Communication Theory and Methodology Division

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Faculty • Embodied Congruence as a Framework for Understanding User Experiences with Immersive Technologies • Anne Smink, University of Amsterdam; Lindsay Hahn, University of Buffalo; Bryan Trude, University of Georgia; Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, University of Georgia • We introduce embodied congruence (i.e., perceived symmetry between users’ anticipated physical interactions and the interactions afforded by immersive platforms) as a comprehensive framework for studying user experiences with existing and emerging immersive technologies. We applied this proposed framework in a pre-registered experiment designed to examine whether higher embodied congruence afforded by wearable augmented reality (AR) devices could enhance perceived user experiences and use intentions compared to lower embodied congruence afforded by handheld AR devices. Participants (N =165) played an AR game in either a high or low embodied congruent condition. Results showed that a high embodied congruent AR experience induced higher spatial presence compared to a low embodied congruent AR experience, which consequently enhanced hedonic and utilitarian value. Although high hedonic value induced higher use intentions, utilitarian value did not. Results of this study highlight the utility of the embodied congruence framework for understanding and interpreting user experiences across a range of current and forthcoming emerging technologies.

Extended Abstract • Student • Communicating AI: Segmenting audiences on risk and benefit perceptions • Luye Bao, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mikhaila Calice, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nicole Krause; Christopher Wirz; Dietram A. Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dominique Brossard; Todd Newman; Michael Xenos • Effective communication about complex technologies requires a nuanced understanding of how different audiences make sense of and communicate disruptive technologies with immense societal implications. Using AI as an example, we segment nationally-representative survey data into distinct audiences with differing media diets. Results show that attitudes toward AI vary not just by level of news attention but also the content audiences attend to.

Extended Abstract • Student • A systematic method of cataloging civic information infrastructure • Ava Francesca Battocchio, Michigan State University; Chris Etheridge, University of Kansas; Kjerstin Thorson, Michigan State University; Moldir Moldagaliyeva, Michigan State University; Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice; Chuqing Dong, Michigan State University; Kelley Cotter; Yingying Chen; Stephanie Edgerly • The convergence of evolving technology, journalism precarity, and a global public health crisis has exacerbated long simmering questions about how and where both communities and individuals get civic information. While recent work has mapped media ecologies with a specific focus on journalistic productivity, a robust methodology for identifying and validating non-journalistic civic information production is lacking. This work establishes an approach to cataloging ever-expanding civic information infrastructure, negotiating how to determine and demonstrate the validity of the catalog, establishing a framework for incorporating emergent technology, and creating a scalable approach for cross-community comparison.

Research Paper • Student • Hyperlocal affective polarization: Remixing rural understanding • Ava Francesca Battocchio, Michigan State University • Affective polarization and the rural-urban divide in the United States are growing. However, extant work minimally focuses on community-level factors that may be driving polarization in rural communities. This paper proposes advancement of theory at the intersection of national politics, media transformations, and rurality to better understand the current state of U.S. politics. This paper proposes a new model of information sharing at the community level and how ecosystems may foster reinforcement of local concerns.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Extended Abstract: (Mis)information & Motivation: Building a motivational interactivity model for tackling online misinformation • Saraswathi Bellur; Porismita Borah • The COVID-19 “infodemic” has posed numerous challenges to communication scholars. We examine one such challenge regarding misinformation about face-mask use on social media. In an online experiment (n = 200), we manipulated information processing motives (accuracy vs. defense) and the level of interactivity (high vs. low). We measured users’ need for cognition and thinking styles. Based on this data, we propose a new motivational interactivity model to tackle the imminent problem of social media misinformation.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Expectancy violations in media theory • Robin Blom, Ball State University • This study tested a theoretical model in which news believability is predicted primarily by an interaction between news source trust and news content expectancy. The results demonstrated that the interaction was, indeed, an important factor in predicting news believability for news stories attributed to either CNN or Fox News. The effects sizes were moderate to large. Importantly, the data indicated that distrusted sources could be highly believable, even more believable than trusted sources.

Research Paper • Faculty • Message framing and COVID-19 vaccination intention: Moderating roles of partisan media use and pre-attitudes about vaccination • Porismita Borah • Vaccine hesitancy is a significant barrier for the implementation of COVID-19 vaccine. The main purposes of the current experimental study are to examine 1) the impact of four types of message on COVID-19 vaccination intention and 2) understand the moderating role of partisan media use and prior vaccination attitudes. The findings from the individual vs. collective message frames and the moderating effects of partisan media use and pre-attitudes reveal the complex nature of vaccination behavior.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • (Extended Abstract) The Strength and Pitfalls of Topic Modeling in Communication Studies: A Systematic Review • Yingying Chen, University of South Carolina; Zhao Peng, Michigan State University • Topic modeling has become a growingly popular method for text analysis in communication. As an unsupervised machine-learning text analysis method, it identifies the latent structure in the large-scale text data and shows strength in the exploratory analysis. However, researchers have also raised questions to its theoretical contribution, methodological reliability and validity. To better understand the strength and pitfalls of topic modeling, the research provides a systematic review of 94 studies that applied topic modeling in 25 peer-reviewed communication journals in the past decade. Our analysis focuses on three aspects: the theoretical contribution, the research design, the reliability and validity of the method. Our research critically examines the application of topic modeling and provides implications for future communication studies.

Research Paper • Student • What Drives You? Conceptualizing Motivations for Partisan Media Selectivity • Eliana DuBosar, University of Florida • Selective exposure is the phenomenon that individuals actively seek out messages that match their prior beliefs, spanning various subdisciplines of communication research. In political communication, this has most commonly been studied by examining an individual’s use of partisan media. This paper offers a typology conceptualizing motivations for partisan media selectivity along two axes: counter- to pro-attitudinal information and intentional use to active avoidance. Additionally, potential implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Reshaping the spheres: An essay on the new normative role of gatekeeping • Patrick Ferrucci, U of Colorado-Boulder; Toby Hopp • This theoretical essay argues for reconstituting the normative role of gatekeeping of journalism in a functioning democracy. It contends that in this time of disinformation, misinformation and fake news, the journalist’s main normative role should involve gatekeeping all deviant information from the mainstream public sphere. To accomplish this, the essay reconceptualizes for the 21st century the spheres of information introduced by Hallin (1989). It then articulates why the space inside the sphere of legitimate controversy grew in recent years, and journalists, through gatekeeping, must restore it to its normative ideal.

Research Paper • Student • Science of open (communication) science: Toward an evidence-driven understanding of quality criteria in communication research • Isabelle Freiling, University of Vienna; Nicole Krause; Kaiping Chen; Dietram A. Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Following psychology’s lead, our field has begun to endorse principles of open science with little critical evaluation. These efforts have faced a lack of (a) conceptual clarity in problem definitions; (b) formative and summative evaluation of open science guidelines; and (c) attention to non-replicability in social media data as one of our field’s most rapidly growing research areas. In analyzing these problems, we argue for a science of open (communication) science for our discipline.

Research Paper • Faculty • Research Patterns in Communication (2009-2019): Testing Female Representation and Publication Efficiency, within Most Cited Scholars and across the Field • Manuel Goyanes, Carlos III University; Marton Demeter, National University of Public Service; Aurea Grané, Carlos III University; Tamás Toth, Kodolányi János University; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Salamanca/Penn State University • Inequalities in academia are considerable, persistent, and subjected to broad scholarly scrutiny. Drawing upon the concepts of Matilda and Matthew-effects, this study compares the evolution of female scholars as leading authors, the growth of authors per paper, and the productive strategies in the last decade of the most cited scholars versus the representative sample in the Communication field. Results indicate that female leading authors remain to endure a systematic disadvantage. In the span of a decade, there are significantly more leading female authors in the field, but their proportion among the most cited scholars has not yet crystalized, introducing what we term as latent Matilda-effect. Likewise, the number of authors per paper has significantly increased in the field, but not among the most cited scholars, who, in turn, publish significantly more papers than the field average, within both 2009 and 2019. And not only that, the productivity gap between the most cited scholars and the field has substantially increased between the span of this decade, perpetuating a rich get richer effect. Theoretical implications of these findings and suggestions for future studies are finally discussed in the manuscript.

Research Paper • Faculty • Feeling is NOT Mutual: Political Discussion, Science, and Environmental Attitudes by Party Affiliation • Jay Hmielowski, University of Florida; Moritz Cleve, University of Florida; Eliana DuBosar, University of Florida; Michael Munroe, University of Florida • In this paper, we examine the conditional indirect relationship between political discussion and attitudes towards science and environmental related topics. Our study finds that the relationship between political discussion and evaluations of actors in society (scientists and environmentalists) is moderated by party identification. We also find that evaluations of scientists and environmentalists translate into support for science and environmental policies. Moreover, we assess whether these associations vary over time. These results show that the relationship between discussing politics and evaluations of scientists and environmentalists is stronger in the 1990s compared to the early 2000s among both Democrats (positive relationship) and Republicans (negative relationship). The conditional indirect association also varies over time.

Research Paper • Faculty • The Media Use Model: Using Constraint Satisfaction and Coherence to Explain Media Processes and Effects • Jennifer Hoewe, Purdue University; David Ewoldsen, Michigan State University • The Media Use Model (MUM) is a testable, meta-theoretical model that can unify and explain several existing theories of media processes and effects. It uses a constraint satisfaction approach to coherence to explain the dynamic relationship between a media consumer’s motivations, expectations, and cognitive processing during media use. The MUM includes six propositions, which represent stages during which a media consumer’s existing cognitive representations influence their selection, consumption, interpretation, and comprehension of media content.

Research Paper • Student • I, We, You, or They? Language Styles in Political Discussion on Twitter • Lingshu Hu • This study used a big dataset and cluster analysis algorithm to detect the language styles in political discussion on Twitter and applied multinomial regression to examine the covariations between Twitter user variables and language styles. Through K-means cluster analysis of over 700,000 tweets, this study identified six groups of language styles and found that they covariate with Twitter user variables such as social connections, expressive desires, and gender. Implications of findings have been discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Negative Emotion and Partisanship: The Mediating Role of Emotion on Media Trust • Myiah Hutchens, University of Florida; Ekaterina Romanova; Amanda Pennings, University of Florida • Understanding the impact of emotional responses when explaining political behavior has continued to garner attention by political communication scholars. One area that remains understudied is the extent to which experiencing different emotions influences how media sources are evaluated and the extent to which this has impacts on broader media trust. This study utilizes a single factor experiment to examine how partisanship impacts emotional reactions to comments on media stories and the subsequent mediating role of emotion on evaluations of source and media trust. Results suggest that individuals who identify as Democrats and Republicans experience different emotions in response to comments that are critical or supportive of neutral media outlets, which subsequently impacts media trust.

Research Paper • Student • Emotion in Virtual Research Spaces: Proposing Micro-Communicative Practices to Facilitate Online Qualitative Interviews • Jeannette Iannacone, University of Maryland, College Park; Lindsey Anderson, University of Maryland • Online research platforms, such as Zoom and WebEx, have become important sites for qualitative inquiry, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. As researchers move their work online, it becomes important to re-consider commonly held conceptualizations of place and emotion—both of which are key considerations of qualitative research. In this paper, we illuminate the communicative micro-practices that account for the complicated ways that emotion and place intersect during virtual qualitative interviews. In doing so, we developed four propositions that articulate ways in which emotion should be better accounted for in these online settings. We organized the propositions using the three phases of the research process—pre-data collection, during data collection, and post-data collection. These propositions underscore the relevance of emotion in qualitative research, emphasize the significance of communicative micro-practices for conducting online interviews, and inform discussions about practices for qualitative interviews that better account for virtual spaces.

Research Paper • Student • Self-Influence of Online Posting • Wufan JIA, City University of HongKong • Self-influence of online posting, or how posting content online can influence the publishers, is attracting increasing scholarly attention. Various theories have been adopted to explain this phenomenon, such as cognitive dissonance, self-perception, and identity shift. This article reviews the prominent theories to understand the self-influence of online posting and identifies several mechanisms to explain this phenomenon. This article also raises a set of criteria to distinguish each mechanism and offers a solution to find mechanisms, boundary conditions, and moderators to explain different online posting behaviors.

Research Paper • Faculty • A Multi-Trait-Multi-Perspective Conceptualization and Operationalization of Relationship: Validation of Measures for Organization-Public Relationship Types • Yeunjae Lee, University of Miami; Jeong-Nam Kim • Relationship management theories have explored and developed measures for types of relationship between an organization and its publics. Using two waves of survey data from employees (N = 454) and consumers (N = 513), this study validated the measures of three organization-public relationship types (i.e., egoistic, provident, communal) from two perspectives (i.e., organization-oriented, public-oriented). Results of MTMP (multi-trait-multi-perspective) analysis showed overall good reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. The study also provided evidence of test-retest validity and nomological validity by examining the associations between symmetrical communication and each relationship type. The effects of differences between two-sided communal and one-sided communal relationships on relational quality across groups (i.e., employees, consumers) were also identified. Implications for the use of this research are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Permanently Connected: Behavior, Perception, and Their Political Implications • Slgi (Sage) Lee, University of Michigan • The ubiquitous use of internet-connected media enables individuals to stay in constant touch with personal contacts in an “always-on” society. Consequently, some individuals have developed the habit of being permanently connected with others through digital media. This paper examines the psychological and political consequences of this behavior. Analysis of two independent sets of data collected via a two-wave panel survey and an online experiment reveals that, over time, permanent connection increases the perception of permanent togetherness with others, which we label as “permanently-connected perception.” This perception is in turn positively associated with news sharing through the belief that information one shares online will instantly be received and responded to by online contacts as it is shared. Findings emphasize the “spill-over” influence of permanent connection, in which perpetual interpersonal communication motivates political behavior, news sharing, and the role of the permanently connected perception in mediating this process

Research Paper • Student • Confusion about the Coronavirus: The Effects of Uncertainty on Information Seeking Behaviors • Heejae Lee, Syracuse University; Se Jung Kim, Syracuse University; Seo Yoon Lee; Shengjie Yao, Syracuse University; Natnaree Wongmith, Syracuse University; T.Makana Chock, Syracuse University • “There has been a notable amount of conflicting and confusing information about the Coronavirus pandemic. This study investigates the effects of information uncertainty about the disease on people’s perceptions of their own risks and information seeking behavior. Results from an online survey (N = 483) conducted in August 2020 indicated that information uncertainty and confusion about the Coronavirus increased perceived risk, while the degree of risk perception induced by the information uncertainty increased people’s negative emotions and this, in turn, led people to seek out information about the Coronavirus from government public health sites. These results suggest that initial uncertainty and confusion about Coronavirus information may actually increase risk perceptions and could lead people to seek out information on ways to prevent infection. Overall, the findings of our study have theoretical implications for understanding people’s responses to health communication during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Keywords: risk perception attitude, information uncertainty, negative emotions, information seeking, Coronavirus”

Research Paper • Student • The Pervasive Presence of Chinese Government Content on Douyin Trending Videos • Yingdan Lu, Stanford University; Jennifer Pan • The proliferation of social media has expanded the strategies for government propaganda, but quantitative analyses of the content of digital propaganda continue to rely predominantly on textual data. In this paper, we use a multi-modal approach that combines analysis of video, text, and meta-data to explore the characteristics of Chinese government activities on Douyin, China’s leading social video-sharing platform. We apply this multi-modal approach on a novel dataset of 50,813 videos we collected from the Douyin Trending page. We find that videos from the Douyin accounts of Chinese state media, government, and Communist Party entities (what we call state-affiliated accounts) represent roughly half of all videos featured on the Douyin Trending page. Videos from state-affiliated accounts focus on political information and news while other Trending videos are dominated by entertainment content. Videos from state-affiliated accounts also exhibit features, including short duration, brightness, and high entropy, found in prior research to increase attention and engagement. However, videos from state-affiliated accounts tend to exhibit lower average levels of audience engagement than Trending videos from other types of accounts. The methods and substantive findings of this paper contributes to an emerging literature in communication on the computational analysis of video as data.

Research Paper • Faculty • Perceived Exposure to Misinformation Fuels Emotional Concerns about COVID-19: A Cross-Country, Multi-Method Investigation • Joerg Matthes, University of Vienna; Nicoleta Corbu, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, ROMANIA; Soyeon Jin, Munich Technical; Yannis Theocharis, Technical University in Munich; Christian Schemer, U of Mainz; Karolina Koc-Michalska, Audencia Business School; Peter van Aelst, University of Antwerp; Frank Esser, U of Zurich; Toril Aalberg, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Ana Cardenal, Open University of Catalonia; Laia Castro, University of Zurich; Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam; David Hopmann, University of Southern Denmark; Tamir Sheafer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Sergio Splendore, Università degli Studi di Milano; James Stanyer, Loughborough University; Agnieszka Stępińska, Adam Mickiewicz University; Jesper Strömbäck, University of Gothenburg; Václav Štětka, Loughborough University • We tested the relationship between perceived exposure to misinformation and emotional concerns about COVID-19. In Study 1, multilevel regression and propensity score analyses of a survey across 17 countries confirmed this relationship. However, the relationship was weaker with rising levels of case-fatality ratios, but independent from the actual amount of misinformation per country. Study 2 replicated the relationship using experimental data. Furthermore, Study 2 demonstrated the underlying mechanism driving concerns about COVID-19 based on misinformation.

Research Paper • Faculty • A Participant Observation Method Guide for Ethnographers based on an Examination of Journalism Newsroom Scholarship • Soo Young Shin; Serena Miller, Michigan State University • A scholarly social structure that coalesces around a particular method can reveal patterns about how a field interprets that method. Content analysis is a useful way to systematically evaluate behavioral patterns. We studied participant observations of newsrooms and assessed scholars’ adherence to methodological reporting best practices in 135 journal articles. An adherence to reporting quality can improve our understanding of the method. Suggestions are put forth to increase the transparency and rigors of it.

Research Paper • Faculty • APL: A Python Library for Computational Aesthetic Analysis of Visual Media in Communication Research • Yilang Peng • Visual aesthetics are related to a broad range of communication outcomes, yet the tools of computational aesthetic analysis are not widely available in the community of communication scholars. This workshop article addresses this gap and provides a tutorial for social scientists to measure a broad range of hand-crafted aesthetic attributes of visual media, such as colorfulness and visual complexity. It also introduces APL, a Python library developed for computational aesthetic analysis in social science research, which can be readily applied by future researchers. With tools of computational aesthetic analysis, communication researchers can better understand the antecedents and outcomes of visual aesthetics beyond the content of visual media.

Research Paper • Student • CCO model can explain how a nonprofit news organization can remain independent of outside influence • Elizabeth Potter, University of Colorado Boulder • Aspects of McPhee and Zaug’s four-flows model of how communication constitutes organization show how volunteers at a nonprofit news organization can remain independent of outside influence. This case study uses the ontological four-flows model to discuss how volunteer members of the nonprofit news organization create news stories and video content for a website and a local public access channel. The ethnographic research continues with a discussion about the “the dark side” of possible public relations bias as an outside influence. Data from this ethnographic case study shows how news production volunteers negotiate through discourse how to put structures in place that can help the organization remain independent of “the dark side” of outside influence. Because this news organization is one of the first news organizations in the United States to receive direct funding from a governmental entity, the findings in this study can illustrate greater tensions created by such a funding model in a democracy as well as offer an organizational communication frame to resolve them.

