Magazine Media Division
2022 Abstracts
Research Paper • Student • The practice and presentation of slow journalism: A case study of Kinfolk magazine • Lydia Cheng • This paper contributes to the literature on slow journalism by analysing how elements of slow journalism is presented in the popular literary lifestyle magazine, Kinfolk. Based on a textual analysis of the editor’s letters from 30 issues of Kinfolk, this study found that the practice of slow journalism is manifested in the magazine through four ways: an emphasis on community, advocating for slowness in both production and consumption of content, and a niche editorial presentation.
Research Paper • Faculty • Gender, the New Journalism, and the Early Careers of Gloria Steinem and Gail Sheehy • Lisa Phillips, SUNY New Paltz • New Journalism has a woman problem. The core works critics, scholars, and the readers associate with the phenomenon are largely written by men, with subject matter—cars, wars, politics, motorcycle gangs—that often privileges male sources and perspectives. Yet a number of women writers consciously embraced the reporting methods, style, subjectivity, narrative structure, and subject matter of New Journalism, with several achieving levels of commercial success comparable to their male colleagues. Despite these accomplishments, women writers’ legacy in New Journalism remains tenuous. Joan Didion is the only woman who is consistently seen as part of the core canon of New Journalism writers. Several others occupy a far less certain position. What accounts for the tenuous foothold of women writers in the New Journalism? This article will address this question by looking at the process by which the accomplishments, writing style, and reportorial methods of two women journalists, Gloria Steinem and Gail Sheehy, connected them to New Journalism and the social and cultural forces that shaped their professional reputation and legacy.
Research Paper • Faculty • Fifty Years of Black Enterprise Magazine Covers: A Visual Analysis of Black Business • Gabriel B, Tait, Ball State University; George Daniels, The University of Alabama; Dorothy Bland, University of North Texas • The same year Black Enterprise Publisher Earl G. Graves, Sr died, his magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary. A content analysis of 509 Black Enterprise covers shows how it represented Black business professionals and issues. While they appeared more often in the last two decades, women were significantly less likely than men to be on the front of the magazine. Gracing the magazine cover most often were Barack Obama and Former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.
Research Paper • Faculty • Cancel or be canceled?: How U.S. arts and culture journalists perceive the influence of politics and cancel culture in their work • Kelsey Whipple, University of Massachusetts Amherst • Modern cultural journalists have a unique relationship to cultural knowledge, capital and authority that attracts them to audiences and establishes them as arbiters of culture. Through a series of in-depth interviews with 73 American arts and culture journalists conducted in 2020, this study seeks to understand how these journalists perceive the influence of politics on their work, as well as their own roles in “cancel culture.” Findings suggest they see the intersection between national politics and popular culture as an increasingly valuable realm for explication in their work. However, their views on cancel culture are mixed, based in fear and anger. Many journalists believe it is their responsibility to support the cancelation of cultural figures who have committed perceived wrongs, while others are afraid of being canceled themselves for unwittingly committing a cultural faux pas in their journalistic work.
Law and Policy Division
2022 Abstracts
Research Paper • Faculty • Debut Faculty Paper Competition • The ReDigi Case and the Digital Challenge to the First Sale Doctrine • J. Patrick McGrail, Jacksonville State University; Ewa McGrail, Georgia State University • We describe the First Sale Doctrine, its decline in recent years, and the company ReDigi’s novel protocol for its preservation in the current Digital Age. We describe how and why the courts have frowned on ReDigi’s protocol, and why our culture of virtual digital transmission has led to a decline of the First Sale Doctrine. We recount the history of infringement of digital musical works and afterward, why an essential difference between digital and analog copyrightable works is the little-seen reason for this decline. We propose a rationale for why the two types of works cannot be equitably treated the same at law. To do this, we introduce a taxonomy for digital works – how all creative works today actually need to be thought of with respect to their analog, digital or mixed state, (states which can and do change with time due to medium decay), how these changing states are distinct yet interrelated, and why federal legislators need to consider a wholesale revision of copyright law to reflect these distinctions. We conclude with proposals for how the law might be changed to restore the First Sale Doctrine.
Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of Pretrial Publicity on Jury Perception • Morgan Band, University of Florida • This investigation analyzed the conflicting values between the impact pretrial publicity has on defendants’ rights to a fair trial and the importance of upholding the media’s freedom of the press. The meta-analytic review aimed to answer ‘how does pretrial publicity impact jury perception’ and ‘what solution would be effective at reducing this impact?’ Several studies were examined to explore psychological explanations about how pretrial publicity creates bias and why current remedies fail to diminish it.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Open Competition • [EXTENDED ABSTRACT] Feeling the Bern: Commercial Speech Protections for Memes • Courtney Barclay, Jacksonville University; Kearston Wesner • The Bernie meme raced around the internet on Inauguration Day. Bernie found his way into Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Last Supper, as well as retailers and restaurants. Brands’ use of the meme raised questions about the extent of protection for meme discourse in a commercial context. This article reviews commercial speech doctrine and right of publicity. Concluding that memes, even when used by corporate speakers, are inherently protected under the First Amendment.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • The Positive First Amendment in Constitutional History, Law, and Theory • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • The positive interpretation of the First Amendment holds that the First Amendment permits or even requires the government to foster the system of public deliberation. In essence, “Congress shall make no law” can mean “Congress shall make law.” This paper evaluates the theory, first in the context of the Framers’ understanding of the First Amendment. It finds that Madison, Jefferson, and several others directly addressed the issue. They insisted that Congress has no power over speech and the press. Arguing the other side were backers of the Alien and Sedition Acts, who maintained that the First Amendment forbids abridgment of free expression but not enhancement of it—just as positive First Amendment theorists now contend. The paper next examines case law for support of the positive interpretation. It finds that Associated Press v. United States and Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, the cases most frequently cited as supporting the positive interpretation, contain soaring rhetoric, but their holdings, in the light of subsequent cases, are narrow. A few other cases provide oblique support. The paper concludes that the positive interpretation of the First Amendment is a provocative, innovative constitutional theory, but it bears little resemblance to original intent or judicial doctrine.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Open Competition • Extended Abstract: Too Many Cases, Too Little Time: What Instructors Choose to (Not) Teach in Media Law Courses • Genelle Belmas, University of Kansas; Tori Ekstrand; Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University; Kyla Wagner • “What cases do you teach?” Few questions this simple lead to heated debate, but among media law instructors, little consensus exists as to which topics and cases they should teach. Further, the research that has explored this debate is either outdated or non-comprehensive. This research, then, offers an updated, empirical examination of media law instructors on the topics and cases they cover and do not to, ideally, move the topic from debate to (general) agreement.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Nearly Extinct in the Wild: The Vulnerable Transparency of the Endangered Species List • Benjamin W. Cramer, Pennsylvania State University • This article reconstructs the Endangered Species Act as a government information statute. That Act makes use of an official list of vulnerable creatures that is used for agency action to save them from extinction. This article argues that the official list of species is not sufficiently accurate or transparent to citizens, so the compilation of that list does not satisfy the public interest goals of American environmental law or government transparency policy.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Perilous in Seattle: The Dangers of Covering Protests and Implications for the Journalist’s Privilege • Anthony Fargo, Indiana University-Bloomington • Five Seattle news organizations fighting a police subpoena for unpublished images from a 2020 protest made the novel argument that complying could endanger journalists covering future protests, who might be seen as police agents. A similar argument has been raised successfully by war correspondents asked to appear before international criminal tribunals. Given widespread mistrust of the media, this paper argues that it could be a viable argument in U.S. courts despite strong counter-arguments.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Liable, Naaaht: The Mockumentary: Litigation, Liability and the First Amendment in the works of Sacha Baron Cohen • Roy Gutterman, Syracuse University • The mockumentary, the primary genre of actor and provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen has generated a number of high profile lawsuits. Because the mockumentary genre is a hybrid of both documentary, fiction and comedy, legal questions continue to percolate. With Baron Cohen’s cable series Who is America still in litigation and the release of the Borat sequel within the statute of limitations, future litigation is not unexpected. The mockumentary raises questions of tort and contract law as well as how far protections extend under the First Amendment.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Copyright Versus the Right to Copy: The Civic Danger of Allowing Copyright to Override State Freedom-of-Information Law • Frank LoMonte, University of Florida • Journalists, researchers and activists rely on freedom-of-information laws for access to the essential data and documents they need. But the ability to copy and republish public documents exists in the chilling shadow of copyright law. Because the bar for a document to qualify as copyright-protected is low, a hidebound government agency could manipulatively use copyright protection to conceal studies, reports and other documents of undeniable public interest, if copyright is understood to operate as a trump card overriding the public’s right of access. A reckoning in the not-distant future is likely, as government agencies become repositories for more and more data and documents of commercial value. Further complicating the question, a dispute that implicates both federal copyright law and state open-government law has no single judicial “home.” As long as copyright is understood as an impediment to fulfilling public records requests, multiple rounds of parallel litigation may be necessary to adjudicate the bundle of state and federal issues wrapped up in a request for copyright-eligible documents. Although courts occasionally have applied the “fair use” defense to allow requesters to inspect and copy records that qualify for copyright, fair use is too fact-specific and unpredictable to give publishers the assurance they need to pursue and distribute the news. This paper concludes that copyright should never be understood to impede inspecting and copying government documents, because narrower FOI exemptions exist to fully protect rightsholders’ legitimate interests.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Thirty Years After Chandler v. Florida: Chauvin Trial Shows Flaws in ‘Cameras in the Courts’ • Michael Martinez, University of Tennessee • Thirty years ago, the decision in Chandler v. Florida, found that states have the right to allow cameras in the courts, differing from a prior ruling, in Estes v. Texas, that banned electronic media. Through legal and historical analysis, this study found that even though cameras access is allowed in all 50 states, there is a mosaic of rules that make access to courts inconsistent and calls for parity of access with its print brethren.
