generative AI for ad creation, key concerns often stem from the data used to train models, algorithms and the handling of consumer data,” Gao and Xia note. “These elements, highlighted in the Bentley-Gallup Report 2024, will form the basis of our interventions. Specifically, we will examine: 1) whether disclosing the data sources used to generate ads can alleviate concerns about the ads and the brands they promote, 2) if communicating that the algorithms used are debiased fosters more positive attitudes, and 3) whether explaining how consumer data is used for ad personalization reduces negative perceptions, compared to merely being transparent about AI involvement or offering no transparency at all.”
Researcher: Christine Liu, assistant professor of Accounting
Objective: “This research project investigates ‘AI washing’ — a concerning trend where companies potentially misrepresent or exaggerate their AI capabilities in public communications,” says Liu. Using the Bentley-Gallup data as a foundation, she hopes to develop a systematic approach to measuring and analyzing AI washing in corporate communications.
“The Business in Society Report finds significant public concern about how businesses adopt and implement AI technologies,” Liu says. “My research will extend these insights by examining whether companies are potentially overstating their AI capabilities and implementation in response to market pressures and public expectations.”
Liu is hopeful her study’s findings will contribute significantly to the scholarly discourse about corporate technology adoption and transparency: “The development of a replicable methodology for measuring AI washing will provide researchers with a standardized framework for future studies, while the creation of an AI claims verification framework will establish a foundation for ongoing research in this emerging field.”
Researcher: Uma Chandrika Millner, assistant professor of Psychology
Objective: “The Bentley-Gallup Business in Society report of 2024 revealed important information regarding the views of workers on mental health and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),” Millner says. “The results indicated that nearly half of the adults in the sample believed it is extremely important for businesses to promote DEI. Slightly more than half the sample wanted businesses to take public stances on DEI, mostly people of color (POC), young adults and LGBTQ+ individuals. Younger employees also want to hear from companies regarding mental health. Less than half, but a substantial percentage of individuals (44%) felt that businesses were doing a good or excellent job of promoting diversity.”
Millner aims to “unpack these results” by conducting a study to generate a deeper understanding of the mental health and DEI focus of businesses by examining what these three groups — people of color, young adults and LGBTQ+ individuals — believe organizations should be doing (or have successfully done) about mental health and DEI. “This proposal is the initial exploratory study towards developing a comprehensive framework of organizational readiness for employee thriving at work, with a specific focus on mental health and DEI,” she explains. “Such a framework could provide guidance for organizations, organizational leaders, consultants and employees regarding this critical issue.”