Research Paper • Faculty • Legal Narratives: Establishing Frames for Media Coverage of Appellate Courts • Kenneth Pybus, Abilene Christian University • Interviews with members of the Supreme Court of Texas, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the journalists who cover both sought to identify the primary news frames jurists and journalists believed were most commonly applied by media outlets when covering decisions of the high courts. Jurists on both Texas high courts indicated they recognize the potential of journalists, consciously or unconsciously, to frame coverage of high court opinions and, through examples, helped identify several frames that could be useful in future research of appellate court coverage. Among the most common frames cited were the winner and loser frame, in which the entirety of coverage focuses on the outcome of the case rather than the rationale, on which jurists say they spend the bulk of their time, the David versus Goliath frame, in which coverage focuses on the decision’s impact on the weaker party in the case, regardless of the outcome or the issues decided, and two related frames, the ideological frame, in which decisions are reported in terms of the court’s preference for or hostility to an industry or institution, and the political frame, in which decisions of the court are cast in terms of political leanings or affiliations. Journalists defended attention to the elements of each frame described as appropriate information to fully develop and explain court decisions.

Research Paper • Student • Focus Groups in Communication, Journalism, and Media Research: A Reappraisal • Martin Johannes Riedl, The University of Texas at Austin; Gina Chen, University of Texas at Austin; Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • Focus groups are intimately tied to the history of the field of communication research but far from universally appreciated. As this research shows, focus groups constitute a powerful method in their own right, allowing deliberative group decision processes to surface. Drawing from 19 focus groups, 127 participants, five countries, and three research projects, this paper reappraises the method and reflects on a range of challenges. It also catalogs unique methodological opportunities and best practices.

Research Paper • Student • Diffusion of Diffusion: Research on the Interdisciplinary Knowledge Diffusion of Communication Theory • Shaoqing Han; Naipeng Chao; Wensen Huang; Bin Yang • Communication science at the “Crossroads” has always been faced with the problems of “Communication without Theory” and “Involution” of theory, which originated from the dilemma of theoretical contribution of communication studies. It is an important issue throughout the history of communication science, which means that most of the theories are not unique to communication science but “borrow” from other disciplines. At the same time, we should realize that some classical theories in communication science can also supply theoretical resources for other disciplines. The present study takes Diffusion of Innovations Theory as an example, based on the full-scale dataset of Web of Science (WoS), mining the citation relationships between papers, and constructing the citation network, discipline network and diffusion paths of the theory. Based on empirical analysis, we find that Diffusion of Innovations Theory has strong theoretical vitality, and the knowledge diffusion is highly interdisciplinary on time and across disciplines. The results indicate that not all communication theories are borrowed from other disciplines, and there are still some communication theories with “output” mode in the process of knowledge diffusion.

Research Paper • Faculty • Emotional Appeals, Climate Change, and Young Adults: A Direct Replication of Skurka et al. (2018) • Christofer Skurka, Pennsylvania State University; Rainer Romero-Canyas; Helen Joo; David Acup; Jeff Niederdeppe, Cornell University • There is much need to verify the robustness of published findings in the field of communication–particularly regarding the effects of persuasive appeals advocating behaviors that combat social issues. To this end, in this brief replication note, we present the results from a preregistered, direct replication of Skurka et al. (2018). The original study found that a threat appeal about climate change can increase risk perception and activism intentions and that a humor appeal can also increase activism intentions. Using the same stimuli, measures, and experimental design with a similar sample of young adults, we fail to replicate these findings. We do, however, replicate age as a moderator of humor’s effect on perceived risk, such that the humor appeal only persuaded emerging adults (ages 18-21.9). We consider several explanations for these discrepant findings, including the challenges (and opportunities) that communication researchers and practitioners must navigate when communicating about rapidly evolving social issues.

Research Paper • Student • Cultivating Cognitive Legitimacy: The Case of Solutions Journalism • Allison Steinke, University of Minnesota • The theoretical underpinnings of the solutions journalism approach have not been fully developed. By leveraging new institutional theory and cognitive legitimacy, this project provides a theoretically driven empirical investigation of how solutions journalism—defined as rigorous responses to social problems—can renew trust in the news, catalyze economic vitality for global news outlets, and provide readers and journalists alike with hope in the midst of a culture of toxic negativity. The theoretical underpinnings of the solutions journalism approach have not been fully developed. By leveraging new institutional theory and cognitive legitimacy, this project provides a theoretically driven empirical investigation of how solutions journalism—defined as rigorous responses to social problems—can renew trust in the news, catalyze economic vitality for global news outlets, and provide readers and journalists alike with hope in the midst of a culture of toxic negativity. This study presents three major theoretical arguments. First: Institutions are socially constructed with varying levels of legitimacy. Second: Solutions journalism is an emerging institution gaining legitimacy in practice worldwide. Third: Solutions journalism is a journalistic approach that functions globally as a networked organizational form.

Research Paper • Student • Toward a Theory of Solutions Journalism and Explanation of its Effects • Kathryn Thier, University of Maryland • Solutions journalism, an emerging journalism practice that rigorously covers responses to social problems using objective reporting methods, has been shown to produce positive audience attitudes and feelings. Despite increasing interest from scholars and practitioners, there is limited academic development of possible underlying theoretical mechanisms that explain solutions journalism’s effects. Accordingly, the present article seeks to develop such a theoretical framework. In doing so, the article defines solutions journalism, examines its components based on the literature, and considers whether communication theory about attitude change and persuasion offers theoretical explanations for noted effects of solutions journalism. Several propositions are offered and avenues for future research are discussed. Overall, the article provides an examination of solutions journalism and a set of propositions to steer future research of solutions journalism’s attitudinal effects.

Research Paper • Student • Why More Is Less on Dating Apps: The Effects of Excessive Partner Availability • Marina F. Thomas; Alice Binder; Joerg Matthes, University of Vienna • Dating apps advertise with high availability of potential partners. We theorize that such excessive choice could increase fear of being single and partner choice overload while decreasing self-esteem. In a survey (Study 1), dating app use was associated with increased partner availability which, in turn, predicted fear of being single. Study 2 experimentally induced low, moderate, or high partner availability. Higher partner availability increased fear of being single and partner choice overload, and decreased self-esteem.

Research Paper • Faculty • Does Sample Source Matter for Theory? Testing Model Invariance with the Influence of Presumed Influence Model across Amazon Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics Panels • T. Franklin Waddell, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida; Holly Overton, Penn State University; Robert McKeever, College of Information and Communications, University of South Carolina • Online data collection services are increasingly common for testing mass communication theory. However, how consistent are the theoretical tenets of theory when tested across different online data services? A pre-registered online survey (N = 1,546) was conducted that examined the influence of presumed influence model across subjects simultaneously recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics Panels. Results revealed that model parameters were mostly consistent with theory regardless of data source. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Measuring Sexist Stereotypes about Female Reporters: Scale Development and Validity • T. Franklin Waddell, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida; Jessica Sparks; Chelsea Moss • Prejudicial behaviors towards female journalists are on the rise, yet few instruments are available to measure stereotyping of female journalists. The present work validates a new scale for measuring female journalist stereotyping (FJS) using exploratory (N = 561) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 580). Results reveal that the FJS scale has a reliable and replicable factor structure that is distinct from measures of sexism and journalist mistrust. FJS also negatively predicts news credibility.

Research Paper • Student • (Extended) Influence of Presumed Influence: Past, Present, and Future • Yin Yang, Pennsylvania State University • Since Gunther and Storey (2003) originated the influence of presumed influence (IPI), researchers have applied it to examine an indirect route of media effects. This paper reviews this theory, including key constructs of IPI with their relationships, important IPI studies, unsolved problems in IPI research, and future direction to address these problems. In particular, this paper suggests scholars to integrate media features into IPI studies. A theoretical rationale for this suggestion and examples are provided.

2022 Abstracts

Communication Technology Division

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Faculty • Aaron Atkins • The development and exploration of immersive, 360-degree virtual reality video (360VR) and its potential as a viable medium for information dissemination, has been the subject of both speculation and exploration over the last five years. As such, it becomes important to test/examine and investigate the effects the medium itself in different message contexts. This study details an experiment designed to test memory performance, persuasion and counterargument, and mediated influence in a community news context. It will use a political ideology message factor manipulation in a virtual reality, community journalism story and utilize a general public participant pool as the foundation for the study. It will also make use of the limited capacity model for motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP) as its theoretical framework. Findings include differences in memory performance between moderate and liberal participant groups, an increase in spatial presence mediated by sense of community, differences in visual and aural recall, and a ceiling effect in perceptions of journalist and message credibility. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia; Porismita Borah; Danielle Ka Lai Lee; Janice Lee; Yan Su; Anastasia Vishnevskaya; Xizhu Xiao • In this paper we examine Tweets related to five leading conspiracies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 15 conspiracy elements that were coded, content that believed in the conspiracy theories were the highest; followed by malicious purpose; and content about the conspirators. Our findings from the quantitative patterns as well as from qualitative narrative coding showed the interconnections among all five conspiracy theories. Findings showed that malicious purposes and secretive actions received the highest engagement.

Research Paper • Faculty • Yuhmiin Chang • Recent survey studies have found that media multitasking had a negative effect on mood. This study, however, proposes that media multitasking can have both positive and negative effects on mood depending on the messages in the single medium. The results of the experiment demonstrate that media multitasking lead to greater mood repair through the mediation of perceived entertainment than relevant Website and lesser mood repair through the mediation of flow than Netflix sitcoms on PC.

Research Paper • Student • Ye Chen; Carolyn Lin • This study examined the effects of augmented realness and technology fluidity of (Augmented Reality)AR applications on consumers’ experience. A posttest-only between-subjects experiment was conducted to test a series of hypotheses. Findings demonstrate that both features positively influenced consumer responses through the immersion experience of flow. Specific effects on cognitive and affective response were discussed. The study contributes to theoretical building in AR marketing research and has implications to AR marketing practitioners.

Research Paper • Student • Joshua Cloudy, Texas Tech University; Jamie Banks; Nick Bowman • Artificially intelligent (AI) journalists have the potential to lower hostile media bias by activating the machine heuristic—a mental shortcut assuming machines are more unbiased, systematic, and accurate than are humans. An online experiment targeting abortion partisans found support for the prediction: an AI journalist activates the machine heuristic that, in turn, mitigates hostile media bias. This mediation effect was moderated: perceived bias was more strongly reduced as partisanship towards the issue became more extreme.

Research Paper • Faculty • Juliann Cortese, Florida State University; Mia Liza A. Lustria; Vaibhav Diwanji, Florida State University • A randomized controlled, within-subjects experiment was conducted to compare user preferences for receiving information through a tailored video website compared to a generic website. Findings suggested that participants significantly preferred the interactive video format compared to the standard format on all but two direct-comparison variables. The interactive format outperformed the generic site in terms of behavioral intentions, user engagement, user fulfillment and positive affect, with significant order effects for information evaluation and elaboration of content.

Research Paper • Faculty • KW Fu • This study empirically examines the roles of organizational and crowd activists in social movement’s action repertoires (mobilization, framing, and tactical coordination) by analyzing 4 million Telegram channel messages collected in the Hong Kong’s 2019 Anti-Extradition Law movement. The findings highlight the logic of cross-breeding metaphorically, a hyper-hybrid mode of Bennett & Segerberg’s logics of connective and collective actions, emphasizing a dynamic power-making process of the networked media in shaping contemporary social movement.

Research Paper • Faculty • Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Salamanca/Penn State University; Manuel Goyanes, Carlos III University; Christofer Skurka, Pennsylvania State University • Recent scholarship has devoted attention to the spread of fake news in social media, suggesting systematic viable ways to slow down the spread of misinformation. Generally, effective documented interventions rely on fake news identification and social peer corrective actions. Based on a cross-cultural, mixed method sequential design, this study further investigates 1) how citizens develop strategies to identify fake news and generate rational motivations to engage in corrective actions (Study 1, based on fifty-one in-depth adults’ interviews in Spain), and tests 2) whether traditional, social media, and fake news exposure predict taking corrective measures, as well as indirect relationships explained through individual’s news cognitive elaboration (Study 2, with US survey data). Qualitative and quantitative results highlight the distinctive news use effects over fake news corrective actions, placing some individual cognitive processes at the center of fake news counteractive behavior.

Research Paper • Postdoctoral Fellow • Zhang Hao Goh; Edson Tandoc Jr; Bin Ng • Livestreaming has gained traction in recent years, making it a billion-dollar industry. Owing to its success, most social networking sites today have integrated livestreaming functions in their platforms, as an increasing number of users broadcast, and an even bigger number watch, livestreams. What makes people watch livestreams? Studies have acknowledged how social media use (i.e., social networking) can mitigate the effects of loneliness, but due attention has yet to be given to the consumption of livestream content. Using national survey data (N = 1,606), this study demonstrates that livestream viewing has a positive influence on individuals’ well-being. Notably, the frequency of livestream viewing moderates the negative effects of loneliness on the viewers’ psychological, social, and emotional well-being. Implications of the results were discussed.

Extended Abstract • Student • PEI-CHUAN CHANG; Ying-Chia Hsu • Guided by Information Acceptance Model, this study examines information adoption in the context of social shopping by integrating two moderators, content provider motivation and social homophily. Results of structural equation modeling verify information acceptance model: As perceived information quality increases, information usefulness would also increase, boosting the likelihood of information adoption. Meanwhile, when social shoppers perceived higher similarities with the social media groups, they would be more likely to view the provided information as useful.

Research Paper • Faculty • Yu-Huay Hsu, Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development at National Taiwan University; Shihhsien Hsu, National Taiwan University • Based on the affordance approach, this study used surveys to explore the relationship among the multi-dimensional aspects of SNS affordance (symbolic, functional, interactive), users’ perceived value, and usage loyalty. Findings indicated that site affordances contribute to perceived value and usage loyalty. Moreover, trust is a significant moderator through the mediated model of affordance and usage loyalty via perceived value. Results show that participants care about social media platforms’ offering and form value perceptions; thus, influencing their posterior behavior of commitment toward the corresponding SNSs.

Research Paper • Faculty • Li Zhong; Vincent Huang • This study explores how mobile technologies provide a communication tool to help Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong cope with social and emotional loneliness. Findings from a survey suggest that mobile phone use was only negatively associated with social loneliness. Both problematic mobile phone use and social support mediated the negative relationship, while only problematic mobile phone use was found to mediate the positive association between mobile phone use and emotional loneliness.

Research Paper • Faculty • Liefu Jiang, Chicago State University • Through an experiment with 199 participants, this paper tested the causal relationships between perceived media reach, perceived media influence, and different levels of corrective actions on social media. Findings show that only perceived media reach can influence participants’ likelihood of taking low-level corrective actions. This paper contributes to corrective action studies by providing evidence of causality between antecedents and different levels of corrective actions, which helps researchers investigate corrective actions more accurately.

Research Paper • Faculty • Shaheen Kanthawala, University of Alabama; Jessica Maddox • “WhatsApp is a highly prevalent form of communication among people in India, with India being the app’s largest market. The app has revolutionized communication within people’s day-to-day lives in the country with discussions including a wide spectrum of topics including health. Health content on these closed platforms can have long-term and dangerous ramifications, especially since WhatsApp has often been under fire for the excessive amount of misinformation spread on the platform. In order to explore the kind of health content prevalent on the platform, we conducted 19 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Indians over the age of 40.

Our findings highlight how most health discussions on the platform predominately involve natural remedies and alternative medication in order to build people’s immunity. However, this content is rarely verified, but people still engage with it in order to reduce feelings of uncertainty that come along with health issues (especially those in light of the COVID-19 pandemic). These ideas also give insights into the folk theories people have surrounding natural health solutions (as compared to Western medication), especially when tied together with historical and cultural narratives, and the role of the government in encouraging these beliefs.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Wonkyung Kim; Hyun Jung Oh • This study examined the process through which the quality of relationship between fans and a musician influences fans’ experience and engagement of virtual concerts. A structural equation model with the survey data collected from 248 Chinese participants highlights the importance of fan-artist relationship, perceived interactivity, presence, and enjoyment in predicting fans’ eWOM behaviors. Implications are provided on how to utilize virtual platforms and interactivity features to improve audience experience and engagement of the virtual concert.

Extended Abstract • Professional • Alex Kirkpatrick, Washington State University; Amanda Boyd; Jay Hmielowski, University of Florida • We surveyed a sample of US citizens regarding their media habits related to staying informed about artificial intelligence (AI). Results suggest that those dependent on media-systems to stay informed about AI perceive the impacts of AI to be nearer and more likely to affect people similar to them. In turn, this psychological proximity increased the chances that respondents themselves would share AI contents online. Perceived rate of technological change was found to enhance this process. Results are conceptualized in relation to Construal-level of Psychological Distances, and Media-System Dependency Theory.

Research Paper • Student • Heysung Lee, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Yibing Sun; Hernando Rojas • This research investigates relationships between engagement during live streaming, parasocial interactions (PSI), and the role of PSI as social capital promoting offline political participation, using online survey with 504 respondents in South Korea and 510 respondents in the U.S. Results shows that viewer engagement and perceived attitude homophily with the host is positively related to PSI. PSI promote political participation and political efficacy amplifies the positive effects of PSI on political participation in both countries.

Research Paper • Student • Yukyung Lee, University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • This study tested the effects of serial positioning of online consumer reviews on review information process and evaluation. Results suggested that consumer reviews published in the order of “lowest” to “highest” ratings alongside more positive prior brand attitude led to more systematic information processing, which was positively related to perceived review helpfulness. While perceived review helpfulness is positively associated with perceived website credibility, the latter is positively linked to intentions to shop on the website.

Research Paper • Student • Wenbo Li, The Ohio State University; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, The Ohio State University; Chris Cosma, The Ohio State University • News recommender system and popularity metrics (i.e., bandwagon cues) have changed how users encounter and select information. Hypotheses on resulting information exposure were derived from Sundar et al.’s (2015) TIME and Knobloch-Westerwick’s (2020) UCU frameworks. A computerized lab experiment examined how a self-representation affordance (inducing focus on self vs. others) moderates bandwagon cues’ (low vs. high numbers) impact on exposure to political messages. The results show that creating a private self-representation induced self-focus and led to more exposure to messages with high bandwagon-cues numbers than to messages with low bandwagon-cues numbers. Creating a public self-representation induced other focus and led to more exposure to messages with low bandwagon-cues numbers than to messages with high bandwagon-cues numbers. An online field study followed up and yielded similar, albeit weaker effects on information exposure. The findings underscore how user profiles and recommender systems, as on Twitter or Facebook, interact to affect information exposure.