Research Paper • Student • Open Competition • Social Media and the Economy of Hate • Hayley Rousselle, Syracuse University College of Law • Section 230 grants social media companies immunity in making good faith efforts to regulate content on their platforms. However, this legal norm does nothing to encourage transparent, consistent, or effective regulation of harmful content like hate speech. Instead, section 230 has left social media companies in a position where they can go unchecked in profiting from the harmful content they often claim to prohibit. This article examines how Congress can amend section 230 to best incentivize social media companies to enforce their policies that prohibit hate speech.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Open Competition • Extended Abstract: The Arab Winter: How Privacy Norms, Social Media and Dissent Spurred Increasing Government Repression of Free Expression in the Decade Following the Arab Spring • Amy Kristin Sanders, University of Texas at Austin; William Kosinski • Ten years after the Arab Spring, few, if any, pro-democratic developments in freedom of expression have taken hold in the Middle East. In fact, the rise of social media, with its potential to fuel dissent, has spurred a significant crackdown on media freedom and critical online speech. Using legal research methodology, this study analyzes the connection between the region’s socio-religious norms around privacy, the rise of social media, and the governments’ attempts to crack down on media freedom. After analyzing news coverage, white papers, constitutions, statutes, and other formal and informal sources of law, the researchers discuss authoritarian leaders’ increasing use of cybercrime laws, billed as a means of protecting privacy. These draconian laws, mostly promulgated after 2010, are vaguely worded, designed to discourage “offensive” speech and carry harsh penalties.
Research Paper • Faculty • Open Competition • Rise of the Copyleft Trolls: When Photographers Sue After Creative Commons Licenses Go Awry • Daxton Stewart, Texas Christian University • Creative Commons licenses typically signal that a photograph uploaded to the web may be used for limited purposes, such as noncommercial uses or with attribution. Some photographers are monetizing this, uploading photos with little commercial value, searching the web for uses with improper attribution, then demanding payment and engaging in high-volume litigation. This study examines more than 30 cases involving photographers suing after a Creative Commons license terminated, finding that courts are showing a willingness to accept users’ arguments of fair use based on transformative purposes and lack of economic harm, as well as general distaste for the arguments of photographers engaging in this kind of litigation.
Extended Abstract • Student • Open Competition • EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Is Defamation Law Outdated? How Justice Powell Predicted the Current Criticism • Kirk von Kreisler, Primarily virtual at home, but may involve going into office (Host Company Location) occasionally. • Defamation law has seen no shortage of high-dollar verdicts in recent years, but attacks from influential public officials on foundational speech protections are much more concerning. Justice Lewis Powell’s personal papers show that this desire to shift the balance of protection away from free speech toward individual reputations is nothing new. Instead, today’s arguments in favor of abandoning New York Times actual malice likely draw their inspiration from Justice Powell’s desire to fundamentally alter defamation law by re-elevating the state’s interest in protecting individuals’ reputations.
Research Paper • Professional • Open Competition • Beyond Positive & Negative: Developing a Complementary Framework for First Amendment Theory • Patrick Walters, Kutztown University • Tracing back to the work of Isaiah Berlin and the debates of the Hutchins Commission, discussions of First Amendment theory have long been divided into opposing interpretations of “negative” rights protecting speakers from interference and “positive” rights ensuring that the public has the right to a quality information system. This paper explores whether these two contrasting approaches can be rectified, especially in an era where the lines between communicator and audience are no longer firm. The analysis explores these questions amid ongoing debates about regulating platforms, restricting hate speech and increased public intervention in the floundering news industry. The analysis, which builds on previous scholarship that has deemed First Amendment theory “inadequate,” finds that the two perspectives are indeed unique and cannot be rectified. But the paper argues that these perspectives need not be oppositional to each other. It issues a call for scholars and practitioners to support a complementary First Amendment approach that embraces both perspectives in the name of reaching a more complete understanding of our information ecosystem and all the factors involved in it.
International Communication Division
2022 Abstracts
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • The Concept of “New Media” among Jordanian News Producers • Shlash Alzyoud, Student • Journalists and directors of major media have documented doubts about blogging and social media. Difficult questions must be asked to know how new technologies are affecting journalism, along with what is actually achieved for the news organization in the presence of these technologies. The purpose of the this study is to understand and explain how Jordanian news-story producers perceive social media networks as related to making news and the extent to which they rely on these networks in producing news, in addition to knowing their opinions of the pros and cons of these networks. The study uses the qualitative approach by conducting personal interviews with the study sample.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Responsibility Framing of Health Issues in Ghanaian Newspapers: A Comparative Study of Ebola and Cholera • Augustine Botwe, University of Colorado Boulder; Selorm Adogla • The media in Ghana can play a significant role in shaping narratives associated with public health problems, especially endemic health challenges. The results of a bivariate analysis of the contents of two most widely circulated Ghanaian newspapers show that experts, who dominate media conversations about public health issues, discriminate in their apportioning of responsibility. While they called on the government to tackle Ebola, they shamed individuals for the outbreak of cholera. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • The Geopolitics Game: A Comparatively Frame Analysis between the US and Chinese Coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” in the Perspective of Media Diplomacy • Chen Chen • TikTok was considered to be banned by American government after July 2020, this commercial dispute was “politicized”. This study compared the news coverage of “The TikTok Divestiture Event” by two comparable mainstream media groups in China and the US. By employing multi-layer frame analysis of two News Frames, this study aimed at uncovering how and why the dispute was constructed in the Media Diplomacy of the two states under the geopolitics game vision.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Conspiracy about COVID-19 Pandemic in Contemporary China: What is the Authority’s Role on Weibo • Calvin Cheng, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Wanjiang Zhang; Qiyue ZHANG • By illustrating how Chinese authorities narrate and spread conspiracy theories (CTs) on Weibo, this study argues that authority-led CTs are strategic rhetoric in political discourse in authoritarian systems. We found authority-led CTs are significantly different from individual-led CTs in terms of topics, narratives, and diffusion patterns. Particularly Chinese authorities applied denial, rivalrous and connotative rhetoric on controversial topics to signify conspiratorial claims, contributing to the widespread of misleading CTs from vast individuals on social media.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • News use, partisanship and political attitudes in Africa: A cross-national analysis of four African societies using the communication mediation approach • Abdul Wahab Gibrilu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Drawing from Afrobarometer survey respondents in four African democracies (N=5997), we explored news uses effects on citizens’ political attitudes and how such relationships are affected by partisanship. Findings showed that only online news uses predicted all levels of citizens’ political attitudes across the samples whilst mediation results further affirmed different pathways to political attitudes through political discussion. Partisan differences exhibited consistent indirect effects for ruling and no party support across large portion of the sample.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • How twitter becomes the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy? • Jing GUO, Chinese Univeristy of Hong Kong • I applied grounded theory in social media research to explore how twitter became the battlefield for China’s public diplomacy campaign. By manual coding and simultaneous analysis on Chinese current foreign spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s Twitter postings and comments he received in three stages, I conceptualized China’s recent diplomatic move on twitter as ‘war of words’ model with features like ‘leadership’, ‘polarization’ and ‘aggressiveness’, while the effects in global community including ‘resistance’, ‘hatred’, and ‘sarcasm’.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Examining the media coverage of early COVID19 responses in the online version of Bangladeshi newspapers. • Sima Bhowmik • This study analyzes Bangladeshi news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine attention cycle patterns, cited sources, and news frames. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 729 articles from three newspapers (The Daily Star, The Daily Sun, and The Daily Prothom-Alo) published from March 1 to May 30, 2020. It was found that attention cycle patterns, news frames, and sources varied across the three newspapers. The study shows that these three newspapers gave more attention after the pandemic announcement. This study revealed that these three-newspapers emphasized mostly on attribution on government responsibility and reassurance frame. Regarding the news sources, these three newspapers equally used more sources from government. Apart from govt. sources The Daily Star and The Daily Sun also used international experts’ comments, while The Daily Prothom-Alo frequently used Bangladeshi health experts’ comments. This study will be helpful for researchers to understand third world country’s pandemic coverage.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Print as Digital Gateway: Hong Kong’s Yellow Economy and Bimodal Communications • milan ismangil • Print is not dead. Machine readable communications and smartphones as the means to read them has given print new wings. Print is rearticulated as bimodal communication, standing between the physical and the digital realm. By analysing the yellow economic circle in Hong Kong, a pro democracy protest, this article argues that the new possibilities of paper as digital gateway to the digital has made it a vital part of the protest movement.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • What does the Korean Embassy’s Facebook page show us? • Solyee Kim, University of Georgia • This study explores the discourse on the Facebook page of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States and how the Embassy constructs its roles and the US-ROK relationship. The study analyzes the posts that were published on the Embassy’s Facebook page between October 25, 2019 and October 25, 2020 and discusses how its findings help constructing the ideologies of the Embassy and dynamics of the US-ROK relations.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Extended Abstract: [It’s a small world after all] • Wei-ping Li, College of Journalism • During the Covid-19 pandemic, people in different countries have shared not only the fear of the virus but also false information. Based on international information flow theory and by examing Covid-19 false information in the Chinese language, this research studies the characters of the similar or identical false information that circulates in various countries. The research finds that cultural and geographical proximity are important factors in deciding where the information traverses.