Research Paper • Student • Fanjue Liu, University of Florida; Mo Chen; Yu-Hao Lee • Computer-generated virtual influencers today have humanlike visual representations and function like human social media influencers. Virtual influencers have been increasingly adopted as brand endorsers in influencer marketing with both successes and failures. However, little is known about how consumers would attribute the success or failure regarding virtual influencers’ endorsements. Through the theoretical lens of mind perception theory and attribution theories, this study examines how people attribute responsibility to virtual influencers when they perceive the influencer as a computer-generated virtual person versus as a human in terms of endorsement failure and success. The results of a 2 x 2 experiment showed that when the endorsement had a positive outcome, people attributed more credit to the human influencers than the virtual influencers. In contrast, when the endorsement had a negative outcome, people attributed similar responsibility levels to the human influencers and the virtual influencers. Mind perception was found to mediate the effect of source identification—virtual human versus human—on the responsibility attribution toward influencers. The findings of this research provides theoretical and practical implications for both influencer marketing and human-robot interaction research.

Research Paper • Faculty • Nancy Muturi, Kansas State University; Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University; Alec Tefertiller, Baylor University; Jacob Groshek, Kansas State University • A nationally representative online survey conducted in the United States during the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic examined the moderating role of civic engagement, social capital, and misinformation concerns in the relationship between media use and self-protective health behaviors. Building on the Social Exchange Theory, analyses found that while social media as a whole negatively impacts compliance with recommended health practices, certain affordances and awareness of its potential shortcomings reverse that association. Implications for theory, risk communication via traditional and social media, and public health are discussed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Mustafa Oz, The University of Tennessee Knoxville • “This study is an attempt to further understand uncivil discourse on social media platforms. Instead of solely focusing on incivility, this study distinguishes incivility from intolerance and examines these two concepts in the context of public comments on two social media platforms. More specifically, the study examines whether uncivil and intolerant comments vary based on platforms and topic sensitivity, as well as the relationship between uncivil/intolerant discourse and deliberative attributes.

According to the results, while incivility occurs in both platforms, there is a meaningful difference between Facebook and Twitter in terms of intolerant comments. Also, there is a positive relationship between topic sensitivity and intolerance. Finally, Facebook discussion 46% more likely to contain deliberative comments than Twitter discussion.”

Research Paper • Faculty • Mustafa Oz, The University of Tennessee Knoxville; Akan Yanik • Many surveillance studies used the panopticon analogy to understand the impact of government surveillance practices on political participation. In the light of Foucault’s thoughts, this study examined how the perception of government surveillance impacts Turkish social media users’ willingness to express an opinion on social media. Also, we examined whether online privacy skills and perceived majority variables moderate the relationship between perceived surveillance and willingness to speak out on social media. The results suggested that perceived surveillance is negatively related to one’s willingness to speak out. On the other hand, online privacy skills moderate the relationship between perceived surveillance and one’s willingness to speak out.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Judith Rosenbaum, University of Maine; Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida; Jonathan Hinds • With social media seen as central to marketing, understanding how the source of a brand-related social media post impacts attitudes is critical. Building on research into electronic word-of-mouth and warranting theory, an experiment was used to compare the impact of content posted and reshared by peers, influencers, and brands on Facebook and Instagram. Results pointed to the value of third-party claims, but also revealed the interaction between the nature of the source and the platform.

Research Paper • Student • Olga Shabalina; Xiaohan Hu; Kevin Wise • Layout congruency and user experience are central predictors of visual search on social media feeds. However, our understanding of their effect on users’ online behavior and attitude towards social media platforms is underdeveloped. The present research fills this gap and explores what Pinterest users think about visual search in one-column (congruent) versus two-column (incongruent) conditions of Pinterest board layout, and how their experience primes perceived processing fluency and attitude towards visual search.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Inyoung Shin; Hyunsook Youn • This study explores the roles of mass and social media use and personal networks in the judgment of COVID-related perceived risk among college students. Extending the impersonal hypothesis, we examine how mass media, social media, and personal networks related to college students’ risk perception at two different levels: personal and societal. Our study shows that mass media use can increase societal risk perception, whereas social media and network-related characteristics have the potential to increase both personal and societal risk perceptions.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Brian Smith, Brigham Young University; Staci Smith; Danielle Hallows; Lauren Silva; Kateryna Kravchenko • The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects include extended use of communication technology. This study examines communication technology effects through the lens of missionaries, who faced an unprecedented new normal – the replacement of in-person proselyting with digitally-facilitated interaction. In-depth interviews with 17 participants who served as missionaries during the pandemic reveal both effects and effectiveness of communication technology, including effects on resilience mediated by uncertainty acceptance and integration of personal interest.

Research Paper • Faculty • Xu Song; Cindy T. Christen, Colorado State University • A post-test only 2x2x2 factorial between-subjects experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of gender and instant messaging experience on the organization-customer live chat communication in both schema-resonance and non-schema-resonance conditions. A convenience sample (N=261) was used. Compared to males, females used less live-chat time, demonstrated greater usage intent, and were more satisfied with live chat service, communication approach, and information provided. IM experience had a significant effect on customer intention in schema-resonance live chat.

Research Paper • Faculty • Edson Tandoc Jr; James Lee, Nanyang Technological University; Xin Ping Lee, Nanyang Technological U; Yu Xuan Joycelyn Teo, Nanyang Technological U; Chei Sian Lee, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technlogical University, Singapore • This experimental study investigated the effectiveness of correction message sent by different group members (in-group vs out-group) and through different modes of delivery (group vs interpersonal chat) in reducing participants’ perceived credibility of online fake news. Guided by the social identity theory, this study found that correction messages sent via interpersonal channels were more effective at lowering participants’ perceived credibility of online fake news, but we found no main effect for type of sender.

Research Paper • Faculty • Jingyuan Shi; Liang Chen; Stephanie Jean Tsang • We extended the influence of presumed media influence model by taking interpersonal communication into account. Our survey (N = 642) results revealed that individuals’ attention to COVID-19 information on social media and their engagement in interpersonal communication about the disease independently and jointly affected presumed others’ attention. The more that individuals engaged in interpersonal communication, the less that their attention to mediated content factored into how they perceived others’ attention to such content. Presumed others’ attention, in turn, was positively associated with presuming that others were influenced by COVID-19 misinformation and the intention to correct, but not censor, misinformation.

Research Paper • Student • Yunwen Wang, University of Southern California; Yusi Aveva Xu; Jiaxi Wu, Boston University; Hye Min Kim, University of Southern California; Traci J. Hong, Boston University; Margaret L. McLaughlin, University of Southern California • A recent surge of e-cigarette use raised serious public concern. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, this study integrated computational and human strategies to disentangle vaping controversies. We conducted time-series analysis, topic modeling, classification, and chi-square tests on 2,669 public Facebook posts. Results revealed pro-vapers cited more Fairness/Cheating and Authority/Subversion than anti-vapers, while anti-vapers cited more Sanctity/Degradation. Referencing to Care/Harm as well as Loyalty/Betrayal in similar sheer volumes, the two opposing communities sometimes contextualized them differently.

Research Paper • Faculty • Yuan Wang, City University of Hong Kong; Yang Cheng, North Carolina State University • This study examines the patterns and trends of social media-related public relations (SMPR) research published in 14 journals from 2006 to 2018. It analyzes the theoretical trends (i.e., research topics, theories and theoretical models, hypotheses, and research questions), methodological trends (i.e., sample types, sampling methods, and research methods), and social media platforms used in 357 published journal articles. The results reveal the trends of SMPR articles across journal areas and stages of social media development.

Research Paper • Student • Luxuan Wang, Rutgers University; Inyoung Shin; Yi-Ta Lu • Our study examined how the unique social endorsement systems on Twitter indicating who retweets a post and how many like that post, affected perceived credibility of misinformation and sharing intention. By conducting a 2 by 2 survey experiment among 267 Twitter users, we found the relative effects of an acquaintance as a retweeter over a celebrity on misinformation credibility and retweeting intention and the presence of bandwagon cues increases information credibility and retweeting intentions.

Research Paper • Student • Yi-Ning Katherine Chen, National Chengchi University; CHIA-HO RYAN WEN, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University • Enhancing public confidence in revolutionary technology is possibly the most consequential job of government when developing novel science, and one of the greatest obstacles is to figure out why the masses hold highly discrepant views on any specific technology. Based on previous literature, this study hypothesizes that the discordant perceptions of science arise from individuals’ intrinsic divergent world views built upon political orientations, content knowledge, perceived knowledge, and habitual consumption of scientific news. Analysing 502 survey participants, our research concludes first that the dichotomous political ideology (liberalism versus conservativism) is a feeble predictor in Taiwan’s social context and not as indicative as it is for the U.S. society. Second, content knowledge of AI predicts positive attitudes towards AI and its regulation, whereas perceived knowledge of AI predicts risk perceptions of AI. Third and finally, in accordance with content knowledge, scientific news consumption has a direct bearing on both the benefit perceptions of AI as well as its regulation support.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • David Wolfgang, Colorado State University; Manu Bhandari • Negative online reader comments on news sites can hurt journalists’ credibility but much could depend on how the comments are constructed and presented. This study considers how differences in the argument strength of negative comments and the individual’s level of media trust could influence journalist’s credibility ratings. An experimental study with 122 U.S. participants showed comment argument strength can affect a journalist’s credibility and, more importantly, media trust can influence perceived argument strength effects.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Yuehua Wu; Jie Hu; Wu Li • Using online survey, this study examines a sample of Chinese college students to assess the relationship between online gaming intensity and real-life unethical decision-making. Results show that gaming intensity has no direct effect on unethical decision-making yet has indirect effect on it via game cheating and serial indirect effect via game cheating and moral disengagement. The relationship between these two variables is positive at low levels of peer cheating and negative at high levels.

Research Paper • Faculty • Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Taylor Wen, University of South Carolina • In this study, we explored the practitioner perspective of AI advertising by analyzing the articles that mention AI and its related terms from an important advertising trade publication. A computational analysis of natural language processing discovered five salient topics from these articles, including “platform/companies leverage AI in business,” “AI powers content creation,” “AI battles against human wrongdoing,” “using AI for consumer marketing,” and “exhibiting AI-involved work/cases.” We compared these topics with the existing scholarly research of AI advertising and identified the gap between academic and practitioner perspectives. Implications of this study to both researchers and professionals are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • YOWEI KANG, NTOU; KENNETH C.C. YANG, UTEP • “The convergence of mobile technologies and location-aware AR applications in museums has presented an interesting phenomenon for both researchers and practitioners to develop best practices and theoretical exploration. Particularly, the pervasive nature of mobile technologies and the heavy reliance on consumers’ locational information are two major technological advantages that make digital reality applications possible. An important question to explore is how users’ privacy concerns would affect the emerging AR applications in museums that rely on consumers’ locational information to generate location-relevant cultural contents. To better understand these relationships between consumers’ privacy concerns, consumer autonomy, and their privacy management strategies, this employed a questionnaire survey to collect empirical data from conveniently recruited 263 participants. Findings from this study did not support the role of consumer autonomy on concerns over location privacy. However, museum-goers’ own privacy concerns do predict 2 out of 3 privacy management strategies to better protect their location privacy. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.

Keywords: Augmented Reality (AR), Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory, Consumer Autonomy, Location Privacy Concerns, Privacy Management Strategies, Self-Determination Theory, Questionnaire Survey”

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Xinzhi Zhang, Hong Kong Baptist University; Dion Deng • By analyzing users’ real-time comments on the video streaming platforms—known as Danmaku comments—the present study advances research on co-commenting and distinguishes co-commenting based on the same time (two users sending comments at the same time) versus co-commenting based on the same timeline point (two users sending comments at the same points of the video’s timeline). Two co-commenting networks based on users’ danmaku commenting on Bilibili are constructed and analyzed.

Research Paper • Student • Ying Zhu; David Silva, kent State University; Michael Beam, kent State University • Internet censorship and VPN restrictions prevail in mainland China. This study investigates factors influencing overseas Chinese VPN users’ attitudes toward censorship and VPN use guided by theories of the third-person effects and social norms. Results show that third-person effects, injunctive norms, and censorship attitudes influence people’s VPN use. Both injunctive and descriptive norms influence censorship attitudes. Chinese social media use impacts people’s injunctive norms while U.S. social media use influences both injunctive and descriptive norms.

Research Paper • Student • Annalise Baines; Muhammad Ittefaq, University of Kansas; Mauryne Abwao • Using echo chambers as a framework, we analyzed 400 Parler posts using the hashtag #COVID19Vaccine and #NoCovidVaccine to understand users’ discussions through text analytics approach. Findings reveal five themes: reasons to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, population control through the COVID-19 vaccine, children getting vaccinated without parental consent, and comparison of other health issues with COVID-19. Findings suggest users adopted various terms to express their beliefs regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Extended Abstract • Student • Jaewon Royce Choi; Sharon Strover, University of Texas at Austin; Soyoung Park, University of Texas at Austin; Mackenzie Schnell, University of Texas at Austin • This study examines relatively understudied aspect in disinformation research: affective nature of contents. We investigate the visual elements of images used in the Facebook ads purchased by Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA). Following systemic functional visual semiotic theory, visual elements of gaze, social distance, and efficacy statement were coded for images in IRA Facebook ads. Multiple regression analysis reveals significant joint effects of these visual elements and political leaning of ads on IRA ad engagements.

Extended Abstract • Student • Lingbo Gan; Peng Xu • This study examines the types and motivations of Chinese elderly adults using social media to share health information through in-depth interviews. Chinese elderly adults tend to share health information about healthcare and specific diseases through group and private chats with their strong relationships. This study concludes five motives for Chinese elderly to share information, and categorizes them according to relationships and information appeal. The cultural traits and local psychology behind the behaviors are also discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Ashley Hedrick • This paper uses interviews with 15 One Direction fanfiction writers on Wattpad.com to learn more about the interactions between Wattpad’s technological affordances and fans’ erotic writing about “bad boy” characters. Fanfiction bad boys often mistreat women, sometimes escalating to sexual coercion. While the popularity of erotic writing decreased teen girl writers’ internalized stigma regarding sex, some young writers learned to seek out bad boys in real life romantic relationships.

Research Paper • Student • Mengru Sun, Zhejiang University; WEI HUANG; Wencai Hu • The proposed perception-behavior linkage effect in present study bridges the gap between perceptions of social media affordances and behaviors, shedding new light on how disclosure perceptions may trigger communication behavior in CMC. Based on Hyperpersonal communication model, it was found that asynchronicity indirectly influence the self-disclosure processes through the affordance of editability, whereby the intensified perception of asynchronicity (or anonymity) could lead to stronger perception of editability as well as more amount of disclosure and depth of disclosure. Meanwhile, the relationship between perception of asynchronicity (or anonymity) and perception of editability was contingency depend on the frequency of social media use. More specifically, suggested by cognitive load theory, the working memory would decay the self-disclosure amount as the increase use of social media. The results are critical to understanding the dynamics and opportunities of self-disclosure in social media services that vary levels of identification and types of audience.

Research Paper • Student • Muhammad Fahad Humayun, U of Colorado-Boulder • Previous research has concluded that online social network sites (SNS) may be benefiting their users by connecting and communicating with others (Donath & Boyd, 2004; Subrahmanyam & Greenfield, 2008) while there is also a growing body of research focusing on social media and privacy concerns (Bode, 2012). In this study, we aim to demonstrate that privacy concerns might limit political participation online using a convenience based sample. Through previous literature review, we hypothesized that a) Individual privacy concerns will predict lower levels of online political participation, b) Individuals’ privacy concerns will predict lower levels of the political use of Facebook, c) Individuals’ privacy concerns will predict higher levels of the political use of Instagram d) Individuals’ privacy concerns will predict lower levels of the political use of Twitter. Results show that the privacy concerns of citizens predict lower political participation on the Internet in general along with Facebook and Twitter but predict higher participation on Instagram.

Extended Abstract • Student • Fanjue Liu, University of Florida; Mo Chen • COVID-19 is fundamentally changing the way people connect, collaborate and socialize. With the ongoing pandemic amplifying people’s feeling of loneliness, technology has been integrated into peoples’ lives and used to solve challenges induced by social distancing and quarantines. Specifically, voice assistants are growing as a pandemic-era staple. Combining the uses and gratification approach and three-factor theory of anthropomorphism, this study investigates the psychological factors underlying the interaction between users and voice assistants that motivate users to anthropomorphize voice assistants, and tests whether the lack of sociality during COVID-19 pandemic motivates people to regain the feeling of connectedness through anthropomorphizing voice assistants.

Research Paper • Student • Muira McCammon • This study examines how government agencies negotiate and navigate what is appropriate for users acting on behalf of the U.S. administrative state to say. It traces the digital labor of government employees tasked with intervening when official government social media accounts amplify inappropriate content. The analytical framework proposed—government content moderation—is meant to extend understandings of how digital workers at government institutions negotiate the continued importance of information technology in promoting organizational identity.

Research Paper • Faculty • Emily McCaul, Virginia Tech; Jocelyn Hotter, Virginia Tech; Jess King, Virginia Tech; Jenna Davis • Brands increasingly utilize Instagram influencers as a digital marketing tool, because influencers have shown to be effective in engaging customers by offering them relatability and trustworthiness online via digital communication, as suggested by source credibility theory. This study seeks to explore the questions: How do Instagram users identify an Instagram influence, and what factors communicate to the consumer that a user carries “influence?” In this experiment, a 2×2 factorial design is used to present participants with two visual cues: follower counts and verification badges. Then, participants’ attitudes towards the product, attitudes towards the influencer and purchasing intentions are measured via a questionnaire. The results of this study found no significant interactions between the independent variables (i.e., follower count and verification badge) and the attitude towards the product, attitude towards the influencer’s credibility, or purchasing intention. These results carry implications for source credibility of influencers, as this study suggests, that perhaps follower count and verification badges do not play as big of a role in determining an audience’s trust and relatability to an influencer.

Research Paper • Student • Anneleen Meeus, KULeuven • This cross-sectional study examined how preadolescents’ different (i.e.,real and false) online self-presentation strategies are associated with their appearance-related perceptions. Results (n=638;52.4% girls,Mage=10.94,SDage=0.85) showed that when preadolescents engaged in more truthful self-presentations, they also felt more positive about their appearance. A significant moderation effect was found for social feedback, with the association becoming stronger as online popularity (e.g., likes) increased. Conversely, false self-presentation was negatively related to appearance-related perceptions, while no significant interaction effect was found.

Research Paper • Student • Jessica Wyers, Louisiana State University; Ayla Oden, Louisiana State University • Although the divide in terms of technological access has largely been flattened, there remain large disparities in digital and online privacy literacy. Individuals with lower rates of digital literacy are often more vulnerable to online surveillance and privacy invasion threats. Using 2019 data collected by the Pew Research Center, this study investigates how digital literacy can play a mediating role in the perceived understanding of online institutional threats by the government and private companies.

Extended Abstract • Student • Giang V. Pham, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign • This study examines the process through which flow absorbs media users’ attentional resources and results in a cost of time and effort for goals outside of the flow-inducing activity. An eye-tracking experiment is conducted to observe how video game players– who were assigned a single goal or multiple goals– allocate their attention to the game vs. to external cues. The findings will enhance the understanding of flow’s negative aspects and technology that alleviates flow costs for users.

Research Paper • Student • Caleb Porter, Brigham Young University; Camilla Owens; Ljubica Ivanović • Clubhouse is a new anonymous, audio-only, invitation-only communication technology. In the year since its inception it has amassed an enormous following. The current study seeks to build foundational knowledge on Clubhouse user’s motivations for use, in accordance with the Uses and Gratifications theory. A big data, computational content analysis was performed using text mining to evaluate the conversation surrounding Clubhouse on Twitter. Results showed “communication utility” and “exclusivity,” among others, as key motivators for use.

Research Paper • Student • Mingzhen Megan Tan; Bing Ming Woo; Dilys Ting Ying Woon • This study investigates the role of multimodal disinformation and fact-checks on message credibility and the intention to share disinformation online. Using the Heuristic Systematic Model (HSM) to control for variables that could impact credibility perceptions, this study features a 2 x 2 factorial design conducted on a Singapore sample (N = 205). The results show that multimodal fact-checks are more effective than monomodal fact-checks in debunking disinformation, with its impact mediated by message credibility.

Research Paper • Student • RYAN TAN, Pennsylvania State University; Cheng Chen • Discord is a videogame-related social platform allowing gamers to join or host and customize chat servers. Customization allows each server to have a unique interface design. With the thousands of servers currently run by players and various corporations, why are some Discord servers more popular than others? We explored these questions through an online experiment (N = 130) coupled with a content analysis of Discord servers’ interface elements at varying levels of popularity. We discovered that players perceived lower community-building opportunities in the presence of automated role assignment and role restricted channels but these perceptions were elevated in the presence of hierarchical roles in the member-list and voice channels. These perceptions of community-building further influenced users’ attitudes and behavioral intention towards the server. These findings have theoretical implications for building an integrated model of new technology adoption as well as practical implications for building better platforms for game communities.

Research Paper • Student • Dongya Wang; Yang Liu • The prevalence of masculinity on gay dating apps has negative impacts on gay men’s mental health. When cruising on gay dating apps, gay men often encountered the representation of masculinity from other users, which in turn provoked their own masculinity consciousness. Given masculinity consciousness’ association with internalized homophobia, gay dating apps use may further deteriorate gay men’s mental health. However, few studies have been conducted in the Chinese context. The current study utilized an online survey to examine how gay dating apps use influenced gay men’s depressive symptoms in the Chinese gay community in the neoliberal era. Eventually, 236 eligible participants were recruited via snowball sampling. The results demonstrated the positive relationship between gay dating apps use and users’ depressive symptoms. Moreover, the mediation effect that masculinity consciousness and internalized homophobia respectively had on gay dating apps use and depressive symptoms were demonstrated. Those findings called for attention to the negative impact of heave gay dating apps use, the prevalence of masculinity consciousness and internalized homophobia had on users’ mental health.

Research Paper • Student • Wenting Yu • The actions that news audiences take to verify news bear great theoretical and practical relevance to journalism and communication studies. In existing literature, there is no standardized scale for measuring news verification behavior. The purpose of this study is to develop and to validate a multidimensional scale of news verification. The model is developed based on U.S participants, and then validated with Sweden samples. The results show that news verification can be considered a hierarchical factor (of second-order), which consists of three lower-order factors: message elements, social cues, and third-party sources. This model is the first news verification behaviour measurement scale developed with validation in communication research.

Research Paper • Student • Ali Zain, University of South Carolina • This study uses the theory of planned behavior to predict individuals’ intentions to quit social media. Attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted intentions to quit social media, accounting for 68 percent of variance among participants (N = 525) representing the US census data. Political partisanship and belief in misinformation were also slightly increasing predictability of the TPB, indicating that they can be used as moderators or antecedents of subjective norms in future.

Research Paper • Faculty • Yulou Jiang, Beijing Normal University; Wanci Li, Beijing Normal University; Jing Lu, Beijing Normal University; Yicheng Zhu, Beijing Normal University; Anan Wan, Kansas State University • Combining gamified interfaces with popular online influencers, Social Livestream Shopping (SLS) has emerged recently as a powerful format of online marketing in East Asian societies and the West. This paper explores the effect of gamification and influencer perception on Chinese college students’ competitive arousal and impulsive buying tendency. Building on S-O-R model and Competitive Arousal Model, our path analysis found gamification and influencer perception influences competitive arousal through the mediation of immersion.

2022 Abstracts

Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Division

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Student • Predicting Individual Behavior and Collective Action Against Climate Change: Extending the RPA Framework • Jingyuan Shi; Zixi LI, Hong Kong Baptist University; Liang CHEN; Hongjie Tang, Tsinghua University • Employing the risk perception attitude framework and its extension, we conducted a large-sample two-wave survey in China, and the findings revealed that perceived individual-level efficacy served as a major antecedent of performing individual behavior, whereas perceived societal-level risk served as a major antecedent of engaging in collective action. Furthermore, for individuals with low CFC, the joint effect of perceived risk and efficacy, at both individual- and societal-levels, was positively associated with their behavioral intention.

Extended Abstract • Student • A content analysis of COVID-19 vaccination videos and viewer responses on Chinese social media • yuxin li; Nainan Wen, Nanjing University • This study examined message framings—particularly, gain/loss, benefit-target, and temporal framings, and narratives—employed by COVID-19 vaccination videos and viewers’ responses. Results of a content analysis of 234 videos showed that the most frequently used strategies included gain-focused, self-oriented framing, present-oriented framing, and non-narrative framings. Gain-framed, society-oriented, future-oriented, and narrative-formatted videos were more likely to be popular and receive approval among viewers. The framings also interacted to increase videos’ persuasiveness.

Extended Abstract • Student • What do extreme weather events say about climate change? Comparing wildfire and hurricane news coverage • Amanda Molder, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Mikhaila Calice, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Life Sciences Communication • Increasing wildfires and hurricanes signal the reality of climate change, drawing media coverage that could capture the attention of policymakers, despite lagging national climate policy. In a content analysis of 8,906 news articles, we compare coverage of wildfires and hurricanes in the U.S. from 2016-2021. Preliminary findings show greater coverage of hurricanes overall. However, climate change is more prominent in wildfire news, while mentions of policy and politicization are more frequent in hurricane coverage.

Extended Abstract • Student • Behind the Lab Coat: How Scientists’ Self-Disclosure on Twitter Influences Source Perceptions • Annie Zhang, University of Michigan; Hang Lu, University of Michigan • Social media platforms like Twitter allow scientists to share professional and scientific information, as well as personal information, with the public. This study explores the effects of these self-disclosure types. In an online between-subjects experiment (N = 1,457), participants rated scientists who disclosed personal information as more likable but less competent and scientists who disclosed professional information as more competent and trustworthy. Social presence served as a significant mediator between self-disclosure and source perceptions.

Extended Abstract • Student • Ubiquitous Coverage, Differentiated Effects: Intermedia Agenda Setting and its Effects in Communicating Protective Behaviors to American Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic • Anqi Shao; Kaiping Chen, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Branden Johnson; Sheila Miranda; Qidi Xing • Mass media have been playing a key role during global pandemics. We aimed at examining COVID-19 protective behaviors’ presence on media and its effects on public. We integrated data from multiple fields in our analysis. Our current finding suggest high-level protective behaviors like vaccination are prone be in intermedia agenda setting between news and social media. The most significant media effects on the public’s behavioral intention are limited to some specific behaviors like wearing masks.

Research Paper • Student • Thematic and Semantic Shifts of Human Gene Editing in News Coverage through the CRISPR Baby Scandal • Anqi Shao; Michael Xenos • The past decades have witnessed thousands of progresses of synthetic biology in editing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragments. The overall aim of this study is to portrait an overview of news coverage on human gene editing as a post-normal science, with focus on the key event of the gene-edited human baby born on November 2018. Results from the current analysis revealed a significant divide in covering human gene editing before and after the scandal, a focus on trust and anticipation on human gene editing and a tendency of covering risk/benefit (i.e., harm/care) related content in news articles on human gene editing.

Research Paper • Faculty • Narrative Force: How Science and Storytelling Impact Parental Trust in Concussion Science, Transportation, and Harm Mitigation • Jesse Abdenour, U. of Oregon; Autumn Shafer, University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication • Although news and entertainment coverage of sports concussions increased in recent years, many parents of youth athletes remain unaware or indifferent to practices that would mitigate concussion risk and harm. This experiment with U.S. parents of 10-17-year-olds (N = 502) explores how narratives and concussion science could be used together to increase parental trust in concussion science, mitigation intentions, and support for sports concussion policy. Direct associations and indirect relationships through transportation are explored.

Research Paper • Student • Exploring the Survival of Conspiracy Theories on Social Media: A Computational Approach • Calvin Cheng • This study investigates the duration issue of conspiracy theories (CT) on Twitter. It leverages survival analysis illustrating the lifespan of CTs and particularly stresses the effect of people’s political ideologies, mono-logical belief system and moral foundations on CTs’ survival online. It contributes to CTs’ conceptualization and provides insights on designing more efficient debunking measures against CTs on social media platforms.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • How Ethical Ideologies Influence Mask Wearing in Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Moral Obligation and Threat to Freedom • Surin Chung; Eunjin Kim, University of Southern California; Suman Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • This study examined how ethical ideologies (idealism, and relativism) influenced behavioral intention to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic through two contrasting perceptions (moral obligation, and threat to freedom) toward mask wearing. 823 samples were collected through a cross-sectional survey. The study found that idealism has a significant indirect effect on behavioral intention through increased moral obligation and decreased threat to freedom. Also, the study revealed that relativism is significantly associated with moral obligation.

Research Paper • Faculty • A Framing Analysis of The New York Times Coverage of Ebola • Foluke Omosun; Cheryl Ann Lambert • Before COVID-19 dominated news media, the world was gripped by another public health emergency: Ebola. Little is known about what narrative techniques U.S. media employed in their coverage. In this framing analysis, the authors uncovered six dominant frames: Foreign vs. local intervention; reliance on Western experts; harmful characterizations of illness; illusions of control; misrepresentations of Africa, and patient privacy norms. Findings hold implications for journalists who cover public health emergencies

Research Paper • Student • Green and Good? Benefits and Drawbacks of Moral Frames in Environmental Messages • Cassandra Troy, Pennsylvania State University; Nicholas Eng, The Pennsylvania State University; Chris Skurka • Based on Moral Foundations Theory, this experiment tests effects of five moral frames in climate change messages. Contrary to prior research, we did not find evidence that matching a message’s moral frame to individuals’ values enhances positive outcomes. However, political ideology moderated the relationship between moral framing and desired social proximity and message effectiveness. Findings raise questions about benefits of moral frames, as moral frames have the potential to drive negative feelings toward outgroup members.

Research Paper • Faculty • Role Models or Bad Examples? Influencers’ Communication about COVID-19, Youths’ Risk Perceptions and Vaccination Intentions • Desiree Schmuck, KU Leuven; Darian Harff, KU Leuven • Drawing from the two-step flow of communication theory and social learning theory, we investigated the consequences of influencers’ COVID-19-related communication within a two-wave survey among 16- to 21-year-olds. Results revealed that heavier exposure to influencers’ COVID-19-related content increased perceptions of influencers as important information source and role model for those with higher mistrust in official communication. Perceiving influencers as important information source was furthermore related to lower vaccination intentions if influencers promoted noncompliant behavior.

Research Paper • Faculty • The Mechanisms of Observational Correction • Emily Vraga; Leticia Bode, Georgetown University • Witnessing someone else being corrected on social media – sometimes called observational correction – reduces audience misperceptions. Using three studies, we explore how this process works. First, we present evidence that people who recall what a correction said reduce their misperceptions more than those who do not. Second, we demonstrate that corrections reduce misinformation credibility, which in turn leads to lower misperceptions. We discuss the implications for correctors and social media companies to better address misinformation.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The carrot or the stick? Effects of reinforcement and public trust in government on parental decision on COVID-19 vaccination for teens • EunHae Park, Ball State University; SeoYeon Kim • The study examined how positive (e.g., incentives) and negative reinforcement (e.g., regulations) and levels of trust in government influence parents’ vaccine decisions for their children. A total of 285 parents of teens who have not vaccinated their children against COVID-19 participated in the study. Findings showed that positive reinforcement was effective to elicit vaccination intention among parents low in their trust in government, whereas parents with high government trust were not affected by reinforcement types.

Research Paper • Faculty • Communicating health literacy about pharmaceutical medication on social media: “it works for me, but may not for you” • Erin Willis, University of Colorado Boulder; Kate Friedel, University of Colorado Boulder; Mark Heisten; Melissa Pickett • It is commonplace for social media influencers to work in paid partnerships with brands; this is a multi-billion dollar industry. Long have patients been active in online health communities and social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, but only in recent years have pharmaceutical marketers noticed the power of patient persuasion. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were conducted to understand how patient influencers communication health literacy about pharmaceutical medications to other patients on social media.

Research Paper • Student • Varied Optimal Predictor of College Students’ Depression Help-Seeking Intentions: An illustrative Multiple-Year Analysis of Three Samples Using Reasoned Action Approach • Yuming Fang • Increasing rates of depression among college students in the U.S. are of concern. One particularly useful and widely used theory is the reasoned action approach (RAA) that can help identify variables that explain the behavior at hand, here, help-seeking for depression among college students. However, it is unknown about the predictive power of RAA variables that predict intention to seek help, about whether the best predictor that explains the intention to seek help varies. Using three college student samples surveyed at three points of time, namely, 2016, 2018, and 2020, the study aims to answer the questions

Research Paper • Professional • News Media Coverage on End-of-Life Issues and Conversations in Singapore • FELICIA Ng; Melvin Tan; Jennifer Li; Tay Terence • Improving end-of-life care (EOL) and generating conversations is a national imperative as Singapore ages. As the mass media play an important role in driving public discourse, this study content analyzed 137 news reports to uncover Singapore’s mainstream media coverage on EOL concerns. Findings showed that the media did not emphasize enough of EOL issues important for conversations, suggesting that public health communication professionals need to be more proactive in engaging the media and community.

Extended Abstract • Student • With or From: Framing COVID Deaths in the News • Morgan Gonzales • News reporting, especially healthcare reporting, has effects that reach far beyond the newsroom. Research has shown links between the news items people consume and their actions, and on the mutually affective relationship between news and government actions. This relationship necessitates this qualitative study investigating the news media frames used in news stories about COVID-19 deaths, and how the frames in the contribute (or do not) to politicization of the COVID-19 health crisis.

Research Paper • Student • The Influence of Social Presence in the acceptance of Online Medical Consultation: The Role of Perceived Risk and Trusting Beliefs • Xiangyu Hai; Lijuan Chen; Dengqin Zuo • Based on the SOR theory, this study intends to explore the organism affected by perceived social presence, one of the prominent environmental stimuli as social cues, and then result in behavioral response to online medical consultation acceptance. Specifically, we investigate the parallel mediation role of trusting belief and perceived risk of the intention to use and perceived social presence. An experiment was conducted from June 24 to August 14, 2021 in two public hospitals in China, completed by 273 participants. As the findings show, there exists a significant difference in the intention to use online medical consultation between the two groups distributed by different level of perceived social presence. According to the results, we find that perceived social presence and trusting belief have sequential mediation effect on the acceptance of online medical consultation. Even if the mediation role of perceived risk which is supposed to be influenced by perceived social presence is rejected, the statistically negative correlation is still significant between perceived risk and the intention to use. These findings add to the limited literature on online medical consultation and expand the knowledge of application and construction in the field of SOR theory. This work offers an explorative framework of promoting online medical consultation and instructive comprehension on the importance of social presence application for online healthcare provider.

Research Paper • Student • Let’s Vaccinate Together: Exploring the Global Narratives of COVID-19 Vaccination Advertisements • Hannah Swarm • While COVID-19 vaccines have generated newfound hope, vaccine hesitancy and opposition are major roadblocks in achieving herd immunity. As a result, countries have launched vaccination campaigns to mitigate vaccine hesitancy, correct misinformation, and encourage vaccination. This study analyzed government-sponsored COVID-19 vaccination advertisements in five different countries – Argentina, Australia, Ireland, Singapore, and the U.S. – to uncover the overarching narratives. Despite cross-cultural differences, vaccination was presented as a safe, joyful, and widespread activity that would restore normalcy.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Divergent Consequences of Everyday Social Media Uses on Environmental Concern and Sustainability Actions • Ariel Hasell; Sedona Chinn • We use a two-wave survey to explore how different uses of social media are associated with different patterns of environmental concern and pro-environmental actions. We contrast three everyday uses of social media: informational (e.g., news), social connection, and aspirational (e.g., lifestyle influencers). Data show aspirational social media use is associated with more individual sustainability behaviors, but not environmental concern or sustainability related collective action behaviors; we find the opposite for informational use of social media.

Research Paper • Student • How Metrics, Perceived Popularity, and Perceived Credibility Affect Information Sharing Intentions: A Serial Mediation Model • Henry Allen; Leona Yi-Fan Su, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Ziyang Gong; Sara Yeo; Michael Cacciatore • This two-study paper evaluated how the quantity of engagement metrics accompanying blog posts impacted readers’ information-sharing intentions in the contexts of human-papillomavirus (N = 220) and enhanced geothermal systems (N = 1,091). Both studies showed that metrics quantity had no direct effect on information-sharing intentions, but positively predicted perceived popularity, which subsequently was positively associated with perceived credibility. Both popularity and credibility perceptions were positively related to information-sharing intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The Social Spread of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation • Hilary Sisco, Quinnipiac University; John Brummette, Radford University • This study examines how misinformation spreads through online networks in the face of a public health crisis. Using NodeXL, a semantic network analysis of 29,000 tweets collected over a year-long period is analyzed to identify the words that were communicated the most in each network, from whom, and how regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. The study’s findings provide empirical evidence of the phenomenon of misinformation on social media and identify dominant semantic structures during the pandemic.

Research Paper • Faculty • Diversity of Media Exposure, Information Verification, and COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: An Empirical Study in China • Yueying Chen, Zhejiang University; Hongliang Chen, Zhejiang University; Xiaowen Xu, Butler University • Based on protection motivation theory, this study examined the effects of media exposure and information verification on COVID-19 vaccination perceptions and intention. Analyzing the survey data from 837 respondents in China, we found that diversity of media exposure and information verification were linked to vaccination intention via the mediations of threat appraisal, coping appraisal, vaccine misinformation beliefs, subjective norms, and trust in vaccines. This study extended the PMT framework in the context of COVID-19 pandemic。

Research Paper • Student • Examining Antecedents and Health Outcomes of Health apps and Wearables Use: An Integration of the Technology Acceptance Model and Communication Inequality • HUANYU BAO, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological U; Edmund Lee • This study drew upon two theoretical frameworks— the Technology Acceptance Model and Communication Inequality to understand antecedents and health outcomes of health apps and wearables use. The results showed that a combination of multifaceted factors contributes to technology use. Perceived usefulness, design aesthetics, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms narrowed the usage gap between lower and higher socioeconomic status groups. The usage of these technologies further closed the social well-being gap between these two groups.