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • The Charm of Culture: An Empirical Research on Intangible Cultural Heritage Short Videos • Qiaozhi Liang; Yifei Li; Ke XUE • With the prosperity of Internet techniques in digital age, culture-related short videos have sprung up to attract overseas audience to adopt information of exotic culture. The study is an empirical research to investigate the factors affecting the viewers’ adoption towards the intangible cultural heritage short video and thus influencing their cultural identity. The Information Adoption Model (IAM) was extended and verified to adapt to the context of culture dissemination by adding the moderating variables of visual aesthetics and personal involvement. Questionnaire was conducted online comprised of the short videos’ clips and psychological scales. In conclusion, 471 people took part in the survey and 433 were validated. With the regression results, we found the establishment of the positive effects of source credibility and information quality on information adoption, the dual-moderating effect of involvement, and the negative moderating effect of visual aesthetics to the relationship between source credibility and information adoption. The study provides insights into guidance for making attractive short videos and innovative strategies to spread culture efficiently.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Extended Abstract: Framing Terrorism in a Global Media Conduit: Comparing Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Countries • V Michelle Michael; Satrajit Ghosh Chowdhury • This study compared the news coverage of three terrorist attacks in Britain in the summer of 2017. As terrorism and Islam are often erroneously correlated in news coverage, 510 articles from three Muslim-majority and three Muslim-minority countries were analyzed for any differences based on national religious identity. Our study showed that the three Muslim-minority countries used more terrorism frames for Muslim perpetrators than a White perpetrator compared to the three Muslim-majority countries.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • #desi: Self-Representation on TikTok among the South Asian Diasporic Youth in the U.S. • Nabila Mushtarin, University of South Alabama • With 2 billion downloads and 69% users under the age of 24 across 150 countries, TikTok has become a popular social media platform preferred by the youth for sharing unique interactive contents. The virtual space offered by TikTok motivates its users to participate in short performative videos reflecting socio-cultural practices. This paper explores the use of TikTok by the South Asian Diasporic youth and analyzes its role in offering a virtual space for self-representation of the group.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Journalistic role perceptions and barriers to role fulfilment in post-communist Bulgaria: A preliminary assessment • Mladen Petkov • This preliminary study explores role perception among journalists in Bulgaria, who work in a media landscape where political pressure and dissemination of false information create barriers to role fulfillment. The findings reported in this paper summarize semi-structured interviews with established Bulgarian journalists who discuss their work and reflect on professional values in an era of incomplete political transition and abundant disinformation. The findings make a contribution to scholarly studies about post-communist media systems.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Media coverage of trade war between China and United States by Russian media outlets • Viktor Tuzov, City University of Hong Kong • During the recent years the trade war between China and United States became one of the most important crisis not only in the global economic relations, but also in the international political agenda. The current research is focused on Russian media coverage of trade war between China and United States based on the content analysis and implication of structural differences existing in the current Russian media system into war and peace journalism paradigm.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • In “Other” news: A media framing analysis of COVID-19 emergence in Croatia • Gea Ujčić • By qualitatively analyzing Croatian coverage of COVID-19 outbreaks in China and Croatia, this paper explored framing and the construction of “Otherness” in three Croatian digital news outlets. Findings indicate stereotyping, dehumanization and Orientalism were present in framing China as a threat, while with the domestic outbreak, empathy, resilience, and personalization prevailed. This paper contributes to the existing literature by exploring Croatian coverage of the pandemic and adding to the research of portrayals of pestilences worldwide.
Research Paper • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • What’s in a name? Imagined Territories and Sea Names in the South China Sea Conflict • Lupita Wijaya, Monash University • This study compares three disputants in the South China Sea conflict, namely Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia (2013-2018). This study marks the preferred names as a turning point of maritime territorial imagination, transitioning names from merely geographical references to names bearing territorial and geopolitical implications, exemplified by Philippines’ West Philippine Sea, Vietnam’s East Sea, and Indonesia’s (North) Natuna Sea. Geographic name is not simply a geographic reference of passages anymore but invokes an imagination of boundary and identity. The process of turning the SCS into a conflict has been signified by the practice of name change and this process is imbued with collective memories from past conflict experiences. Content analysis and exploratory topic model show three disputants revolve around contested names in their associated topics and frames.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Extended Abstract: [Imagining Behind the Wall: Representation of Israel on Chinese Online Video Platform Bilibili] • Xin XIN • Taking Israel on Chinese online video platform Bilibili as a case, this research adopts qualitative content analysis to investigate how people shape the imagination of distant others through digital media representations. Drawing Orgad’s (2012) global imagination, the researcher discusses three findings including parochial stranger-relationality, otherness in censored digital platform, and self-representation as alternative. Revisiting the work of representation help reveal new challenges and potentials for change in the symbolic production of others.
Extended Abstract • Student • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Advocating International Cooperation and Confirming International Status: Metaphors Used by WHO in COVID-19 Briefing Speeches • Jiahui Dai, Communication University of China; Yangyue Xiong, Communication University of China • In COVID-19 epidemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducts international communication through three forms: regular media briefings, delegation briefings and attendance of the Director General at other meetings. In this study, a total of 50 speeches from 22 January 2020 to 9 April 2020 of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO were selected for critical metaphor analysis. It is found that team metaphor, war metaphor, moral metaphor, journey metaphor and fire metaphor run through the metaphor use of WHO. WHO constructs the response to the COVID-19 epidemic as team work, war, moral responsibility or journey, and the COVID-19 epidemic as fire. In the in-depth analysis of its metaphorical interpretation and explanation, it can be found that WHO has expanded the connotation of these five types of metaphors through different metaphorical carriers, but its metaphorical intention is consistent in two aspects, namely, advocating international cooperation and confirming international status.
Research Paper • doctoral candidate • James W. Markham Student Paper Competition • Key Players in International Opinions on the U.S.-China Trade War • Weiwen Yu, Arizona State University • “Based on relevant theories and using the methods of thematic analysis and social network analysis, this study analyzes the roles of relevant countries and classes in international opinions on the U.S.-China trade war through measuring and comparing the sources and attitudes of related opinions in the mainstream press of some countries. The findings show that the United States and China are the main sources of relevant international opinion in other countries, while the traditional powers Britain and Russia had more opinions mentioned than Vietnam and Iran—even though the latter ones were more affected by the trade war. Meanwhile, elites and decision makers are the main sources of relevant opinions in the United States and China respectively, but there are also some substantial differences between these two countries. The national interests clearly dominated the attitudes of other countries toward the United States and China. At the domestic level, the U.S. government seems to unusually gain the agreement of various classes, while Chinese government is questioned by certain classes in China. All of these could strengthen the U.S. claims and weakened China’s voice in the international opinion. Furthermore, the opinions of relevant international organizations did not gain the attention they deserve from various countries, American and Chinese public opinions also were not expressed adequately in the press dominated by their elites and decision-makers. Their real roles in the international opinion still need to be further investigated.
Key words: The U.S.-China trade war, international opinion, key players”
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Perception and deception: Examining third- and first-person perceptual gaps about deepfakes in US and Singapore • Saifuddin Ahmed • This study is one of the first attempts in understanding public perceptions of deepfakes. Findings from three studies across US and Singapore support third-person perception (TPP about influence) and first-person perception (FPP about recognizing) about deepfakes. A detection test suggests that the TPP and FPP are not predictive of real ability to distinguish deepfakes. Moreover, the perceptual gaps are more intensified among those with higher cognitive ability. The findings contribute to the growing disinformation literature.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • The Influence of Personality on Motivations: Comparing Uses and Gratifications of Social Media Users in the US and Kuwait • Deb Aikat, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Mariam Alkazemi; Faten Alamri,, Princess, Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia; Cathy Zimmer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • “Social media platforms dominate popular communication. However, few studies have examined how the media ecosystem impacts Kuwaiti students’ use of social media, and even fewer have matched it with students in the United States in a comparative context. Based on the uses and gratification approach, this study to compares students from the United States and Kuwait to understand social media use across cultures. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in these two cultural contexts.
This study examines how personality may impact their motivations. This study offers insight to use of social media by students in US and Kuwait contexts, and examines how personality may impact their motivations.”
Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • What is ethical in entrepreneurial journalism? • Fitria Andayani, University of Missouri • In-depth and semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with Indonesian entrepreneurial journalists to understand their perception of the ethical dilemma due to their double role as journalists and entrepreneurs and how they implement journalism boundaries. The findings informed by the boundary work theory suggested the ethical dilemma is inevitable in varying degrees and contexts. Simultaneously, how entrepreneurial journalists deal with normative issues and implement journalism boundaries depends on their business objectives, journalistic experience, and perceived identity.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • American Stereotypes of Chinese: Traits, Values and Media Use • John Beatty, La Salle University • “This national study examines Americans’ perceptions of Chinese character traits and related cultural values, in addition to media use, communication and demographic items. Recent coverage of China in The New York Times was examined.