Research Paper • Faculty • Poly Social Media Use amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Influences of Informational Norms and Emotion Regulation • Ilwoo Ju, Purdue University; Eunju Rho, Northern Illinois University; Amber Hinsley, Texas State University • Even if research has shown that social media can motivate protective health behavior, the heightened negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and fear) can play a negative part in shaping protective behavior. Using a cross-sectional survey (N = 510) during an early phase of COVID-19, we examined the role of social media and protective health behavior. Building on social media platform-swinging and polymedia perspectives, norm activation research, and emotion regulation literature, we found that (a) informational norms mediates the association between social media information searches and protective behaviors, (b) negative emotions negatively moderated the mediating association (moderated mediation), and (c) enhanced information seeking from personal networks mediates the relationship between social media information searches and protective measures. Our unique finding is that social media and informational norms positively motivate protective health behaviors only up to a certain point of negative sentiment about the COVID-19 pandemic, but the influence disappeared when negative sentiment were hightened, supporting the proposition of emotion regulation research. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The Threat is Real! Verified Twitter, COVID-19 Omicron, and Pandemic Panic • Jason Cain; Iveta Imre • This study examined the tweets of verified Twitter users during the initial Omicron surge in late 2021. The results of the content analysis found that frames containing fear/scaremongering remained the most prevalent in tweets and also spurred the most reactions from other Twitter users. Sentiment analysis supported that frames expected to be positive indeed scored positive but that these positive frames were not liked and shared nearly as often as negative frames.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Communicating uncertainty for COVID-19 vaccine safety: Analyzing the news coverage of the 2021 Janssen (J&J) vaccine pause • Rosie Jahng; Jill Wurm; Najma Akhter • This case study examined how journalists communicated uncertainty around the Janssen (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine when the CDC ordered a pause due to reported cases of a rare but severe type of blood clots. Our initial findings from content analysis of US news coverage showed that news media communicated the Janssen vaccine pause by focusing on deficient and consensus uncertainties. Also, many articles reported scientific limitations (i.e., hedging) that were described in the original research reports.

Research Paper • Faculty • What are you measuring when you assess ‘trust’ in scientists with a generic measure? • John Besley; Leigh Anne Tiffany, Michigan State University • This manuscript analyzes three publicly available datasets focused on trust in science and scientists. It specifically seeks to understand what generic measures of trust (i.e., questions that simply ask respondents how much they trust scientists) assess in terms of discrete measures of trustworthiness (i.e., perceptions of scientists’ ability, integrity, and benevolence). Underlying the analyses is a concern that generic measures of trust are a poor substitute for differentiating between discrete trustworthiness perceptions and behavioral trust in the form of a specific willingness to make oneself vulnerable. The research concludes that it is unclear what generic trust measures are capturing and encourages researchers to use trust-related theory when designing surveys and trust-focused campaigns. The data used come from the General Social Survey, Gallup, and the Pew Research Center.

Extended Abstract • Student • Impact of Perceived and Collective Norms on COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors in Collectivistic and Individualistic Countries: A Multilevel Analysis • Junhan Chen, University of Maryland, College Park; Yuan Wang, University of Maryland College Park; Jiyoun Kim, University of Maryland • Current understanding of social norm focuses on individual level. However, given its social nature, social norm should be considered multilevel phenomena. Applying a multilevel modeling approach to data from 23 countries including 167,990 participants, this study found that individual-level norms (i.e., perceived descriptive and injunctive norms) had a positive impact on mask-wearing behavior. The positive impact was strengthened by country-level norms (i.e., collective norm). Also, the norm impact was stronger in collectivistic (vs. individualistic) countries.

Research Paper • Student • Self-Transcendence: A Look at its Intricate Role in the COVID-19 Pandemic • Jennifer Lau; Yi-Hui Christine Huang, City University of Hong Kong; Qinxian Cai, City University of Hong Kong; Jun Li; Jie Sun, City University of Hong Kong; Ruoheng Liu • Existential positive psychologists have championed the value of self-transcendence in alleviating the pain and suffering in COVID-19 pandemic. This two-part study reviewed the interrelationship of self-transcendence with people’s confidence in government, democracy, and vaccination intention. Although the findings suggested that confidence in government strongly influenced people’s vaccination intention, self-transcendence took an undermining role in the process. This intricate relationship may help institutions to shape communication strategies for coping with COVID and future health crises.

Research Paper • Faculty • The Role of Felt Ambivalence on COVID-19 Vaccination and Information Seeking: Threading the Needle in Risk Communication • Jie Xu, Villanova University • Integrating the extant literature on ambivalence and the Risk Perception Attitude Framework (RPA), this project used a survey to examine the role of felt ambivalence and perceived risk on COVID-19 vaccination attitude and behavior among college-aged young adults (n = 379). College-aged youth has the highest vaccination hesitancy among the adult population, the health decisions formed during this transitional period would inform their future parental decisions related to vaccination. Findings indicated that response efficacy mediated the relationship between risk perception and vaccination intention. Moreover, the influence of risk perception on vaccination intention was serially mediated by perceived vaccine efficacy and felt ambivalence. This study expands the RPA’s efficacy in predicting persuasive outcomes to a new health communication domain. It also lends support for considering ambivalence as a key factor in risk communication, particularly regarding vaccination. Practical implications and limitations have also been outlined.

Research Paper • Faculty • Comparing the effects of a humorous vs. a non-humorous message strategy in quiet weather communication • Jiyoun Kim, University of Maryland; Brooke Liu; Anita Atwell Seate; Saymin Lee; Daniel Hawblitzel • Through an online experiment, we empirically examined whether humorous messages have the desired impacts on community members during quiet weather. We found that compared to a humorous message, a non-humorous message appeared to be more effective in increasing perceived community resilience and positive OPRs. However, the effects were more robust for community members with low to moderate levels of weather salience.

Extended Abstract • Student • IMDb Reviews of Don’t Look Up as Responses to Climate Change and Science Communication Failures • John McQuaid, University of Maryland • This study uses focused qualitative analysis to examine discussion of politics and science in fan reviews of the Netflix hit film Don’t Look Up on the Internet Movie Database website. The satire depicts scientists’ fruitless efforts to warn the public of an impending comet collision with Earth (per the director, a metaphor for climate change). Reviews contain diverse and nuanced opinions, many angry and/or pessimistic, about American society and its failures to confront complex challenges.

Research Paper • Faculty • Challenging Media Stereotypes of STEM: Examining an Intervention to Change Adolescent Girls’ Gender Stereotypes of STEM Professionals • Jocelyn Steinke, University of Connecticut; Tamia Duncan • This study examined the efficacy of an informal STEM education program to decrease STEM-gender stereotypes and increase knowledge of STEM careers among early adolescent girls. This program featured an interactive presentation that challenged gender-STEM media stereotypes and STEM learning activities led primarily by women. Findings from pre- and post-test Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) revealed positive changes in girls’ gender STEM stereotypes and greater knowledge of STEM careers. Implications for theory and best design practices are discussed.

Research Paper • Professional • Misinformation, Anticipated Regret, and Vaccine-Related Behaviors • Jody Chin Sing Wong, RAND Corporation; Janet Yang • A national survey (N = 1025) conducted in August 2021 reveals that Americans’ belief in misinformation about COVID-19 was negatively associated with vaccine acceptance. Importantly, the more participants believe in misinformation, the less anticipated regret they experience for not getting vaccinated. Reduced anticipated regret was associated with lower levels of vaccination intention and vaccine acceptance. To counteract the negative impact of misinformation, this study reveals the potential of an under-researched emotion in overcoming vaccine hesitancy.

Research Paper • Faculty • Mental health and romantic relationship satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic • Kang Li, Zayed University; Guanxiong Huang • This research investigated the factors that were associated with people’s mental health and romantic relationship satisfaction during the stay-at-home pandemic time. We found that people’s romantic relationship satisfactions are strongly related to their mental health problems, which are associated with their media consumption, perceived family members’ depression, and their own individual differences of attachment orientation. The findings provided insights regarding psychological adjustments when people face difficulties in special life situations.

Research Paper • Professional • A Comprehensive Examination of Association between Belief in Vaccine Misinformation and Vaccination Intention in the COVID-19 Context • Kwanho Kim, Cornell University; Chul-joo Lee, Seoul National University; Jennifer Ihm, Kwangwoon University; Yunjin Kim, Seoul National University • Expanding the reasoned action approach, we proposed a comprehensive model to examine the roles of misinformation beliefs, perceived risk, fear, worry, and social networks in explaining COVID-19 vaccination intention. We tested the model using survey data of South Korean adults, collected in April 2021 (n = 744). The results indicated that misinformation beliefs, fear, and worry had negative connections with intention, mostly mediated through proximal factors. We also found significant moderating roles of social networks.

Research Paper • Faculty • Web Accessibility in India’s Healthcare Sector: Analysis of the Websites of Small Health Care Organizations • Krishna Jayakar, Penn State University; Smeeta Mishra, Xavier Institute of Management • This paper examines the level of accessibility of the websites of private Small Health Care Organizations (SHCOs) in India. Using the Berry model of organizational innovation, we examine whether hospitals’ financial resources, service type (general healthcare or specialized), location, and complexity of their websites could predict compliance. Only location was found to be a significant predictor. The vast majority of sampled websites failed to implement the WCAG 2.0 standard.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Communicating during natural disasters: Best practices for local government officials to maintain public trust • Kylah Hedding, University of Iowa; Elise Pizzi; Maggie Brooks; Elizabeth Wagner • Communication is often an overlooked aspect of studies focused on disaster preparedness and recovery, while crisis communication scholars often focus on the outcomes of specific communication strategies and approaches for organizations rather than local governments. This study examines the role of crisis communication in disaster preparedness and recovery for local government officials in Iowa. We find that communication planning and training varies widely, and crisis communication often focuses on modes of communication over messages.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Influence of anti-cannabis messages on users’ and non-users’ cognitive and emotional responses • Brian Ruedinger; Amy Cohn; Elise Stevens; Narae Kim; Jinhee Seo, University of Oklahoma; Fuwei Sun; Seunghyun Kim; Glenn Leshner • This study investigated the differences between cannabis users and non-users in their responses to messages from two different public health messaging campaigns on the harms of cannabis use. This study employed both self-report and physiological measures to compare responses at, and below, the level of conscious awareness. Preliminary findings suggest that valanced responses discriminate among message from the different campaigns more than self-report responses

Research Paper • Faculty • Taking A Peek Matters: Surveying the Effects of Information Scanning on COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions • Yafei Zhang, Renmin University of China; Li Chen, West Texas A&M University; Ge Zhu, University of Iowa • This study explored the critical role of information scanning in affecting individuals’ COVID-19 vaccination intentions. To develop an integrative model of health information scanning and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we conducted a survey in China to reveal the associations between health information scanning on WeChat, health literacy, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and COVID-19 vaccination intentions. In addition, this study tested the mediating effects of health information scanning on TPB variables. Results suggest that health literacy is not directly related to COVID-19 vaccination intentions. However, an indirect relationship is observed through 1) a single mediation of information scanning, 2) a serial mediation of information scanning and attitudes, and 3) a serial mediation of information scanning and subjective norms. This empirical study enriches scholarly understanding of information scanning as an indispensable approach to acquiring health information and provides practical guidelines for health educators.

Research Paper • Student • Humor Versus Fear: Using Emotional Appeals to Promote Breast Self-Examination Behavior Through the EPPM • Sijia Liu • This study examined the effects of humor and fear appeal messages on the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) variables of threat, efficacy, and behavioral intentions for Breast Self-Examination (BSE), and compared the effects of humor and fear appeals. Results suggest that the persuasive effect of humor and fear appeals messages consistent with the hypothesis of EPPM. Moreover, humor appeals are more effective than fear appeals to boost women intention to perform BSE behavior.

Extended Abstract • Student • Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in China: A Meta-Analysis • Yongliang Liu; Kai Kuang • This systematic review focuses on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in China and examine factors associated with vaccine acceptance/hesitancy. Grounded in the Vaccine Hesitancy Model of SAGE, predictors of vaccine hesitancy are conceptualized and investigated at three levels, including contextual factors, individual and group influences, vaccine- and vaccination-related issues. Initial search and screening work resulted in 75 qualified studies. Average effect sizes of the associations between the predictors and vaccine hesitancy will be calculated in Comprehensive Meta-analysis 2.0.

Research Paper • Student • “Talking to Themselves”: How the Politicization of Climate Change Leads to Polarized Discussions • Yuhan Li, Tsinghua University • Focused on climate change communication, this study aims to examine how the political frame influences the structure of public deliberation on climate change in the Chinese online space. By applying social network approach and propensity score matching (PSM), we found that videos themed on climate politics were more centralized and had fewer interconnected individuals in the comments section, which violated the egalitarian and reciprocated dimension in deliberation theory.

Extended Abstract • Student • Media Exposure, Trust, and Health Information Literacy Knowledge Gap: A Study in Southern China • Jinxu Li • This study collected 1051 samples in southern China to examine the factors influencing health information literacy (HIL) regarding socioeconomic status, media exposure, sources trust, and how to bridge the knowledge gap. The results showed that males, less educated, and older adults had lower HIL. Different types of media exposure and source trust have various associations with HIL. Official Internet media exposure helps bridge the HIL knowledge gap generated by differences in educational level. This study extends the Chinese context’s knowledge gap theory in health communication and provides pathways for future health interventions.

Extended Abstract • Student • Basic and Applied Science Engagement: A necessary distinction or just white noise? • Lindsey Middleton, UW-Madison; Todd Newman; Ashley Cate, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Media and the public may pay more attention to science that is controversial or impacts their day-to-day lives. This can result in a disproportionate focus on certain types of science not only in the news cycle, but also in science communication research. We find that scientist who consider their work to be less applied do more online public engagement but have less training, and we find that basic scientists have different engagement goals and objectives.

Extended Abstract • Student • Are universities walking the talk? Exploring what really drives scientists to engage with the public • Lindsey Middleton, UW-Madison; Becca Beets; Luye Bao, UW-Madison; Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Dominique Brossard, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Noah Feinstein, UW-Madison; Laura Heisler, UW-Madison WARF; Travis Tangen, UW-Madison; Jo Handelsman, UW-Madison • A supportive institutional culture is vital for academic scientists to do engagement, especially with underserved publics, but perceptions of institutional culture and incentives can be a barrier to effective two-way communication. Using a survey of faculty, we conceptualize and operationalize five distinct dimensions of public engagement and examine how they relate to perceptions of the importance of engagement to the university.

Research Paper • Student • The Role of Threat and Efficacy in Social Support Acquisition in an Online HPV Support Group: Advancing the Extended Parallel Process Model • Liang Chen, Tsinghua University; Lunrui Fu, City University of Hong Kong; Xiaodong Yang, Shandong Univerisity; Linhan Li, Sun Yat-sen University; Sitong Ding, Sun Yat-sen University • Social media have become crucial communication channels for HPV patients to seek and receive social support, which benefits both their physical and psychological health. To promote supportive communication in online social platforms, this study analyzed 96,543 messages (including 7407 posts and 89,136 comments) about social support on Baidu HPV Forum (one of the largest online support groups for HPV patients) and identified the factors associated with social support acquisitions in comments, including threat and efficacy in posts with social support requests, using the extended parallel process model (EPPM). The results revealed that the majority of social support messages in the comments provided informational support, there were a relatively small number of messages providing instrumental social support. Besides, social support request posts with high-threat and low-efficacy were more likely to receive informational, emotional, and instrumental support acquisition in the comments than other types of social support request posts. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well.

Research Paper • Faculty • Understanding HIV Vaccine Communication on Twitter: Drivers of Information Diffusion and Dimensions of Anti-Vaccine Discourse • Jueman (Mandy) Zhang, Long Island University; Yi Wang, University of Louisville; Magali Mouton; Jixuan Zhang • HIV vaccination is considered as a potential prevention measure to help end the HIV epidemic. Using manual coding and auto extraction, this study investigated the message-level and account-level drivers of the popularity and virality of tweets over a three-week period since Moderna’s clinical trials of a mRNA HIV vaccine on January 27, 2022. The study also examined the dimensions of anti-vaccine discourse, especially conspiracy theories, about HIV vaccines on Twitter

Research Paper • Student • Examining the roles of bias, trust, and risk perception on communicating genetically modified foods: A study of hostile media effect in Chinese social media • Meiqi Sun, Nanjing University; Nainan Wen, Nanjing University • To understand the division of public opinion regarding genetically modified food (GMF), this study developed a research model consisting of upstream instigators and downstream consequences of hostile media perception (HMP). Based on a quota sample of 1,023 citizens in China, this study found that social media use was indirectly associated with HMP, and HMP was indirectly associated with the intention of promoting GMF. The indirect paths were mediated by media trust and risk perception, respectively.

Research Paper • Student • Exploring the Bearing of Source Information Type on Psychological Reactance Against COVID-19 Vaccination Messages • Mercy Madu, University of Florida • COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and vaccine refusal persist in the population even as health experts warn that sustained vaccination is vital to save lives as new variants of the coronavirus emerge, and protection from initial vaccine doses start to wane. This paper explores if source information type has any bearing on psychological reactance against COVID-19 messaging, thus influencing whether individuals choose to accept or reject such messages.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The World is Amazing: Communicating Awe and Wonder about Science • MICHAEL DAHLSTROM, Iowa State University; Zhe Wang, Iowa State University; Eric Williams, Iowa State University • Science often reveals that our world is an awe-inspiring place. Yet, communicating this excitement is often superseded by desires to increase knowledge or change attitudes about scientific issues. In this study, we interview established science communication professionals who specialize in creating awe-inspiring science communication experiences to explore the factors, situations and challenges involved in communicating the awe and wonder of science and on which a broader and realistic theoretical understanding can be built.

Research Paper • Student • Gender, Family, and Health: Content Analysis of a Discussion among Chinses Social Media Users on Maternal Health • Miaohong Huang, University of Alabama • China is facing challenges arising from maternal health maternal health. User-generated content on social media and emotional representations might bring new insights to implementing maternal health interventions. Yet, few studies paid close attention to the Eastern cultural context. The study distinguished health communication patterns across cultures and identified key variables in the context of health debates on Weibo (China’s equivalent of Facebook and Twitter). Gender, family structures, sources were used to test for differences in emotions. Content analysis was conducted on social media posts using a constructed week sampling (N =1053) on a highly debated topic “painless delivery”. Results showed that: 1) user’ emotions differed by gender, source, and pain perception; and 2) men and women showed significantly different emotions when different family structures (nuclear family, extended family) were discussed. Theoretical and practical implications and limitations are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The benefits of participating in a mobile peer support group in preventing relapse: Parsing the effects of expression • TAE-JOON MOON, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio • This study examined how different types of expression (i.e., emotional disinhibition, support provision, public commitment) exchanged in a smartphone-based virtual peer support group are associated with risky drinking behavior among people with alcohol use disorder by using computer-assisted linguistic analysis. The result indicated that only support provision and public commitment expressions predicted reduced risky drinking behavior, while emotional disinhibition was not associated with risky drinking.