Respondents perceived Chinese as “career types,” as overly religious and prudish, and generally as “good people.” Correlations with media use, communication patterns and demographics were weak, although there is a relationship between media use and a perception that Chinese are antisocial.”
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Tunisian and U.S. Journalism Students: A Comparison of Journalism Degree Motivations and Role Conceptions • Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Robin Blom, Ball State University; Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • This study assesses journalism student motivations and role conceptions among Tunisian and U.S. students to compare aspiring journalists in a country with well-established free-press norms to those in a transitional democracy with a recent history of authoritarianism. Preliminary results suggest that Tunisian journalism students are more interested than U.S. journalism students in covering public affairs and using their work to fight social injustice. A Tunisian drive toward public-service journalism is consistent with these activist inclinations.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • The politics of contextualization in communication research: Examining the discursive strategies of non-US research in JCR journals from 2000 to 2020 • Michael Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Jingjing Yi, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Panfeng Hu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dmitry Kuznetsov, Chinese University of Hong Kong • Non-US authors are often held to a different standard to US authors when contextualizing the findings and contributions of their research. We examined the discursive strategies they used in 605 articles across eight JCR-listed communication journals from 2000 to 2020. The findings showed a substantive amount of contextualization in relation to US concerns and literature; and demonstrated the ideological hegemony and omnipresence of the US-dominated academic culture that permeates the academic writing of non-US authors.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Indian Journalists’ Perceptions About Social Media’s Usefulness, Trustworthiness and Value As a Breaking News Platform • Dhiman Chattopadhyay, Shippensburg University • This study examines Indian journalists’ perceptions about (a) social media’s usefulness and (b) trustworthiness, as well as (c) why they believe their colleagues choose social media as a breaking news platform. Results from an online survey of 274 multi-platform journalists across 14 cities, indicated a dichotomy – journalists rated social media as extremely useful, yet not-so-trustworthy professional tool. Further, breaking from hierarchies of influences that have traditionally shaped mainstream media’s gatekeeping decisions, journalists reported that more than professional routines, or organizational diktats, ‘usefulness’ of the platform was the primary reason journalists shared breaking news on social media. Other perceived influences on gatekeeping decisions, included a need for higher page views, and inter-media competition to showcase trending news first. Results indicate emerging challenges for journalism practice in one of the largest non-Western media markets, and offer insights into newer ‘hierarchy of influences’ affecting gatekeeping decisions.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • How Does Ethical Ideology Affect Behavioral Intention to Wear a Mask in Pandemic? • Surin Chung, Ohio University; Eunjin Kim, University of Southern California; Suman Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill; Euirang Lee, Ohio University • The present study examined how ethical ideologies (i.e., relativism, and idealism) moderated the relationship between two variables (i.e., attitude, and subjective norm) and behavioral intention to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-national survey was conducted in the U.S. and South Korea. The study found that relativism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in the U.S. whereas idealism weakens the relationship between the two variables and behavioral intention in South Korea.
Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Riot on the Hill: International Coverage of a U.S. Insurrection Attempt • Dinfin Mulupi, University of Maryland, College Park; Keegan Clements-Housser, University of Maryland, College Park; Jodi Friedman, University of Maryland, Philip Merrill School of Journalism; Nataliya Rostova; Gea Ujčić; Matt Wilson, University of Maryland; Frankie Ho Chun Wong; Linda Steiner, University of Maryland • A thematic analysis of strategic narratives was employed on media texts from 20 different locales on five continents to determine how the January 6 insurrection was covered in places accustomed to being reprimanded by the United States about governance and human rights. Four overarching themes emerged: reputation of the U.S., depictions of the event, underlying causes of the event, and the political implications of the event marked the worldwide coverage.
Extended Abstract • Member • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Extended Abstract: Fighting the Infodemic War on COVID-19 Vaccine: An international comparative analysis of factchecking organizations’ impact on Facebook and dialogic engagement • Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University • The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the world. An effective vaccine is deemed as the best solution to overcome this pandemic, but while vaccines have been approved and currently distributed, mis/dis-information contributing to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. Fact-checker organizations are trying to combat the infodemic through posting their fact-checks on social media, especially Facebook. This paper explores the way fact-checkers in four countries are acting on Facebook, their impact, and how their audiences are responding/reacting.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • The Anti-Execution Movement of Iranians on Social Media • Shugofa Dastgeer; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas • “This study explores the structure and content of the anti-execution movement of Iranians on Twitter. The findings indicate that the networks’ activity depends on cases of executions in Iran and that the networks shrink as an execution case becomes older. While the participants largely used the anti-execution hashtags to discuss their personal (irrelevant topics), most of the relevant tweets were had passive tones and relied on self-sourcing.
Keyword: Iran, execution, anti-execution, Twitter, social movements”
Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Two side of the same coin: How violent incidents have opposing media coverages • Carlos Davalos, UW-Madison • Summary: Using bilingual content analysis and comparative strategies, the purpose of this study is to observe how American and Mexican mainstream newspapers cover a violent attack on an American Mormon working family on Mexican territory. Results show that the American coverage lacked social and historical context, while the Mexican newspaper coverage used a holistic frame to explain the family’s attack in a national context.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Testing the protest paradigm on TV and newspapers’ social media coverage of Chilean and Colombian social unrest • Victor Garcia-Perdomo, Universidad de La Sabana; Jose Augusto Ventin, Universidad de La Sabana; Juan Camilo Hernández Rodríguez, La Sabana University; Maria Isabel Magaña, Universidad de La Sabana • This research utilizes the protest paradigm as theory to analyze how TV channels and newspapers in Chile and Colombia covered —on their social media— the historical 2019 protests. According to the paradigm, mainstream media frame stories in a way that focuses on the violence and spectacle, delegitimizing protesters. This paper mixed automatic/manual content analyses to fully explore the adherence to the paradigm in digital environments. Results show key difference among countries, media type and organizations.
Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Extended Abstract: Digital Public Diplomacy and Social Media: A Content Analysis of Foreign Embassy Tweets • Imran Hasnat, University of Oklahoma; Elanie Steyn, University of Oklahoma • Digitalization has changed public diplomacy (PD). Literature suggests that the new PD is dialogic and collaborative. Additionally, the presence of embassies online indicates the adoption of new communication platforms. Using Cull’s (2008) taxonomy of PD, this study analyzes tweets from 27 embassies, finding that they still use a broadcast model of communication rather than audience dialogue. It shows that images are the most commonly used media and mentions are more frequently used than hashtags.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Information Verification and Discussion Networks as Pandemic Coping Mechanisms: A Cross-Country Study • Tang Tang, Kent State University • Emerging infectious disease threats such as COVID-19 have caused profound impact on the human societies worldwide. In coping with the threat, individuals engage in a series of psychological, affective, communicative, and behavioral coping processes. But there is a lack of systematic examination of the roles of information verification and discussion networks in the coping processes. To address these gaps, this study tests and expands the existing IDT appraisal model by including these two factors. A cross-county online survey was conducted in the U.S. and Taiwan, which represent different levels of COVID-19 disease control. The results showed that different types of threat appraisals predicted both negative and positive emotions associated with the pandemic, which in turn predicted information behaviors, including information seeking, sharing, and sharing without verification. Information seeking was positively associated with engagement in protective action taking, whereas information sharing without verification was negatively related to protective responses. Information sharing was associated with protective responses only indirectly through discussion with strong and latent ties. Moreover, discussion with social contacts also mediated the relationships between threat appraisals/emotions and protective responses, but the patterns were different in the U.S. and Taiwan.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Assessing the Role Performance of Solutions Journalism in a Global Pandemic • You Li, Eastern Michigan U • This research compares and contrasts the role performance of journalism in reporting prominent solutions to cope with the COVID-19 global pandemic in 25 countries. It found that solutions journalism performed more civic and loyal facilitator roles overall. The coverage in the U.S. demonstrated less tendency to be an interventionist or loyal facilitator than the coverage in East Asia, Europe, and the Pacific, and the COVID-19 infection number negatively predicted those two roles.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • From Ritual to Strategy: Li Ziqi as a Cultural Icon and the Political Economic Appropriation of Micro-Celebrity Fame • Limin Liang • This paper uses Jeffrey Alexander’s (2004) cultural pragmatics theory in studying the media phenomenon of Li Ziqi, a Chinese vlogger who achieved stardom in major social media platforms with her cinematic videos celebrating the bucolic life of rural China, from preparing local delicacies to making traditional handicraft. The paper zeroes in on the narrative strategies of Li in crafting the image of an authentic pastoral life in China via short videos, which resonates well with an international audience. It moves on to examine how a cultural icon of the social media era maybe coopted by the Chinese state for its strategic soft power initiatives. The success of Li triggered a media debate whether she constitutes a successful form of “Chinese cultural export”, which remains an elusive goal for official media despite the resources channeled into the endeavor each year. As key opinion leaders debate China’s “cultural essence” and how it may create greater influence overseas, the commercialized videos with a cultural theme eventually get caught up in the more grandiose narrative about China’s soft power. The article dwells on the interaction between the authoritarian logic of the state, the proprietary logic of the media market, as well as the logic of network technology in its ever-shifting alliance with the other more established institutions, all within and through the making of a micro-celebrity.
Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Networked Framing and the Role of Elite Gatekeeping During the #TaiwanCanHelp Hashtag Activism Campaign • Anita Kueichun Liu, University at Buffalo; Yotam Ophir; Dror Walter; Itai Himelboim, University of Georgia • We examine a Twitter hashtag campaign criticizing the political exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO’s efforts to combat COVID-19. We employed the Analysis of Topic Model Network (ANTMN) to analyze frames used in the #TaiwanCanHelp / #TWforWHO campaign in 2020 (N = 25,992 tweets) and network analysis to study the diffusion of messages and interactions between users. We identify three frames, and demonstrate message diffusion was dominated by Taiwanese and Western politicians and officials.
Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Credibility of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media on Political Participation • Yuanyuan Liu; Liu Yining; Xiaojing Li • Inspired by priming theory, steeping stepping stone effect and spillover effect, this study fully examined the mediating role of Creative Chinese Propaganda Media (CCPM), a new social media platform of China’s party media, in the relationship of media use and political participation among young people in Chinese political contexts. A cross-sectional national survey was conducted in China, including the whole 31 provincial regions in Chinese Mainland, by a random cluster sampling among Chinese college students (N = 3,011). Results proved the whole research model of Chinese youth’s media use, general trust, perceived credibility of CCPM, and their online / offline political participation. It provided theoretical and practical significance for present politics alienation among youngsters, as well as for future studies on political participation, media practice, and political propaganda.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • A “Regional Halo Effect”? Media Use and Evaluations of America’s Relationships with Middle East Countries • Justin Martin; Mariam Alkazemi; Krishna Sharma • This study examined news use and social media use as predictors of diplomacy evaluations of five Middle East countries among a representative survey of U.S. adults (N=2,059) conducted in September 2020. Respondents were asked if they deem each Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, and the UAE an ally, neutral, or enemy of the United States. The study utilized media and political socialization and public diplomacy scholarship as the theoretical framework. News use and social media use were mostly uncorrelated with diplomacy ratings of the countries, with the exception of Palestine, regarding which newspaper use and hard news consumption were associated with positive ratings and use of Fox News was associated with negative evaluations. The strongest and most consistent, positive predictors of diplomacy ratings were positive ratings of other countries. For example, rating each Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE as allies of the U.S. was strongly associated with similar evaluations of Israel. We may be observing a kind of “regional halo effect,” whereby people in the U.S. who view one country in a foreign region favorably, or negatively, tend to hold most, or all, other countries in that region in similar regard. The authors recommend that the current survey be replicated in the U.S. for ratings of groups of South Asian and sub-Saharan African countries, to test whether this halo effect applies elsewhere. Implications for research on media use and political socialization and on public diplomacy are discussed.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Who is a Less Dangerous Foe? Comparing U.S. Media Portrayal of Taliban and ISIS • Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University; Zahra Mansoursharifloo, Park University • “This quantitative research used Indexing theory to study U.S. press portrayal of Taliban and ISIS between 2014 and 2019. There was significant difference on eight frames. The U.S. press portrayed Taliban as a less dangerous foe with which the U.S. could broker a peace deal. However, ISIS was portrayed as a terrorist outfit that had to be crushed. Indexing theory found support from findings of the research.
Keywords: ISIS, Taliban, international news, U.S., Indexing”
Research Paper • • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Trade War, or A War of Fake News?: An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Perceived Realism of Falsehood News on International Disputes • Mingxiao Sui, Ferrum College; Yunjuan Luo, South China University of Technology; Newly Paul, University of North Texas • The rise of misinformation in recent years has re-boosted scholarly effort in investigating the origins, consequences, and remedies for the circulation of falsehood news, which primarily scrutinizes this phenomenon in one single nation. This scholarship has not yet considered how this phenomenon evolves in the context of international disputes where dissents, debates and rhetorical attacks often exist. Through a survey experiment, this study examines how Chinese readers’ perceptions about falsehood news is affected by a set of factors including news source, the presence of visual elements, general trust in mainstream Chinese media and trust in mainstream U.S. media, as well as general media literacy. Results suggest that falsehood stories reported by homeland media are perceived to better represent the reality of covered issue than those by foreign counterpart. This relationship is also moderated by readers’ general trust in U.S. media and general media literacy, which thus suggests media literacy training as a possible resolution to counter-effect news source.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Decolonizing Methodologies in Media Studies • Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed, University of Georgia • Drawing on an African feminist autoethnography framework grounded in a decolonial philosophy of Bilchiinsi, I present critical reflections on my experiences as an African scholar conducting research on media studies in Ghana. I argue that although canonical theories can be useful in theorizing African media systems, it is imperative to decolonize research by first looking to Indigenous African epistemologies and knowledge systems to support knowledge production in media studies and communication(s).
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Covering COVID-19 in the Global South: Digital news values in the Ugandan journalism field • Ruth Moon, Louisiana State University; Tryfon Boukouvidis, Louisiana State University; Fanny Ramirez, Louisiana State University • This study examines the differences between online homepage content and print front page content in a Ugandan newspaper (the Daily Monitor) to assess the extent to which current knowledge about homepage news selection applies to the Ugandan and by extension East African and sub-Saharan African contexts. The data comes from spring and summer 2020, in the height of the COVID-19 crisis, allowing the study to also draw conclusions about how the crisis was covered across platforms.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Boycotting Behavior in Journalism • Bahtiyar Kurambayev, KIMEP University; karlyga myssayeva, al-Farabi Kazakh National University • “A plethora of studies about boycotting exist in political sciences, marketing, business and other areas of scholarship, but this theme has been largely overlooked in journalism. This study contributes to scholarship on this unexplored aspect of journalism by examining boycotting behavior in an Asian context of Kazakhstan.
Although this study may have somewhat limited generalizability, this article interviewed journalists and editors from October 2020-February 2021 to examine their professional motivations in boycotting. The study identified that some journalists and news outlets in this politically constrained environment employ somewhat hidden, non-confrontational or undeclared tactics to boycott some selected news sources and certain policies in response to what they view as injustices in society, even when they see boycotting as ineffective. Accumulated professional tensions in an economically and politically constrained context lead to various forms of resistance and protests.
The findings also suggest that financially independent journalists are more likely to boycott certain sources of information, challenge authorities and protest or show resistance, while less financially secure journalists tend to be reluctant to challenge external forces affecting their own journalistic practice. This study discusses the findings in relation to Bourdieu’s field theory.
Keywords: boycott, conflicts, Central Asia, journalism, Kazakhstan.”
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Digital Natives, Nascent Democracy: Tunisian Pre-Professional Journalists’ Uses and Perceptions of Social Media • Carolyn Nielsen, Western Washington University; Brian J. Bowe, American Univ. in Cairo / Western Washington Univ.; Arwa Kooli, l’Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l’Information • “Summary
This study assesses Tunisian journalism students’ uses and perceptions of social media in their work. This survey, conducted almost a decade after the country’s Jasmine Revolution saw an authoritarian regime and its state-run news media replaced with democratic elections and laws protecting a free press, shows Tunisian journalism students are using social media largely to connect with the audience, to monitor competitors, and to conduct research. Respondents were divided about impacts on the field.”
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • The Use of Sources in News Stories about 2020 American Elections on Croatian Television: Who Dominates the Narrative? • Ivanka Pjesivac, U of Georgia; Iveta Imre, U Mississippi; Ana Petrov, University of Toronto • This study examined the coverage of 2020 American elections on Croatian Public Service Television’s website. The results of the content analysis showed that Croatian television used significantly more international than domestic sources, more official than unofficial sources, more male than female sources, more named than unnamed sources, and more real people accounts than documents. The results are interpreted in the context of primary definer theories of news sources use applied to South/East European media model.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • To say or not to say: Examining online self-censorship of political opinions in India • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • This study examines how self-censorship by social media users in India may be contributing to the limitations of media freedom. While right to free speech to all Indian citizens is assured by the Indian Constitution, a climate of repressive media freedom can have an impact on individual expressions. It can lead to a chilling effect in the public discourse of controversial issues. This study examines self-censorship on Facebook and Twitter with regards to government criticism. Survey (N=141) results suggest respondents with liberal attitudes were unwilling criticize the government on social media. However, respondents with pro-censorship attitudes, even if they deemed the opinion climate as hostile, were willing to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. Findings from this study expand understandings of online opinion expression and self-censorship in India.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Decade of Internet Censorship in India Examining Google Transparency Reports and Content Takedowns from 2010-2020 • Enakshi Roy, Towson University • Drawing on the literature on internet censorship this study investigates the practice of content takedowns carried out by the Indian governments. To that end this research employs two studies. Study 1 examines the transparency reports of Google from 2010- 2020 to find out what content is removed from Google platforms. Study 2 through in-depth interviews with technology lawyers and authors of transparency reports finds out about the content removal process and its complexities. The findings show “defamation,” “privacy and security,” “religious offense” and “national security” as the most frequently cited reasons for content removal initiated by the Indian government. Findings reveal a disturbing trend where defamation notices were misused to request takedown of content that was critical of the governments, politicians, public figures, law enforcement officials, and police. The findings of this study are important, they demonstrate several ways in which the internet is being censored even in democratic countries without the knowledge of the users. Such censorship maybe eroding the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitutions of India.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • International Migrants and COVID-19 Vaccinations: Social Media, Motivated Information Management & Vaccination Willingness • Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu; Muhammad Ittefaq, University of Kansas; Fatemeh Shayesteh, University of Kansas; Ursula Kamanga; Annalise Baines • Using a mixed-methods approach combining an online survey with in-depth interviews, this study examines how international migrants in the United States used online resources in dealing with uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations and how it is related to their vaccine willingness. Our results show that international migrants’ perceived uncertainty, positive and negative emotions, efficacy, and outcome expectancy affect their information seeking related to the vaccination and that issue salience moderates the effect between information seeking and vaccine willingness.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • A Dark Continent? Meta-analysis of communication scholarship focused on African nations • Meghan Sobel Cohen, Regis University • Using meta-analytic work, this study examines communication research methods, geographic focus, and lead author affiliation in research articles published in four leading communication journals over the course of a decade (2010 – 2019). Results point to scholarship by authors from North American and European institutions being dominant throughout the decade of analysis alongside an overwhelming research focus on North American and European populations and content, and a continued reliance on a small number of research methods.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Media genre dissonance and ambivalent sexism: How American and Korean television consumption shapes Chinese audiences’ gender-role values • Xiao Zhang, Macau University of Science and Technology; Chris Chao Su, Boston University • Driven by globalization, modernity and the development of media technology, transnational media consumption is increasingly prevalent. Together with indigenous media genres, exotic media genres constitute the fragmentation and diversification of individuals’ media consumption. Yet research concerning the hybrid media effects generated by indigenous and exotic media genres is still underdeveloped. Using a sample of 556 Chinese Internet users, this exploratory study proposes a concept of media genre dissonance to compare the effects of hybrid media consumption on sexism and gender-role norms in marriage (GRIM) in China. The findings suggest that individuals’ perceptions of gender-role norms are not only affected by indigenous media usage but also altered through exotic media usage. We illustrate how genre dissonance can affect Chinese audiences’ perception of GRIM through the mediating roles of culturally specific sexism and general sexism found in American and Korean television dramas.
Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Election Interference Strategies Among Foreign News Outlets on Social Media During the U.S. 2020 Election • Louisa Ha • This study investigates foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election news coverage of BBC World News, RT America and CGTN America across social media platforms from August 28, 2020, to November 2, 2020. We employed a content analysis of 420 randomly selected posts from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts of these three state-controlled international news outlets. We found content and political relationship factors affected engagement differently in each social media platform. Adversaries of the U.S. were more likely to employ election interference strategies than were allies, although the occurrences were low overall.
Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Russian Bots’ Narrative During Donald J. Trump’s 2020 Senate Impeachment Trial: A Text Mining Analysis • Jo Lukito • An analysis of Russian-language tweets (n1 = 465,329) collected during the 2020 U.S. Senate impeachment trial reveals that bots accounted for nearly 58% of users (n2 = 39,580) that generated 55% of overall content in a data set. LDA topic modeling method was employed to identify and quantify the differences in topic engagement between bots and nonbots. These findings offer empirical support for the theory of reflexive control, providing insights into Russia’s domestic information operations.
Research Paper • Faculty • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Effects of Individualism and Race On Visual Processing: An Eye-Tracking Experiment • Tamara Welter; Jason Brunt • Previous research suggests that East Asians tend to look at the context of an image while Westerners look more at the area of interest. Other research suggests that people might examine photos of same-race and other-race faces differently. Here, we tested for a same v. other race effect for looking at pictures of people in front of naturalistic backgrounds. Across two studies, for measures of number of fixations and for mean length of fixation to AOI and background, we found different effects for race of participant, same race and for number of people in the photograph.
Extended Abstract • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Normative Expectations for Social Media Platforms • Natalie Jomini Stroud; Tamar Wilner, University of Texas at Austin • Critiques of social media hint at normative expectations, such as the ideas that information should be reliable and people should feel safe. It is unclear how these expectations vary, however, and whether they are better predicted by where one lives or one’s most-used platform. Our survey of over 20,000 people across 20 countries finds that expectations vary more based on respondents’ country of residence than most-used platform, revealing a challenge for social media’s homogenized products.
Research Paper • Student • Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition • Communicating Nation Branding: Pandas as Ambassadors for Wildlife Conservation and International Diplomacy • Dongdong Yang, The University of Connecticut; Carolyn Lin • The current study investigated whether watching panda videos could influence attitudes toward the “brand” of China. Results showed that nature relatedness and wildlife-conservation attitude positively predicted emotional response to the video and attitude toward Chinese culture. Wildlife-conservation attitude positively influenced attitude toward the Chinese government. Political conservativism negatively impacted attitude toward Chinese culture; the latter was positively linked to attitude toward Chinese people. Attitude toward Chinese people were positively connected to attitude toward their government.
History Division
2022 Abstracts
Research Paper • Student • Evangelical Erasure?: Digital Communications Technology and the Memory of Rachel Held Evans • Karlin Andersen, The Pennsylvania State University • Rachel Held Evans was a blogger, author, and speaker who chronicled her “evolution” from a devout evangelical Christian to critic in four books, a popular blog, and multiple social media profiles before her death in 2019. Evans’ work is contextualized within the relationship between evangelicals and online technology and ends with a review of Evans’ community as of 2020. Evans’ story offers valuable insights for historians studying digital media, online communities, or public memory.
Research Paper • Faculty • Acadian Airwaves: A History of Cajun Radio • Noah Arceneaux, San Diego State University • This study explores French-language radio in southern Louisiana, particularly in the region known as “Acadiana.” This region is so named for the Acadian French who settled there in the late 1700s, a group commonly known today as “Cajuns.” Drawing from a variety of sources, this study outlines the history of this form of broadcasting, which has persisted since the beginning of radio in the region.
Research Paper • Faculty • Deadline: A History of Journalists Murdered in America • Elizabeth Atwood, Hood College • Although non-profit organizations issue periodic reports on violence directed against the media, little scholarship exists to explain why these attacks occur. Previous studies have focused primarily on volatile regions of the world, but this work looks at attacks on the news media in the United States. It identified seventy journalists who were murdered from 1829 to 2018 and offers a typology with which to categorize the violence.
Research Paper • Faculty • The effect of early journalism codes and press criticism on the professionalization of public relations • Thomas Bivins, University of Oregon • Following the end of WWI, both journalism and the nascent practice of public relations sought to establish a more professional image. The challenge to professionalize from Walter Lippmann on the one hand and Edward Bernays on the other exacerbated an already tense relationship between the two practices. While journalism reinforced its historical role, public relations attempted to elevate its occupation to a higher plane. The result was a sometimes literal battle of codes of ethics.
Research Paper • • Civil War Generals for President: Press Coverage of Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield During the Elections of 1876 and 1880 • Jack Breslin • During the 19th Century, four American “military chieftains” – Jackson, Harrison, Taylor and Grant – won the presidency. Besides their political careers, Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield also served as Union generals. By analyzing news stories and editorials during the Elections of 1876 and 1880 in selected New York City newspapers, this study examines campaign press coverage and electoral impact of the military heroism and political experience of Hayes and Garfield, who defeated General Winfield Scott Hancock.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Extended Abstract: Targeting the trades, press associations, and J-schools: Tobacco industry mapping and shaping of metajournalistic discourses • Michael Buozis, Muhlenberg College • Drawing on archival sources, this study explores how the tobacco industry targeted journalism trade publications, professional and press associations, and journalism schools in a decades-long effort to map and shape metajournalistic discourses to their advantage. By contributing to media-to-media publications, funding and participating in conferences, and engaging in journalism “education” initiatives the industry sought to influence journalistic practices. These journalism-adjacent actors and sites are particularly vulnerable to infiltration from corporate actors and deserve more scrutiny.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • An Attempted Coup on King Coal: How The Tennessean helped reshape discourse of coal mining • Anthony Cepak, University of Tennessee – Chattanooga • Through extensive archival research, oral history and ethnography, “An Attempted Coup on King Coal” examines the reportage of journalists at The Tennessean at the beginning of the environmental movement. The activism of The Tennessean’s journalists is illustrated through the lens of photojournalist Jack Corn, as the newspaper covered issues related to the waning coal industry in Tennessee’s Clear Fork Valley, and the social, economic and environmental devastation left in the wake of its abandonment.
Research Paper • Faculty • Community Divisions and Fractures in Print: Institutional and Student Media Coverage of a 1927 High School Student Strike • Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen, University of Idaho • Throughout the 1920s, high school students went on strike across the United States. Yet, despite the number of strikes, their size, and their geographic diversity, they’ve largely been lost in scholarship. This paper examines the longest and largest strike of the decade, and details how it unfolded in institutional media, represented by the community’s daily newspaper, and student media. It argues the strike represented a clash of narratives and revealed a series of community tensions.
Research Paper • Faculty • Where There Was a Will, AEJ Made a Way for Diversity • George Daniels, The University of Alabama • The words “Still Here” were a banner to promote Lee Barrow’s work to recruit and retain students of color in the journalism and mass communication. This paper spotlights Barrow’s work and the others in the leadership of Association for Education in Journalism (AEJ) as they operated the AEJ/New York University Summer Internship Program, created The Journalism Council to raise funds for these efforts and supported a Job/Scholarship Referral Service and career-oriented newsletter Still Here.
Research Paper • Student • The 1980s and the War on Drugs: The Media’s Declaration Against Hollywood? • Andrew Daws, The University of Alabama • What began as a crusade against countries in Latin America turned into a war on the home front – a war against drugs. The federal government was fighting to curb drug use while Hollywood was brandishing images of it. Oftentimes the media sided with the government. Critics from The New York Times were quick to point out these distinctions in films such as Scarface, Drugstore Cowboy, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Clean and Sober.
Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: A Socially Responsible Trade: an Analysis of Ethical Discourse in Editor & Publisher, 1930-1934 • James Fuller, UW-Madison • This paper shows the trade journal Editor & Publisher regularly discussed ethics of journalistic practice. Through an analysis of 265 Editor & Publisher journals published from 1930 to 1934, I show that newsmen were concerned about ethics in the normative practice of journalism. Further, I argue ethical conversations found within Editor & Publisher illustrate elements of the Social Responsibility Theory of the Press over a decade before its adoption by the Hutchins Commission in 1947.
Research Paper • Faculty • The Making Of “The Young Budgeter”: The American Girl Magazine’s Role in a Girl Scout’s Life During the Great Depression • Tamar Gregorian • Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low founded the Girl Scouts and almost immediately began publishing The American Girl, arguably the most significant publication for adolescent girls at the time. Its content was reflective of societal norms for girls’ behavior. However, were economic effects of the Great Depression reflected in the content? The author, through a close reading of the magazine during that decade found the magazine avoided such content, leaving questions of the publications true influence.
Research Paper • Student • Perceptions of Progressive Era Newsgirls: Framing of Girl Newsies by Reformers, Newspapers, and the Public • Autumn Linford, University of North Carolina • As part of a larger project about news work and gender, this study focuses on the gendered experiences of Progressive era newsgirls. Newsgirls took up a disproportionate amount of public conversation during this time period, but have been mostly ignored by historians. This research suggests the image of the newsgirls was strategically framed and exploited to further reformer’s causes, bolster newspapers’ business, or excuse the public’s apathy.
Research Paper • Student • Cementing Their Heroes: Historical Newspaper Coverage of Confederate Monuments • Alexia Little, University of Georgia • Following continued conflicts about Confederate monuments in American society, this study explores Civil War memory encapsulated in newspaper coverage of four Confederate monument unveilings. Discourse and narrative analyses of 258 articles published in seven U.S. newspapers in the 1890s and 1920s examine how the American public negotiated terms of heroes, victims, and villains, largely in a hegemonic Lost Cause myth that took primacy over fact, thus distorting collective memory of the war.
Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: “By Far the Best of Our Foreign Representatives:” Vira B. Whitehouse and the Origins of Public Diplomacy • Ayla Oden, Louisiana State University; John M. Hamilton, Louisiana State University • The Committee of Public Information’s efforts during the first World War mark the beginning of American public diplomacy, but its influence has since been overlooked by scholars. The CPI owes a large portion of its overseas success to suffragist Vira Boarman Whitehouse. This paper examines the role Whitehouse played in the CPI’s efforts in Bern, Switzerland. So far, scant research has looked at Whitehouse’s role in shaping public diplomacy, and even then, diminishes the challenges she faced due to her position in a male-dominated field and how her initial efforts were marred by poor mismanagement. This paper analyzes how her role as a leader in the New York suffrage movement gave Whitehouse the skillset to serve as one of the most-accomplished CPI commissioners and trailblazers for modern public diplomacy.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Dorothy Barclay: Mediating Parenting Advice • Diane Prusank, Westfield State University • Research on the history of the women’s pages has neglected a staple of the women’s pages, namely the information provided regarding family and parenting advice. This study begins to fill this gap by analyzing the work of Dorothy Barclay, editor of the parent and child section of The New York Times between 1949 and 1965.
Research Paper • Student • Race Films and the Black Press: Representation and Resistance • Carolina Velloso • This paper investigates Black press coverage of race films in the early twentieth century. Using archival methods and textual analysis to examine coverage in three Black newspapers, this study argues that through advertisements, film reviews, actor profiles, and production updates, Black newspapers played a crucial role in the advancement of positive screen representations of African Americans. The Black press challenged dominant media representations of African Americans and provided readers with positive examples of Black accomplishment.
Extended Abstract • Student • Title: The Image of Heroines in Advertisements of Shanghai’s Martial Arts Films during1920s-1930’s • HUANG WENLU • This paper argues that Nüxia pian such as Red Heroine displays the females’ bodies in a de-gendered way, challenging the visual culture in which females’ bodies was often seen as objects of desire by male viewers. However, in newspaper advertisements, the image of Nuxia Pian has become sexualized,implying the resurrection of the male’s desire. By discussing the disparity of image representations, the present study attempts to offer an analysis related to issues of women’s liberation in Nüxia pian.
Broadcast and Mobile Journalism
2022 Abstracts
Research Paper • Longitudinal Study of Social Media Policies In U.S. Television Newsrooms • Faculty • Anthony Adornato, Ithaca College; Allison Frisch, Ithaca College • This longitudinal study analyzes survey data, gathered in 2014 and 2020, regarding local television newsrooms’ social media policies. The purpose of the study is to track changes over time to these policies. The researchers investigate if and in which ways newsroom social media policies are evolving over time in four specific areas: journalists’ professional and personal social media activities; social media sources and content; audience complaints; and ownership of on-air talents’ accounts. The researchers found a significant increase of guidelines regarding what is and is not appropriate on the professional and personal social media of journalists, with little distinction made between these two types of accounts. Although newsrooms have implemented policies to articulate what is appropriate social media conduct and a majority have recently revised policies, those guidelines do not always address the fast-evolving contemporary issues journalists face on a daily basis, specifically online threats against journalists and verification of user-generated content. The researchers found a trend towards news outlets retaining ownership of on-air talents’ professional accounts.
Research Paper • Production and Improvisation: Digital Native News Video as an Emerging Narrative Style • Faculty • Mary Bock, The University of Texas at Austin; Robert Richardson, University of Texas at Austin; Christopher T. Assaf, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN; Dariya Tsyrenzhapova, University of Texas at Austin • This project uses content analysis to examine the nature of video narrative form on the internet, comparing the news videos posted by legacy print, TV and digital native organizations. Using the lens of narrative theory, this research examines the way organizations use scripting and editing conventions to establish their standing as authoritative storytellers. The results found the three types of organizations use significantly different storytelling styles, with long-term implications for news organizations and their viewers.
Research Paper • Factors That Affect Social Media Credibility as a News Channel: the Impact of Network Relationships, Source Perceptions, and Media Use • Faculty • Jiyoung Cha, San Francisco State University • Recognizing the prevalent use of social media to get news, this study investigates the factors that affect the credibility of social media as a news channel. A survey of 488 U.S. adults who use social media reveals that individuals’ homophily with their social media contacts, source credibility, trust in alternative news sources, reliance on social media to get news, and frequent social media use to get news positively relate to the credibility of social media.
Extended Abstract • Pressure to Perform: Gendered Expectations of Journalists’ Social Media Use • Faculty • Stefanie Davis Kempton, Penn State Altoona; Carlina DiRusso, Hope College • Social media expertise is essential for journalists to compete in today’s digital world. However, not all journalists experience social media the same way. This study is particularly interested in how gender influences these experiences. A survey of broadcast news professionals was conducted to explore social media trends in the news industry. Findings suggest that female journalists experience more online harassment than male journalists and face additional pressures to perform on social media in certain ways.
Extended Abstract • Egyptian Female Podcasters: Creating Social Change Through Public Pedagogy • Faculty • Kim Fox, The American University in Cairo; Yasmeen Ebada • This research will examine the work of eight Egyptian female college podcasters. The researchers concluded that the podcasts were used as a platform to strengthen feminist epistemologies. The researchers posited that all podcasters adopted or would adopt either a Westernized or Black feminist epistemology. Public pedagogy theory helped determine that the podcasters utilized their podcasts as digital feminism to raise awareness to larger societal problems in a country entrenched in patriarchy.
Research Paper • “Keep Your Politics Off of My Face(book)!” Online News & Hostile Media Bias in the COVID-19 Social Media Environment • Faculty • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University; Alexander Moe, SUNY Brockport; Sydney Brammer, Texas Tech University • Facebook offers a free platform for news organizations to foster audience engagement and expand reach. However, comments seen before reading news articles shape the visible opinion climate and negatively influence readers. Guided by hostile media bias, the influence of comments and a knowledge-based assessment on perceptions of bias and credibility are tested using a nationwide sample of Facebook users (N = 450). Findings show user comments and knowledge-based assessments enhance negative perceptions among audiences.
Research Paper • Antecedents of News Avoidance: Competing Effects of Political Interest, News Overload, Trust in News Media, and ‘News Finds Me’ Perception • Faculty • Manuel Goyanes, Carlos III University; Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Salamanca/Penn State University • Recent changes in the media environment make it easier than ever for people to actively shape their news repertoires according to their habits, needs, and preferences. As convenient as these practices may seem, they also afford the possibility of disconnecting from news and current affairs more efficiently, with potentially deleterious effects on democracy. Building on the conceptualization of news avoidance as a general disposition and its consequential behavior, this study jointly examines key individual-level predispositions that may motivate individual news exposure avoidance. Based on a two-wave panel survey data collected in the United States, results show evidence that political interest and trust in professional news are negatively related with news avoidance, while news overload and—especially—the ‘news finds me’ perception are positively associated with news-avoidance behaviors. Our analyses suggest that the linkages between these cognitive antecedents and news avoidance are contingent upon the robustness of the empirical tests, with the ‘news find me perception’ yielding the most consistent association across models.