Research Paper • Student • The political economy of freelance climate journalists • Mushfique Wadud, Mushfique Wadud • This paper investigates the labor condition of freelance climate journalists who are based in three South Asian countries—India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Fifteen journalists from the three countries were interviewed. Data collected from the qualitative interviews were analyzed using labor process theory. Findings show that freelance climate journalists are treated differently than salaried journalists in international media outlets. Freelance journalists do not have any non-wage benefits and often their fees remain the same for years.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Health Misinformation in an Alternative Social Media Ecosystem: Sharing and Framing Anti-Vaccine Content on Telegram • Ming Wang; Martin Herz • Mitigating misinformation by mainstream social media companies has brought about a growing alternative social media ecosystem. This paper analyzes source sharing and topic themes in eight influential anti-vaccine channels/groups on Telegram. Findings show that the new social media ecosystem still shares a lot of information from the mainstream social media ecosystem, but is quite disconnected from the mainstream news media. Intrasharing is popular on Telegram and misinformation sites are also frequently shared.

Research Paper • Student • U.S.-based Science Communication Fellowship Programs: Form and Function • Nichole Bennett; Anthony Dudo, The University of Texas at Austin; John Besley • Traditional education fails to prepare scientists to communicate effectively, and training programs aim to fill this gap. But past research suggests science communication training programs lack strategy, focusing instead on narrow skill-building. Science communication fellowships may represent an improvement because of their intensive and experiential nature. This study employs interviews with fellowship directors to consider the impact of these programs through the lens of public relations and situated learning theories.

Research Paper • Faculty • Fear or Tiresome of COVID-19: Analysis of cognitive appraisal of the COVID-19 pandemic • SangHee Park, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater; Sumin Shin, Oklahoma State University • This research investigated how COVID-19 virus information affected individuals’ perceptions and how those perceptions from the media impacted cognitive appraisals and protective behaviors. The results revealed that media exposure about COVID-19 stimulated people to increase fear and tiresome, and high media exposure increased perceived threats and perceived efficacy about COVID-19. Also, this study found that high perceived self-efficacy increased intention to COVID-19 vaccination. Implications are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed.

Research Paper • Faculty • Conservative media use and Covid-19 related behavior: The moderating role of media literacy variables • Porismita Borah; Kyle Lorenzano, University of West Georgia; Anastasia Vishnevskaya, WSU, Edward R. Murrow College of Communication; Erica Austin, WashingtonState University • With a help of a national survey from the U.S. we examine the associations between media literacy variables and willingness to perform recommended COVID-19 related health behavior. Moreover, we also examine the moderating role of conservative media use in this relationship. Our findings show that conservative media use was negatively associated with these protective behaviors and that both media literacy variables were positively related with willingness to perform recommended COVID-19 related health behavior.

Research Paper • Faculty • Understanding Barriers to Parental Mediation of Digital Media: A Mixed-Methods Approach • Rachel Young, University of Iowa; Melissa Tully; Leandra Parris; Marizen Ramirez; Mallory Bolenbaugh; Ashley Hernandez • This mixed-methods study considers why parents do not establish or maintain strategies to manage adolescents’ media use, even though they feel they are expected to do so and may have the motivation or intention. In focus groups and interviews, U.S. parents of adolescents described barriers including individual beliefs, attitudes, and values, like a lack of self-efficacy or trust in adolescents to manage their own media use; experience of or concerns about family conflicts; and social-structural factors, such as instrumental uses of technology for school and socializing and burnout from mediation and other parenting demands that felt never ending. In a national survey of U.S. parents, these barriers clustered together as mediation challenges and values. Parents were more likely to say that values, including trust, autonomy, or positive valuation of digital media, were barriers to monitoring and restrictive mediation. This suggests that parental mediation research should take into account how parents’ values keep them from enacting recommended protective behaviors like monitoring or restricting digital media use.

Extended Abstract • Student • Scientists’ identity gaps: new perspectives for inclusive science communication • Leilane Rodrigues, MSU; Bruno Takahashi, Michigan State University; Sunshine Menezes; Leigh Anne Tiffany, Michigan State University • This study employs the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) to investigate the interrelation of frames of identity of scientists from minority groups in the US and their communication practices. A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews will be used to explore what identity gaps participants experience when communicating about their scholarship. The results of this study will be used to develop science communication training that considers the priorities of people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Research Paper • Student • Exploring the Effects of Climate Change Misinformation, Partisanship, Uncivil Comments on Risk Perception • Seo Yoon Lee; Youngji Seo • A current study explores the effects of climate change misinformation on risk perception via trust toward the misinformation. Furthermore, we explored the moderating role of political partisanship and uncivil comments. An online experiment was conducted. We found that civil comments followed by climate change misinformation could lead people to believe misinformation more, which could subsequently influence people to have a lower level of risk perception. Such a relationship was more notable among the conservatives.

Research Paper • Student • Information Literacy and Media Literacy: The Skills Needed to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 • Shawn Domgaard, Washington State University; Hae Yeon Seo, Washington State University • COVID-19 has led to a massive health crisis alongside what the World Health Organization has declared an infodemic, where every person encounters misinformation. The need to properly navigate digital environments, and determine the skills necessary to find good information is more important than ever. This study empirically investigates whether individuals with literacy skills (media literacy for news source, media literacy for news content, and online information literacy) are better able to adopt preventative health behaviors.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Who leads sustainable fashion communication? An analysis of #sustainablefashion metadata on Twitter between 2021 and 2022 • Sumin Shin, Oklahoma State University; Jewon Lyu, The University of Georgia • This study examines the relationships among social media opinion leaders around #sustainablefashion, their message types, and stakeholders’ responses toward the messages. Computational Twitter data collection and analysis reveal that for-profit and media organizations often use environmental words while nonprofits and individuals use social and economic words. Also, environmental messages increased, and ethical/social and economic messages decreased the like-follower ratio. In addition, sustainability-related words in an opinion leader’s profile increase stakeholders’ responses to messages.

Research Paper • Student • Examining Food Safety Knowledge: The Roles of Media Attention, Trust, Food Habits/Attitudes, and Demographics • Jennifer Shiyue Zhang; Nisa Rahman; Leona Yi-Fan Su, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Yi-Cheng Wang • Food safety is crucial for both individuals and society. This study aims to understand factors associated with food safety knowledge through a national survey of American adults (N = 1,039). Results suggest that media attention, trust in information sources, and food attitudes play roles in predicting knowledge levels. Senior people and females are more knowledgeable about food safety. Suggestions for future food practice communication with the public are discussed.

Research Paper • Student • How Partisan News Associates with Support for Climate Policies through Risk and Efficacy Perceptions • Soobin Choi, University of Michigan; P. Sol Hart • This study examines how partisan news associates with support for climate policies through risk and efficacy perceptions, focusing on distinct and nuanced constructs of the perceptions. Results demonstrate that both affective and cognitive risk perceptions are associated with partisan news viewing and policy support, perceptions of efficacy demonstrate weaker associations. However, efficacy perceptions, especially collective outcome expectancy, play a central role as a psychological coping mechanism following risk perceptions, ultimately associated with policy support.

Extended Abstract • Student • Virtual Reality and Climate Change: Understanding How the United Nations VR Content Productions Uses Experiential Media in Climate Change Storytelling • Shravan Regret Iyer, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey • The current study attempts to understand how the twelve United Nations Virtual Reality (UNVR) content productions produced as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) utilize Experiential Media (EM) in climate change storytelling. The study also explores how such VR productions frame and contextualize climate change issues; whether the VR productions take a multidisciplinary approach similar to the IPCC 2018 special report; and what dominant themes such UNVR productions highlight pertaining to climate change.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • The Formation and Influence of News and Information Repertoires at the Onset of the COVID-19 pandemic • Su Jung Kim, University of Southern California; Phillip Rosen, University of Southern California/Business Insider • This study examines how the public formed news and information repertoires during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea and how users of each repertoire were differentially influenced. Using a survey conducted to a representative sample, we identified 4 news and information repertoires that took shape at the onset of the pandemic. Use of different repertoires was associated with different levels of risk perception and preventative behavioral intention, but not knowledge.

Research Paper • Student • Inoculation Works and Health Advocacy Backfires: Building Resistance to COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation in a Low Political Trust Context • Crystal Li Jiang, City U – Hong Kong; Mengru Sun; Tsz Hang Chu; Stella Chia, City U – Hong Kong • This study examines the effectiveness of inoculation strategy at countering vaccine-related misinformation among Hong Kong college students. A three-phase between-subject experiment was conducted to compare the persuasive effects of inoculation messages (two-sided messages forewarning about misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines), supportive messages (conventional health advocacy), and no message control. The results show that inoculation messages were superior to supportive messages at generating resistance to misinformation, as evidenced by more positive vaccine attitudes and stronger vaccine intentions. Notably, there was no difference in outcome between the inoculation condition and the control condition. Attitudinal threat and counterarguing moderated the experimental effects; issue involvement and political trust were found to directly predict vaccine attitudes and intention. The findings suggest that future interventions focus on developing preventive mechanisms to counter misinformation, and spreading inoculation over the issue is an effective strategy to generate resistance to misinformation influence. Interventions should be cautious about the use of health advocacy initiated by governments among populations with low political trust.

Research Paper • Student • Using Moderated Mediation Model to Examine the Effect of Patient-Centered Communication on Physician-Patient Conflicts • Liang Chen, Tsinghua University; Hongjie Tang, Tsinghua University; Yu Guo • Based on the uncertainty reduction theory (URT), the present study examined the relationship between patient-centered communication (PCC) and medical conflict, as well as the roles of perceived patients’ trust, doctors’ empathy, and expertise from physicians’ perspectives. In March 2020, 509 physicians in China were recruited to participate in an online survey. The results revealed that PCC was negatively associated with physician–patient conflicts and that patient trust mediated the relationship. Additionally, doctors’ empathy moderated PCC on patient trust, while expertise positively predicted physician–patient conflicts.

Research Paper • N/A • Identifying Variates to Distinguish Passive, Moderate and Active Planners for Responsible and Sustainable Behaviors: Applying Integrated Model of Behavioral Prediction (IM) • Hyeseung Koh • The current study examined theory-based variates that distinguish passive, moderate and active planners to consume modern foods and those to communicate about the modern foods based on integrated model of behavioral prediction (IM). In addition to the main predictors in IM, perceived scientific consensus (PSC) and perceived public consensus (PPC) were additionally examined as potential variates. To examine the efficacy of the theory-based variates, the current study conducted a Web-based survey.

Research Paper • Faculty • Fact-checking, misinformation, and COVID-19: Integrating the communication mediation model and the protection motivation model • Tsung-Jen Shih • Based on a survey of 1,248 Taiwanese, this study found that social media use was associated with fact-checking habits through (1) a mental reflection process that leads to confusion, and (2) a protection motivation process that gives rise to risk perception. The results also indicated that self-efficacy and civic online reasoning moderated part of these two processes in shaping fact-checking behavior. However, fact-checking was negatively related to the discernment of misinformation about COVID-19.

Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: Examining communication and socio-psychological factors in shaping public support for urban farms in Singapore • Shirley S. Ho; Tong Jee Goh, Nanyang Technological University; Rachel Goh • This study examines the communication and socio-psychological factors that predict public support for the development of urban farms in Singapore. The results showed that the cognitive miser model, science literacy model, social capital, and media and communication factors predicted public support. Further, based on the argument of motivators for media attention, attention to the media content on the risks and benefits of urban farming mediated the relationships among food technology neophobia, health consciousness, and public support.

Research Paper • Student • To eat, or not to eat: The role of pre-media exposure orientations and media attention in predicting the personal norm and intention to consume urban farm produce • Tong Jee Goh, Nanyang Technological University; Rachel Goh; Shirley S. Ho • High-tech urban farming is an emerging means of strengthening food security. The rising popularity of this novel farming technique has attracted media outlets to review the risks and benefits of urban farming. Applying an extended norm activation model, this study found that people’s pre-media exposure orientations influenced their attention to media content on the risks and benefits. These variables, in turn, shaped their personal norm and intention to consume the produce of urban farms.

Research Paper • Faculty • Time Perspective, Temporal Distance, and Narrative’s Roles in Curbing E-cigarette Use • Sixiao Liu, University of Pennsylvania • This research examines the interactive effect of message format (i.e., narrative vs. non-narrative) and time perspective (i.e., present vs. future mindedness) on the perceived temporal distance and behavioral intention among e-cigarette users and non-users. Present-minded users and future-minded non-users perceived the risk of e-cigarettes as temporally closer and were more likely to refuse e-cigarettes after reading a narrative message than a non-narrative message. Such findings highlight the effectiveness of narrative in e-cigarette use prevention.

Research Paper • Student • “My Eating Disorders Recovery Story”: Understanding the Health Benefits of Social Media Content Creation in Eating Disorders Recovery • Lola Xie, The Pennsylvania State University; Xiaoxu Ding, University of British Columbia; Juliet Pinto • Young women with eating disorders (ED) are at risk of harm to their social, emotional, and physical development and overall quality of life. How they use social media to communicate about their ED is of growing interest. Much of the current literature examining ED and social media use and ED primarily deals with negative impacts of social media use for those suffering from ED, such as harmful body images or poor relationship with food, we consider the alternate possibility of social media as a coping mechanism for ED patients to self-express and gain emotional support from their peers. With the emerging accessibility and popularity of vlogging platforms, some ED patients transformed their roles from regular users to social media health influencers who share first-hand experiences and critical health information with others who follow them. We interviewed health influencers in ED recovery and analyzed their YouTube content in the past year to better understand the potential health benefits of vlogging and journaling on public platforms for ED patients and theorize the mechanism through which being a social media health influencer facilitates or impedes ED recovery based on interpretative phenomenological analysis of patients’ own experiences.

Research Paper • Student • How Fear Appeals Are Used as A Persuasive Technique: A Thematic Analysis of COVID-19-related Public Service Announcements • xiaobei chen; Deborah Treise; Son Rachel; Jordan Alpert • Since the outbreak of COVID-19, hundreds of public service announcements (PSAs) have been aired. One of the theories to guide health communicators is the extended parallel process model (EPPM), the model to explain people’s responses to fear appeals. This study aims at identifying the way how fear appeals were presented in messages related to COVID-19. This study found that four strategies were used to arouse perceived threat, and three strategies were utilized to arouse perceived efficacy.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • How Global Warming is Framed on Twitter?: An Investigation based on Machine Learning Approach • XIAOQUN ZHANG, University of North Texas • This study investigates the frames of the dialogs on Twitter regarding global warming. Twitter’s Application Programming Interface (API) is used to extract tweets in 2021. A state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing (NLP) machine learning model BERT is utilized to identify the prominent themes from a big number of tweets. Nine major themes are identified including climate change, security threats, public policy, environmental problems, politics, impacts on economy, scientific research, wild animals and media coverage.

Research Paper • Faculty • Aversion and Control: An Experiment Examining How Social Correction Works • Xizhu Xiao; Porismita Borah; Danielle Ka Lai Lee, Washington State University; Yan Su; Sojung Kim, George Mason University • Prior research suggests that observing cumulative social corrections with expert sources cited can potentially reduce health misperceptions and promote positive health behaviors. However, given the low willingness and motivation to engage in misinformation correction among social media users, examining strategies to promote such behavior is imperative. With a 2 (message factor: narrative vs. statistics) x 2 (social factor: individual vs. collective) between-subject experiment of 485 individuals, we examined how social corrective messaging influences correction intention and we take into consideration the moderating influence of media locus of control (MLOC) and the mediating roles of negative affect and credibility judgment. Results reveal that for individuals with high MLOC, individual and statistically framed corrective messaging elicited the greatest negative affect, whereas among individuals with low MLOC, collective and narrative messaging had a persuasive advantage. Higher negative affect toward the misinformation post, in turn, resulted in greater intention to combat misinformation. Theoretical contributions and implications are further discussed.

Research Paper • Student • Why fall for misinformation? The role of health consciousness, subjective and objective health literacy, and information processing strategies • Rachel Peng, Penn State University; Fuyuan Shen, Penn State University • Health misinformation circulating online can have negative effects on health outcomes at the personal and global levels. This paper investigates the factors that could explain the failure to discern health misinformation by taking into account health consciousness, information processing strategies, subjective and objective health literacy. Through an online survey (N = 707), the current study finds that misinformation beliefs about nutrition, vaccines, vaping and cancer were significantly correlated, implying that a person who believes misinformation about one topic is also at risk of falling victim to misinformation on other three topics. We find the susceptibility to health misinformation is positively correlated with high health consciousness, low objective health literacy, greater information elaboration and selective scanning. This work also provides empirical evidence on the existence of the Dunning-Kruger Effect in the area of health literacy. In particular, individuals who are overconfident in their health literacy are not aware of their own deficiencies and also have a hard time identifying health misinformation. These findings have important implications for educational campaigns to improve health literacy and combat online health misinformation.

Research Paper • Faculty • “I Know News Will Find Me”: A moderated mediation model of news-finds-me perception, information avoidance, need for cognition, and misperceptions about COVID-19 • Yan Su; Lianshan Zhang; Shaohai Jiang • Drawing on a U.S. survey sample, this study builds a moderated mediation model and investigates the relationship between the news-finds-me (NFM) perception and COVID-19 misperceptions, with COVID-19 information avoidance as mediator and need for cognition (NFC) as moderator. Findings show a positive association between NFM perception and misperceptions. Information avoidance was a significant mediator between both factors. Finally, NFC was found a significant moderator; among those with higher extent of NFC, the associations became weaker.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Not All Falsehoods are (Equally) Threatening: Towards a More Nuanced Approach to Misinformation • Fan Yang, University at Albany, SUNY; Yaxin Dai • In response to the growing scholarly calls for nuancing the fuzzy concept of “misinformation”, this study aims to investigate the differences between verified false messages of high threat versus those of low threat in terms of how they spread on social media. Preliminary results show that compared to false messages with low threat, false messages with high threat had a broader reach of audiences, broke out more volatilely, and persisted longer on social media.

Research Paper • Faculty • Promoting COVID-19 Vaccination for Children: How Transitional Characters and Misinformation Exposure Influence Parents’ Vaccine Attitudes and Intentions • Yan Huang, University of Houston; Weirui Wang, Florida International University • A 2 (misinformation: present vs. absent) X 2 (character type: positive vs. transitional) between-subjects experiment was conducted among 344 parents of children 5-11 years old in December 2021. Results showed that although the narrative with a transitional character led to greater levels of identification and transportation, its persuasive effects depended on the presence of misinformation exposure. The interaction effects were mediated by positive issue-relevant cognitions generated during narrative exposure.

Research Paper • Student • Bad for me or bad for the planet? An experiment examines the effect of drought framing on risk perception and water mitigation behavior • Alyssa Mayeda, Washington State University; Ying-Chia (Louise) Hsu, Washington State University; Alex Kirkpatrick, Washington State University; Amanda Boyd, Washington State University • Negative impacts of drought are projected to worsen due to climate change. Examining how media frames influence risk perceptions about drought can enhance risk message design. Our study investigates how framing drought as either a risk to public health or to the environment influences risk perceptions and intent to perform mitigative actions. Environmental framing produced higher intent to conserve water. Perceived harm of drought was considered more likely to affect distant populations than local people.

Extended Abstract • Faculty • Serial participants and the evolution of aggressive conversation networks about climate change on Twitter • Yingying Chen, University of South Carolina; Shupei Yuan; Cindy Yu Chen; Sophia Vojta • This study examines serial participants who are consistently involved in aggressive conversations about climate change on Twitter. We identified 92 serial participants out of 1.1 million replies between 2019 and 2020. Using dynamic network modeling, we analyze the network structural characteristics and individual characteristics that predict the evolution of aggressive conversation networks. Our study advances the knowledge of how serial participants and their group dynamics may spark the diffusion of aggressive communications on climate change.

Research Paper • Student • Parental Attitudes and Child Vaccination Intentions during COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring Influences using Social Cognitive Theory • Ying Zhu; Michael Beam, Kent State University; Yue Ming; Nichole Egbert-Scheibelhoffer; Tara Smith • Using the Triadic Reciprocal Determinism model from Social Cognitive Theory, this survey study suggests that parents’ (N = 800) attitudes towards health officials and child vaccination intentions are predicted by personal and behavioral factors (having younger children, partisan ideologies, partisan news use) but not the environmental factor of geographic location across 4 US states with different partisan dynamics. This points to national politicization of COVID-19 vaccines being a key consideration regarding parents’ negotiating the pandemic.

Research Paper • Student • Reduced Risk Information Seeking and Processing (R-RISP) Model: A meta-analysis • Zhuling Liu, University at Buffalo; Janet Yang; Thomas Feeley • This meta-analysis synthesizes research findings from 52 studies to assess the explanatory power of the reduced risk information seeking and processing (R-RISP) model. Results support the utility of the model in predicting information seeking for both personal and impersonal risks. Informational subjective norms have the largest effect size, followed by sufficiency threshold and then current knowledge. The relationship between current knowledge and seeking is stronger in studies where participants report higher risk perception.

2022 Abstracts

Advertising Division

2022 Abstracts

Research Paper • Industry Views On Enhancing Digital Advertising • Student • Ritika Agrawal • Advertisers of the industry that were once referred to as “Mad Men” are now incorporating data and becoming the “Math Men.” Marketers’ interest in data and analytics has increased from 8% to 12% in the past five years (Forrester, 2021). However, consumers are often reluctant participants in the use of their personal data for advertising targeting and messaging. This study uses social exchange theory to explore the process through which data are used in digital advertising to improve the e-consumer experience. Through in-depth interviews with executives from leading entertainment and media companies, advertising agencies, and tech firms, the researcher offers three attributes that may improve the ad experience for e-consumers: transparency, relevant and engaging imagery, and frequency of retargeting.

Research Paper • It’s OK to Not Feel OK; Representations of Mental Health in Advertising • Student • Christen Buckley, Pennsylvania State University • COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on mental health in the United States. In response, advertisements are incorporating representations of the mental health crisis. Using textual analysis to evaluate four television advertisements, (two pre COVID, two post COVID) from two brands, HBO and Headspace, this study investigates the key similarities/differences between the pre versus post COVID ads, and the key similarities/differences between the differing brands’ post COVID ads. Implications of mental health representations in advertisements are discussed

Extended Abstract • Advertising During the Pandemic: The Influence of Susceptibility and Severity on “COVID-19 Appeal” Perceptions and Advertising Effectiveness • Student • Colin Piacentine, University of South Carolina • The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between consumer perceptions of COVID-19 and the effects of advertisements using COVID-19 appeals (as defined in this study). Using an online survey, persuasion knowledge, perceived manipulativeness, and attributions (public- or self-serving) will be observed as mediating variables between susceptibly and severity (IVs) and attitudes and behaviors resulting from exposure to the advertisement (DVs). Implication will be discussed.

Research Paper • McAds: Where Collectivism and Culture Collide • Faculty • Sarah Scott, Kennesaw State University; Erin Ryan, Kennesaw State University • Cultural differences can be difficult for people on a personal level, but for a brand it is vital to learn how to understand these differences in order to run a successful business. American fast-food brands have had to learn how to deal with these differences when doing business in China. They struggle between keeping their original standardization from the US and knowing when to implement a more localized plan for their ventures in China. Many fast-food brands have tried and failed to open a successful business in China due to lack of knowledge of Chinese culture. One brand that has successfully integrated themselves into China is McDonald’s, with some people even having “weddings” in them. They appear to have found the balance between standardization, localization, and knowledge of the cultural differences between American individualism and Chinese collectivism. They implemented this knowledge in their marketing and product selection, and this study illustrates this by examining menu differences and advertisements to the Chinese populace. This study helps pave the way for future research into ways in which American brands can successfully market to the Chinese audience.

Research Paper • Humanity for Sale! A Textual Analysis of Zain’s “Mr. President” Commercial • Student • Raghad Sonbul, The University of Southern Mississippi • This paper analyzed media representation of Muslims through a textual analysis of Zain’s commercial in Ramadan 2018. It examines the commercial through the lenses of myths, Marxist theory, and hegemony, as well as Stuart Hall’s levels of analyzing media–“preferred, negotiated and oppositional” readings. The aim of the study was to evaluate the media representation of Muslims from a different perspective than the dominant stereotypes and to examine media effects on audiences. The findings indicated that the commercial was a response to President Trump’s determination that it is time to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as other Arabs issues. The company used the Arab issues to reach millions of people around the world, draw attention and gain profits. However, the commercial raised a debate on social media among supporters and opponents.

Research Paper • When Deception Backfires: Attitudinal and Chilling Effects of Targeted Advertising on Social Media • Student • Marlis Stubenvoll; Alice Binder • The following experiment (N = 340) investigates whether individuals activate three dimensions of persuasion knowledge – perceived persuasive intent, perceived manipulative intent, and targeting knowledge – in response to targeted (versus not targeted) ads and the original sponsorship disclosure (versus no disclosure) on Facebook. Results suggest that individuals’ evaluation of targeted ads as manipulative sparks negative brand evaluations. Moreover, perceptions of manipulative intent could cause chilling effects, through which individuals might restrict their online behaviors.

Extended Abstract • Virtual or Real?: A Comparative Study on Virtual-influencer- vs. Celebrity- endorsed CSR Message • Student • Jeongwon Yang; Ploypin Chuenterawong; Heejae Lee, Syracuse University • Conducting an online experiment with a design of 2×2 between subjects, the study aims to 1) examine the roles of source credibility and source-message fit in enhancing the persuasiveness of messages, by comparing the CSR posts of virtual influencer and celebrity endorsement; and 2) make an interdisciplinary effort to explore an effectiveness of a non-human agent like a virtual influencer in promoting brand equity by drawing virtual reality (VR), influencer marketing, and CSR.

Research Paper • Consumer Responses to CSR during the Pandemic: Investigating the Role of Context/cause Fit and Attribution of Motives in Cause-related Marketing • Student • Huatian Zheng; Anqi Lin; Yixin Guo; Ziyi Pan • The study set out to explore the effect of context/cause fit and attribution of CSR motives on consumers’ responses, and whether cause involvement moderates the process during the COVID-19 pandemic. By using convenience samplings, the present study adopted a 2 × 2 between-subject experiment in which 146 college students were randomly exposed to one of four different CRM ads. The findings implied that exposure to high context/cause fit CRM ads encourages generally positive consumers’ responses. Although attribution of motives did not significantly influence participants’ judgement, the way participants perceive the motives behind CRM ads instead of the pre-existing motive shapes their attitude and purchase intention. Due to the special nature of the pandemic, most participants indicated a high involvement status, resulting in no significant moderating role for cause involvement. Surprisingly, female participants tend to be more sensitive to firm-serving motives and favorable to public-serving CRM ads compared to males.

Extended Abstract • Demystify Computer Generated Influencers: The Role of Perceived Anthropomorphism and Social Presence on Audience’s Attitudes toward CGI’s Sponsored Posts and the Endorsed Brands • Faculty • Regina Ahn, University of Miami; Su Yeon Cho, University of Miami; Sunny Tsai, University of Miami • This study explores how the perceived humanness of computer-generated imagery (CGI) influencers is associated with consumers’ attitudes toward the brand-sponsored posts and the endorsed brand. Our online survey with Gen Z consumers showed that both perceived anthropomorphism and social presence of CGI influencers positively influence consumer evaluation outcomes via the mediators of perceived physical and social attractiveness of the CGI.

Extended Abstract • Chinese Consumer Resistance and Coping Strategies to Live Stream Shopping • Faculty • Xiaofeng Jia, University of Miami; Regina Ahn, University of Miami • Given the explosive growth of live streaming shopping in China, it is critical to explore young consumers’ persuasion knowledge and their coping strategies towards live streaming shopping. Our study aims to understand Chinese consumers’ resistance regarding live streaming experience on e-commerce platforms. Twenty participants were recruited in a local Chinese university to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews. The study captures several factors that evoke Chinese consumers’ annoyance and counterargument against live streaming tactics, platforms, and sellers.

Research Paper • Why Do We Click on Clickbait? Read on to Find Out Why Persuasion Knowledge Matters • Student • Emily Buteau, University of North Dakota; Joonghwa Lee, University of North Dakota; Soojung Kim • This study tested the moderating role in the effects of clickbait ad type and metadiscourse characteristics on attitudes and intentions toward clickbait advertising. The findings from a two-part experiment indicated that persuasion knowledge moderated the relationship between the effects of clickbait ad type and metadiscourse characteristic on intention to share the ad. Participants with high persuasion knowledge generated higher intentions when shown evidential metadiscourse and more negative intentions when shown exaggeration clickbait. Implications are discussed.

Research Paper • The role of product fit and brand fit on brand co-appearances in television programs • Faculty • Fanny Fong Yee Chan, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong • Brand clutter has gradually extended from traditional advertising to less conventional marketing communication tools. Although brand co-appearance in media content is likely to continue to proliferate, little is known about the phenomenon and its effects. Building on research related to co-branding and comparative advertising, this study systematically examined the moderating role of brand fit and product fit on the effectiveness of brand co-appearance on television programs. Several pre-tests and four experimental studies were conducted. It was found that product fit and brand fit significantly moderated attitudes and purchase intention toward the coappearing products. The empirical results have significant theoretical and practical implications for the field, which are discussed together with the research avenues.

Extended Abstract • Brand activism and political consumerism: Understanding determinants of consumers’ buycotting and boycotting behaviors in the context of brand activism • Faculty • Moonhee Cho; Minjeong Kim, university of tennessee • The study examined the factors influencing consumers’ boycotting and buycotting intentions in response to brand activism. Conducting an online experimental study among 367 consumers, this study found that the consumer-brand stance congruence significantly influenced consumers’ attitude toward the brand, boycotting, and buycotting intentions. The study also revealed moderating effects of issue involvement and brand trust while these moderating effects vary by the product involvement categories. The mediating role of consumer-brand identification was also found.

Research Paper • Understanding Ad-block Wall and Its Effects on Online Publisher and Advertising through Psychological Reactance • Student • Un Chae Chung, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Chang-Dae Ham; Seo Yoon Lee; WooJin Kim, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Sang-Hwa Oh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • As nearly one third of online users installed ad-blockers, websites relying heavily on the advertising revenue try to overcome this threat by installing ad-block wall on their website, which hinders users from accessing website’s contents. To understand the psychological process of website users when facing this wall, the paper adopted psychological reactance theory and found that different level of ad-block wall can generate different level of reactance outcomes and attitudes.

Research Paper • Advertising in the times of COVID: A Tight-Loose Analysis of Pandemic-Related TV Commercials • Faculty • Cynthia Morton, Department of Advertising, University of Florida.; Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College; Jorge Villegas, Department of Management, Marketing, and Operations, College of Business and Management, University of Illinois at Springfield; Sophia Mueller, University of Florida; Hye Soo Chang, Department of Advertising, College of Journalism & Communications, University of Florida. • This research explores normative beliefs advocated in the earliest stage of COVID-19 awareness campaigns. The exploration utilizes Tight-Loose Theory and the Hofstede’s dimensions as frameworks to analyze advertisements run from March to June 2020. A content analysis (n=377) found that ad appeals and themes did not strictly follow the predicted expectations of the U.S.’s dominate cultural orientation. This research establishes a benchmark for comparison with the evolutionary stages of COVID-19 advertising.

Research Paper • A Literature Review of Influencer Marketing and Research Agenda: From a Social Network Analysis Perspective • Faculty • Yang Feng, San Diego State University; Quan Xie, Southern Methodist University • The amount of literature on influencer marketing has increased dramatically in recent years. Although extant literature provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of influencer marketing, several research gaps remain, such as inconclusive findings and a lack of a holistic understanding of the endorsement process of influencer marketing. To address the research gaps, we performed a social network analysis (SNA) of findings from 46 journal articles that included 54 distinct studies using Gephi, a network visualization tool. The SNA results revealed seven topic communities and six most important bridging variables (i.e., influencer trustworthiness, parasocial interaction, influencer credibility, brand trust, influencer attachment, and message credibility) in the literature. On the basis of the SNA results and the meaning transfer model, we proposed an integrative theoretical framework to illustrate the independent, mediating, and outcome variables of the endorsement process of influencer marketing. A future research agenda on influencer marketing was also proposed and discussed.

Research Paper • Kidfluencing: The Role of Selling Intent, Logo Presence, and Disclosure Modality on Parental Appraisals • Faculty • Jason Freeman, Brigham Young University; Frank Dardis, Penn State University • Kidfluencers are emerging as valuable brand partners, capable of facilitating engaging peer-to-peer interactions with other child viewers. The current experimental study focuses on the role of disclosure modality, selling intent, and logo presence on parental reactions to kidfluencer content. Findings suggest that the negative consequences of advertising recognition can be ameliorated through sponsorship transparency. However, for some parents, advertising recognition led to greater perceptions of negativity, resulting in unfavorable outcomes. These results suggest that advertising recognition can have diverging consequences, depending the evaluation of the message. Advertising recognition acted as the primary predictor of outcomes related to perceptions of appropriateness of the sponsored content, attitudes toward the brand, purchase intention, and desire to regulate. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Extended Abstract • Native Ads in the Neighborhood: Sponsored Posts Versus User-Generated Content on Nextdoor • Faculty • Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida; Susanna Lee, University of Florida • This study examines how older adults on the neighborhood-oriented app Nextdoor respond to native advertisements. A within-subjects experiment compared social posts, native ads, and traditional ads. Outcomes included credibility, fear emotion, persuasion knowledge, ad attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intentions. Differences were found in favor of social posts (i.e., posts from neighbors). Native ads were evaluated as more similar to traditional ads than social posts. Finally, the study examines potential mediation and moderation.

Research Paper • Seeing a New Self in Dadvertisements: Responses to Ads and Fatherhood Anxiety • Faculty • Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida; Bhakti Sharma, University of Florida; Sophia Mueller, University of Florida; Cynthia Morton, Department of Advertising, University of Florida.; Jon Morris • Advertising portrayals of fathers have the potential to influence new fathers’ self-perceptions. A 2×2 experiment of 269 men, aged 25-40, compared new fathers’ with non- or established fathers’ emotional response, anxiety, and boundary expansion to dad-targeted advertisements. Emotions and perceptions of the “dad in the ad” were proposed to mediate effects on the persuasiveness of the advertisement. The research found that new fathers felt more anxiety, which produced greater boundary expansion and wishful identification.

Research Paper • Contoured and In Control: African-American Women, Beauty Brand Representation, and Consumer Satisfaction • Faculty • Raegan Burden, University of Florida; Benjamin Johnson, University of Florida; Sophie Jean-Michel, University of Florida; Challet Jeong, University of Florida; Hà Nguyễn; Bijun Wu • Beauty brands such as makeup lines continue to struggle with representing the full diversity of women in their products and advertising. This study is a survey of African-American women aged 25-49, in which they provided their perceptions of 10 popular makeup brands. Self-determination theory was used to demonstrate how seeing one’s self represented in products and advertising increases feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and how this translates positively into consumer attitudes and behavior.

Research Paper • The Role of Perceived Interactivity and User Gratifications to Use Live-Streaming Commerce • Faculty • Eunsin Joo; Jing Yang • Live-streaming commerce has recently emerged as a popular selling channel that encourages consumer interaction and participation while shopping online. The purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers’ perceived interactivity influences the use and purchase intents of live streaming commerce, while exploring the mediating roles of cognitive and affective motivation in the relationships. A scenario-based survey study of 187 American consumers was conducted via Prolific.co. The results showed that perceived interactivity in the live-streaming commerce significantly influenced consumers’ usage intention of live-streaming commerce and purchase intention of the recommended products through live-streaming commerce. Specifically, results showed that perceived utility and enjoyment were significant mediators in between the perceived interactivity and consumers’ usage intention of live-streaming commerce. And perceived enjoyment also plays a significant mediating role in between the perceived interactivity and consumers’ purchase intention. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and future studies are also discussed.

Research Paper • Investigating the Marketing Effectiveness of Virtual Influencers • Student • Siu Ting Josie Kiew; ZhaoXi Phua; Jia En Celine Ong; Tze Yen Michelle Lee; Chen Lou • Guided by the Uses and Gratification approach along with the Uncanny Valley Theory, this study sought to understand the phenomenon of virtual influencers. Based on an in-depth interview with 26 participants who are following virtual influencers, this study identified user motivations – including information motivation, entertainment motivation, surveillance, aesthetics, and social identification – for following. We also found that followers perceive virtual influencers as uncanny and eerie. However, followers expressed acceptance towards virtual influencers where authenticity, human-likeness, and self-justification were found to mitigate the effects of the uncanny valley. Finally, in terms of its role in advertising effectiveness, we found that virtual influencers are effective for building brand image and brand awareness but lack persuasive ability to incite purchase intentions. The findings advanced extant literature on user motivations for following virtual influencers in the new edge of social media influencers, provided insights on mitigating factors of the uncanny valley, as well as delineated the efficacy of virtual influencers in advertising campaigns.

Research Paper • Rhetorical Devices in Agency Philosophies: An Analysis of Rhetorical Figures in Slogans of Top Ranking Agencies for Creativity and Effectiveness • Student • Heidi Makady, University of Florida; Kasey Windels, University of Florida • Rhetorical figures in slogans are one way agencies emphasize their philosophies. This study explores the use of textual rhetorical figures in agency philosophies of top ranking WARC agencies. In line with the advertising taxonomy framework, content analysis indicated that irregular models (tropes) were most frequently used. Slogan length and semantic complexity were also positively correlated with WARC creativity scores. The sampling frame for this study is the WARC 2019 – 2020 effectiveness and creativity global rankings.

Research Paper • Adding or Averaging? How Weak Arguments Influence the Persuasive Effects of Strong Arguments • Faculty • Magdalena Obermaier; Thomas Koch • Mostly relying on a “the-more-the-better” heuristic, persuasive communication research has rarely scrutinized the effects of the mutual presentation of weak and strong arguments. Building on research on judgment formation, we conducted four experimental studies on political and health-related topics and demonstrated that providing supporting arguments of moderate strength along with a strong argument increases persuasion (adding). However, presenting weak supporting arguments along with a strong argument reduces the persuasive effect of the strong argument (averaging).

Research Paper • Exploring the Influence of Advertising Spokesperson’s Racial Identity and Product Type Endorsed on Consumer Decision-Making • Student • LOUVINS PIERRE, University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • Limited research has examined how racially diverse models in advertising influence consumers’ decision-making process. This research tested how spokespersons’ racial identity and the product type they endorsed influenced evaluation of spokesperson attributes and consumer behavior. Results showed that spokespersons’ race had a significant effect on all variables, but product type only affected purchase intention. A path model also tested how the interrelations between spokesperson attributes, product involvement and information-seeking contributed to explain purchase intention.

Research Paper • Native Twitter Ads: Testing the role of Media Format and Disclosure • Student • LOUVINS PIERRE, University of Connecticut; Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, University of Connecticut; Yukyung Lee, University of Connecticut • Native advertising is now a common strategy that marketers utilize to advertise effectively. This study used an experimental 3 (text only, text plus image, or video) X 2 (disclosure: present/absent between-subjects design (N = 322) to test how media format and disclosure influence attitudes and behavioral intentions. Results show that only media format has a main effect, such that richer media (videos) help to reduce persuasion knowledge. Moreover, skepticism, intrusiveness, and persuasion knowledge negatively predict attitudes, while manipulativeness predicts both attitudes and share intention. This study is one of the first to examine media format and disclosure, and by implication conclude rich media with disclosure help advertising effectiveness.

Research Paper • Seeker or Sentry? Consumers’ Coping Mechanism with Third-Party Cookie Driven Advertising: Multidimensional Persuasion Knowledge Perspective • Student • Un Chae Chung, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Ayoung Seok; Chang-Dae Ham • Majority of digital advertising is delivered by third-party cookie-based targeting technology, but little is known how consumers cope with this unique persuasion technology. To fill the gap, this study integrated multidimensional persuasion knowledge, tactic evaluation, and target response strategy into a model. Employing an online survey (N=204), this study found that conceptual persuasion knowledge was both directly and indirectly associated with sentry or seeker strategy via evaluative persuasion knowledge and tactic evaluations. Implications are discussed.

Research Paper • To Tell or Not to Tell: Effects of AI-powered Virtual Try-on Feature and Transparency on Brand Attitudes and Purchase Intentions • Student • Yuan Sun; Jason Freeman, Brigham Young University; Heather Shoenberger; Fuyuan Shen • Through an online experiment (N = 204) where users virtually tried on products recommended from an augmented reality (AR) site, we found that AR experience positively affected product and brand attitudes through vividness and immersion while it also triggered perceived intrusiveness. Being transparent about data collection increased the privacy protection perception and mitigated perceived intrusiveness. Transparency perception functioned as a crucial antecedent of trust, which was moderated by users’ initial belief in artificial intelligence.

Extended Abstract • Extended Abstract: Examining Employee Reception of Corporate Social Advocacy Communicated by Leadership: Effects on Employee-Organization Relationships and Work Engagement • Student • Teresa Tackett; Lucinda Austin, University of North Carolina • The advertising industry engaged in corporate social advocacy (CSA) in response to #CommitToChange, which demanded meaningful action from advertising industry leaders regarding lack of BIPOC representation. Organizations have an obligation to understand how CSA efforts impact internal publics, as well as traditionally studied external perceptions. An online survey examines a sample of employees who work at creative agencies, and attitudes toward their agency’s (lack of) participation, communication and leadership authenticity, employee-organization relationships and work engagement.

Research Paper • Pride and Prejudice and Country-of-Origin Ecological Images • Faculty • Min Xiao; Paul Myers • Consumer demand for eco-friendly products is increasing. To respond to the increasing demand, brands and marketers are offering more products that they claim to be green or eco-friendly. Nowadays, many consumers purchase eco-friendly products online. However, it is very difficult for consumers to verify the validity or credibility of green claims of a product listed on online stores because marketers may not provide any evidence to support their green claims and consumers may lack the ability to authenticate the validity of the claims by themselves. Hence, consumers may have no better choice but to rely on information cues, such as the country-of-origin (COO) or the price of a product, to help them evaluate the credibility of green claims. Two online experiments were conducted to examine how product COO, product price, and product involvement affect consumer perception of product greenness and green claim credibility. The findings suggest that product COO exerts an overwhelming influence on consumer perception.

Extended Abstract • (Extended Abstract) Helping A Friend in Need: A Study of Facebook Fundraisers • Faculty • Fei Xue; Lijie Zhou • Based on Social Impact Theory, the current research examined the effects of different types of Facebook fundraising posts on perceived source credibility, attitude toward the post, intention to click, intention to share, and intention to donate. Three factors of social influence were investigated – relationship strength, immediacy of needs, and number of donations. Main effects were found for immediacy of needs and number of donations. Interaction effects were found in perceived credibility and intention to click.

Research Paper • “Do Good and Be ‘Liked’”: Corporate Messaging on Social Media During COVID-19 and Consumer Responses • Faculty • Jing Yang; Ebbe Bertellotti; Ava Francesca Battocchio, Michigan State University; Camila Teran • This study explores the types of corporate messaging on social media during the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., and its corresponding differences in consumer engagement, attitude, and brand trust. Two independent studies were conducted. In Study 1, we content analyzed corporations’ social media posts and found four types of corporate messaging, namely, internal corporate social responsibility (CSR), external CSR, promotional CSR, and company statement. Among all, internal CSR received the highest consumers’ behavioral engagement as compared to the others. In Study 2, we adopted an online-experimental design to further valid and extend the findings of Study 1. Results showed significant differences among the types of corporate messaging in driving consumers’ behavioral engagement intention, brand attitude and brand trust. Robustly, promotional CSR was the least effective corporate messaging across all. Theoretical contributions, managerial implications and future study directions are also discussed towards the end.

Research Paper • Using Funny Memes in Social Media Advertising: The Moderating Role of Bandwagon Cues • Faculty • Guolan Yang • The study conducted a 2 (image type: funny meme vs. serious image) x 2 (level of bandwagon cue: high vs. low) between-subjects online experiment (N = 258). Results showed that using memes was more effective than using serious images in the setting of brand-related Twitter posts. Consumers perceived the meme post as humorous, which in turn resulted in positive attitudes toward the post and greater intention to share the post on social media. Furthermore, bandwagon cues moderated the meme effect on persuasion through perceived humor. Consumers’ humor perception was enhanced when they were exposed to a meme post with a large number of likes, comments, and retweets. This study used funny memes as humor stimuli, extending the humor literature to social media advertising. Plus, it illustrated the importance of bandwagon effects for humor persuasion.

Research Paper • Realistic skin vs. Flawless skin: An investigation of the appeal of retouch-free advertising • Student • Tingting Yang, Nanyang Technological University, WKWSCI; Chen Lou; Edson Tandoc Jr • “Using retouched models in advertisements to embody idealised beauty prototypes in certain cultures (e.g., flawless skin) has been a widely known yet controversial practice. Considering the emerging trend of “”bare skin look”” in advertising, female consumers’ beliefs about ideal beauty (i.e., skin ideal in this study) and the use of retouching may be changing. Guided by the corporate moral responsibility framework, this study conducted an online experiment to assess ad retouching and disclaimers’ effect on advertising effectiveness. A 2 (model skin: realistic skin vs. flawless skin) x 2 (retouch-free disclaimer: present vs. absent) between-subjects online experiment was conducted among Chinese female participants. Results revealed that although preference of flawless skin still drives Chinese female consumers’ purchase intentions, an ad portraying realistic skin model with a retouch-free disclaimer was more sought after for Chinese female consumers, and Ad honesty mediated the interaction effect of model skin and disclaimer on consumers’ purchase intentions. This study’s findings provide theoretical and practical insights into how brands can better appeal to contemporary female Asian consumers.

Keywords: corporate moral responsibility, disclaimer, retouching, ideal beauty, consumer behaviour”

Research Paper • Outdoor-sports Brand Communities on Instagram: How Message Attributes Relate to Consumer Engagement • Student • Jennifer Shiyue Zhang; Leona Yi-Fan Su • Brands are increasingly using social media to build online communities as part of their marketing efforts. The present study analyzes the Instagram strategies used by three global outdoor sports brands and their respective effects on consumer engagement, operationalized as the number of likes and comments received by posts. Content analysis of 957 Instagram posts from Arc’teryx, Salomon, and Patagonia, focused on messages’ textual, visual, and technical attributes, was conducted. Multiple regression indicated that task- and interaction-oriented posts received more likes than self-oriented ones. Messages that were shorter, posted photos rather than videos, presented “cute” visuals, and mentioned other users were also more likely to motivate consumer engagement. These findings’ implications for marketers seeking to develop Instagram strategies that will effectively boost consumer interaction are discussed.

Research Paper • Blending Sex-Positivity and Racial Justice Advocacy in Black-Centric Health Advertising: Intersectional Health Communication Targeting High-Risk Black Cisgender Heterosexual and Black LGBTQ Populations Through a HIV Prevention Social Media Campaign • Faculty • Minjie Li, The University of Tampa • Health disparity disproportionately impact people of colors, Black LGBTQ members in particular. In order to effectively persuade members from these communities on issues that impact them—such as HIV prevention, health advertising has started to apply the sex-positive approach in their crafting of visual and messaging. Through integrating intersectionality, social identity theory, and distinctiveness theory, the present study examines how different types of sex-positive depictions (i.e., heterosexual, queer) in a Black-centric health advertising campaign interact with audience’s identity to influence the Black cisgender heterosexual Americans and Black LGBTQ-identified Americans’ adaption of the PrEP regimen, advertising perception, and Black identification. Moreover, the study examines how such joint effects might be moderated by the ways in which the campaign incorporate social activism (i.e., intersectional, non-intersectional, no activism). The findings demonstrate that sex-positive depiction indeed interact with audience identity to significantly increase perceived susceptibility to contracting HIV, perceive response efficacy, intention to adopt the PrEP regimen when offered for free, and positive attitudes towards the PrEP ad campaign.

Research Paper • A woman’s view from a man’s world: The reality of being female in advertising • Student • Sophia Mueller, University of Florida; Eliana DuBosar, University of Florida; Kasey Windels, University of Florida • Few studies to date have sought to understand females’ experiences in all departments of an advertising industry. This paper seeks to explore the challenges women have faced in this industry through an analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 24 practitioners in different agency roles. Interviewees discussed how gender impacted their careers, and their statements were analyzed, revealing five key themes. Implications for advertising practitioners and directions for future research are also addressed.

Research Paper • Pressing Issues of Ethnic Diversity in the Ad Industry: The Professionals’ Perspectives • Faculty • Fang Yang, Grand Valley State University; Robin Spring, Grand Valley State University • “The advertising industry has suffered from lack of ethnic diversity for decades and little progress has been made toward meaningful changes. To probe the reasons for advertising’s diversity lag, in-depth interviews with 17 advertising professionals and a national survey with ad agencies from all 50 states were conducted to gather sentiment and understanding. Research questions ranged from the potential benefits of diversity to the pipeline issue of ethnically diverse talent and the reasons for the persistent imbalance. Emerging insights from this mixed-method study suggest that unconscious bias fueled by political ideology, gender, and size of agency factor into the equation. Suggestions are made to advance ethnic diversity in the advertising workforce with the hope of realizing the many benefits a representative workforce can bring.

Keywords: advertising, ad agency, ethnic diversity, unconscious bias, political ideology”

Extended Abstract • Sell, Ignore, or Address? Examining Consumers’ Emotional Responses to Different Types of Social Media Influencers’ Posts During the COVID-19 Outbreak • Student • Maral Abdollahi; Wonsun Shin; Smitha Muthya Sudheendra, University of Minnesota; Jisu Huh; Jaideep Srivastava • This study examines consumers’ emotional reactions to different types of social media posts from three types of social media influencers during the COVID-19 outbreak. A computational research method was employed to analyze nine discrete emotions. While followers felt more “relief” toward COVID-related posts from micro-influencers, they also felt more “hate” toward their marketing posts. On the other hand, followers found it more acceptable if mega- and macro-influencers tried to sell something during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Paper • Social Media Advertising and Big Data at the Intersection: A Diversity Perspective to Interdisciplinary Communication • Faculty • Ye Wang; Huan Chen, University of Florida; Srichakradhar Reddy Nagireddy, BelowFive; Yugyung Lee • The purpose of this paper is to examine the current status of Big Data research on social media advertising, and investigate obstacles and strategies for effective communication across disciplines. The Big Data approach involves two disciplines: advertising and computer science. Thus, the focus of the studies is collaborative research of these two disciplines. Grounded in the theories of interdisciplinarity, weak and strong communication, interactional expertise, two studies were conducted. Study 1 used LDA+BERT topic modeling, pyLDA and wordcloud visualization, and analyzed 199 abstracts of Big Data advertising research papers from 2016 to 2020. Findings showed a clear trend of incorporating machine learning in interdisciplinary advertising research on social media. Study 2 adopted the perspective of the intercultural workgroup communication theory. By interviewing 20 researchers from each discipline, Study 2 found that there is a lack of adequate listening between the two disciplines. The current remedies rely heavily on a sense of openness at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels, and individual go-betweeners with non-authoritative leadership style and interactional expertise. More scalable solutions have to address the issues of evaluating interdisciplinary research in tenure and promotion systems, and institutionalized platforms for disciplines to mingle with each other.

Extended Abstract • Extended Abstract: What Ad Age’s A-List Agencies Learned from COVID-19: A Phenomenological Approach • Faculty • Frauke Hachtmann, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • This phenomenology explores how some of the most successful advertising agencies’ senior executives experienced the global health pandemic in 2020 and what they learned from serving clients when consumers were forced into lockdown, brands slashed their media budgets, and social unrest unfolded simultaneously. The study is based on in-depth interview data from 13 individuals who worked in 10 different agencies of varying sizes across the United States and reveals five qualitative meta-themes.

Research Paper • Effects of narrative-based corporate message and sponsorship disclosure in native CSR advertising • Faculty • Jiangxue Han; Shanshan Lou, Appalachian State University; Fuyuan Shen; Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Florida Institute of Technology • There has been a rise in the use of native advertising as a tactic to inform stakeholders of a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. In addition, communicating CSR through storytelling has shown to be effective in generating positive brand attitudes through transportation, identification, and engagement. The present study explores the effects of message format (narrative vs. non-narrative) and disclosure prominence (subtle vs. prominent) when communicating a brand’s CSR initiatives on message effectiveness. The findings showed that a narrative CSR advertising message led to greater identification, transportation, and engagement than a non-narrative CSR advertising message. A message with subtle disclosure led to less ad recognition and more positive message evaluations than a message with prominent disclosure. Ad recognition had a negative impact on message attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention.

Research Paper • Advertising’s Youthful Obsession: How a Valorization of Youthfulness Has Defined the Advertising Industry and Impacted Its Workforce • Faculty • Kasey Windels, University of Florida; Eliana DuBosar, University of Florida; Sophia Mueller, University of Florida • Advertisers serve as cultural intermediaries, using cultural references to create symbolic meaning for goods. Youthfulness is one highly desirable quality brands mobilize to create a sense of cutting-edge style. Based on in-depth interviews with 22 advertising practitioners, this study examines what youthfulness has come to represent in advertising and how that affects the experiences of workers in the industry. Findings suggest discourses of passion and hunger for younger workers and discourses of datedness and disillusionment for older workers are common. The valorization of youthfulness, along with its related discourses, prompt younger and older workers each to engage in particular forms of immaterial labor, or activities that contribute value, but are outside of the constraints of paid employment. While younger workers must spend considerable time engaging in the immaterial labor of following youthful social media and cultural trends, older workers must engage in immaterial labor to embody youthfulness.

Research Paper • Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities in the COVID-19 Pandemic • Faculty • Jueman (Mandy) Zhang, New York Institute of Technology; Yi (Jasmine) Wang, University of Louisville • This study compared two types of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities tailored to the COVID-19 pandemic—donation of tailored products and innovative manufacturing of needed supplies with two types of regular CSR activities—donation of regular products and release of CSR commercials regarding two nondurable products companies. The findings revealed that tailored CSR activities resulted in greater differentiation and innovativeness. The two types of tailored CSR activities, together with regular donation were superior to CSR commercials in terms of company function-CSR activity fit, CSR activity dynamic and company image. The impact of CSR activity type on CSR activity dynamic and company sincerity vary depending on the company and its detailed activities. Similar interaction patterns suggest the possible association between dynamic of CSR activities and company sincerity. All types of CSR activities increased the company CSR evaluations, with tailored donation revealing the salient advantage over others. None of the CSR activities improved brand equity.

Extended Abstract • Extended Abstract: Pinterest Discussions to Support Student Learning in Online Advertising and Media Courses • Faculty • Heidi Huntington, West Texas A&M University • Visual bookmarking app Pinterest, known for its aspirational and consumptive qualities of user’s “pinning” work, has recently made concerted forays into the online advertising and marketing space. At the same time, its visual and collaborative qualities offer unique potential for application in pedagogy. This extended abstract describes a pedagogical assessment study examining a Pinterest-based discussion board series, specifically Pinterest’s role in fostering collaboration and learning in an online digital advertising course.

2022 Abstracts

2022 Abstracts

AEJMC 2022 Conference Paper Abstracts
Detroit Conference • August 3 to 6

The accepted paper abstracts are listed within each section.

(Note: This may not represent the finalized papers presented at the actual conference. Due to personal decisions of the authors, they may not present at the conference.)

Divisions:

• Advertising
• Broadcast and Mobile Journalism (Formerly Electronic News)
• Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk (ComSHER)
• Communication Technology (CTEC)
• Communication Theory and Methodology
• Cultural and Critical Studies
• History
• International Communication
• Law and Policy
• Magazine Media
• Mass Communication and Society
• Media Ethics
• Media Management, Economics, and Entrepreneurship
• Minorities and Communication (MAC)
• Newspaper and Online News
• Political Communication
• Public Relations
• Scholastic Journalism
• Visual Communication (VisCom)

Interest Groups:

• Community Journalism
• Entertainment Studies
• Graduate Student
• Internships and Careers
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer
• Participatory Journalism
• Religion and Media
• Small Programs (SPIG)
• Sports Communication (SPORTS)

Commissions:

• Status of Women

<< AEJMC Abstracts Index