Research Paper • Local News on Facebook: How Television Broadcasters Use Facebook to Enhance Social Media News Engagement • Faculty • Miao Guo, Ball State University; Fu-Shing Sun, Ball State University • This study examines how local television broadcasters use Facebook to enhance social media news engagement. By scraping 1,063 news posts from nine local television stations’ Facebook pages, this investigation performs a content analysis on different features of news posts, including news topics, message vividness and interactivity, post time, and length of post. This study further explores how different news post features affect three dimensions of news engagement indicated by reactions, comments, and shares.
Research Paper • The Impact of Media Algorithms on The Habermassian Public Sphere and Discourse • Student • Kendal Heavner, The University of Arkansas • Media algorithms are increasing in use among popular social networking sites (Geiger, 2009). Widely influential in the media sector, algorithms create a highly personalized experience for the individual viewer. However, some scholars argue the specified curation of media based on a user’s personal preferences leads to a “filter bubble,” an online-based self-fulfilling prophecy in which users’ pre-existing opinions are continually reaffirmed. A survey will examine the impacts that media algorithms have on traditional media theories.
Research Paper • What Influences the Influences?: Examining National Culture, Human Development and Journalism Influences • Faculty • Steven Collins, University of Central Florida; William Kinnally, University of Central Florida; Jennifer Sandoval, University of Central Florida • This study examines how social systems level variables may help shape electronic journalists’ perceptions of the forces influencing their work. We combined Worlds of Journalism Study data with Hofstede’s cultural orientations to consider how the levels of the Hierarchical Influences Model may coalesce. In six analyses across four levels, culture was significantly correlated with perceived influences. Our findings support the belief the social systems level is the hegemonic level on which the others levels rest.
Research Paper • Exploring audience criteria for perceptions of online news videos • Faculty • Michael Koliska, Georgetown University; Neil Thurman, LMU; Sally Stares, City University of London; Jessica Kunert, University of Hamburg • “Journalism professionals and media experts have traditionally used normatively framed criteria
to define news quality. But the digital news media environment has disrupted the status quo by
putting a greater emphasis on audience reactions as markers of news quality. Little research has
addressed the criteria audiences themselves use to evaluate news and particularly audio-visual
news. We conducted in-depth group interviews with 22 online news video consumers in the UK
to explore the criteria that they use in their perceptions and evaluations of online news videos.
Thematic analyses suggest many intersecting criteria, which we group under four headings:
antecedents of perceptions, emotional impacts, news and editorial values and production
characteristics.”
Research Paper • Distant Suffering of Coronavirus Outbreak: Comparing BBC World and Al Jazeera English Epidemic Reporting in China • Student • Wendy L.Y. Leung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • This research aims to compare how BBC World and Al Jazeera English (AJE) report the “distant suffering” of the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in China through critical discourse analysis. While BBC World highlighted the situation of “western victims” in Wuhan to domesticate the event with audiences, AJE tried to relate audiences through illustrating the outbreak in both China and surrounding infected countries, previewing its possible impact in the globe.
Research Paper • I Wouldn’t React to it Because of the Algorithm: How Can Self-Presentation Moderate News Consumption. • Student • Heidi Makady, University of Florida • While algorithms govern the display of our newsfeed on SNS, studies sought to explore conditions to encourage audience interaction with news content. However, few aimed to understand how audiences may refrain from interaction. This study explores how audience awareness of algorithmic recommendations may drive their news interaction. Through self- presentation framework, results indicate that the higher the level of self-monitoring and algorithmic awareness, the more likely passive news consumption is. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Extended Abstract • Ten Days of Twitter’s “Who to Follow” Algorithm as the Architect of an Election Season Social Network • Faculty • Dylan McLemore, University of Central Arkansas • This study attempts to learn how Twitter curates election information for new users by letting the “Who to Follow” algorithm select accounts for followers of Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The results suggest the algorithm creates a partisan echo chamber by prioritizing ideological agreement. However, it varied significantly in the types of accounts it used to create this bubble, including the number of news personalities and verified accounts suggested to followers of each candidate. A summary of the study is presented in the format of a 1,500-word extended abstract.
Research Paper • Hostility toward the press: a synthesis of terms, research, and future directions in examining harassment of journalists • Faculty • Kaitlin Miller, University of Alabama • While there is an upsurge of research examining hostility toward the press, there continues to be a lack of critical and robust theoretical foundation and agenda for such inquiry. Therefore, the objective of this article is to synthesize literature in the study of abuse and harassment of journalists, set forth clear definitions of terms, situate that literature within a larger theoretical context, and ultimately establish future lines of inquiry for research examining harassment of journalists. The principal objective is to unify work in this growing field to help not only answer important questions about a topic gaining more and more attention, but to also do so with a critical foundation in how hostility toward the press is theorized.
Research Paper • Touch in disaster reporting: Television coverage before hurricane maria • Faculty • Bruno Takahashi, Michigan State University; Qucheng Zhang, Michigan State University; Manuel Chavez, Michigan State University; Yadira Nieves • This study examines the use of touch by television reporters in their interactions with sources — mainly residents and government officials — before Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. We used a qualitative approach that allowed four themes to emerge inductively. The themes — engagement and participation, empathy and caring, easing tension, and collective empowerment are described in relation to the literature on touch across cultures. Implications for the emotional turn in journalism are discussed.
Research Paper • The View of the Blue is Bigger than Black and White • Student • Melissa Williams, The University of Southern Mississippi; Lindsey Maxwell, Southern Mississippi • Using the social identity theory, this study explored how mass media, race, age, gender, and politic affiliation contribute to Americans’ attitude towards the police. Findings indicate one’s social identity and identification with police play a substantial role in how people choose to view police. Additionally, increased media trust and resulted in more positive perceptions of police, and people who listened to radio news more frequently were more likely to consider police part of their in-group.
Research Paper • An Agenda-setting Test of Google News World Reporting on Foreign Nations • Student • Anna Young, University of Connecticut; David Atkin • The current study examines the international news section of Google News by investigating the frequency and valence of international coverage. The content of news headlines and snippets about other countries are compared to the public perception of those countries, based on a dedicated survey. Although study findings fail to detect a second-level agenda-setting effect, they demonstrate the impact of other variables–such as political philosophy and perceived cultural proximity of the nation–on media agenda-setting.
Cultural and Critical Studies Division
2022 Abstracts
Extended Abstract • Student • Cultural Sensitivity in Health Crisis Communication: The Case of COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa • Elinam Amevor • This qualitative study examines the discourses surrounding Melinda Gates’ prediction about dead bodies littering the streets of Africa, if the world did not act fast to rescue the continent. The study thematically analyzed reactions from 12 social media influencers from Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Drawing on the Cultural Dimensions Theory, preliminary findings describe Gates’ remarks as racist and demeaning to Africans. This reinforces the critical need for cultural sensitivity in global health crisis communication
Research Paper • Faculty • The Power of a Good Story: Domestic Violence Survivors in True Crime Podcast Audiences • Kelli Boling, University of Nebraska – Lincoln • This audience reception study qualitatively examines women who identify as domestic violence survivors and fans of true crime podcasts. Using a feminist, critical cultural lens, this study explores why these women are drawn to these podcasts and how they make meaning of the content. Sixteen interviews revealed five themes: the power of a good story, the appeal of audio media, the educational value of the content, their need for understanding, and creating camaraderie through community.
Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract- Reading Lumpérica from a cinematographic perspective – A fragmented script about marginality • Alejandro Bruna, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile • Lumpérica, by Diamela Eltit, presents an interesting narrative mix: stream of consciousness, realism, dialogue and cinematic elements. This work analyzes the enunciated work, discovering that if read from a audiovisual perspective, it is a true script, fragmented and disjointed, but a script nonetheless, framed within a Chile that suffers the pain of dictatorship and, therefore, presents wounds coupled to a marginality that is dependent of the cinematographic eye to be seen.
Research Paper • Faculty • Black Lives Matter to Media (Finally): A Content Analysis of News Coverage During Summer 2020 • Jennifer Cox, Salisbury University • This study examined 286 stories posted about the Black Lives Matter movement and protests following George Floyd’s death by the six most-viewed U.S. news outlets on their Facebook feeds during summer 2020. These organizations published a significant amount of content, though the frequency declined throughout the summer. Stories mostly framed protesters positively and police negatively. Organizations regularly used law/crime spot news to frame protests. The findings suggest a shift away from the media’s protest paradigm.
Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: Talking Through the Algorithm: Techno-Institutional Bias and Women’s Voices • Katherine Dawson • This work proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how technologies of vocal recording and manipulation, from ‘good speech’ phonetics to A.I. voice renderings, have operated as ideologically charged algorithms that ‘solve’ women’s voices. The research builds upon existing communication literature surrounding the nature and functionality of algorithms, as well as feminist posthumanist theory, which provides a richer conceptualization of how algorithms of voice enact both a political and material discipline upon women’s speech.
Research Paper • Student • Video Game Community Content Creators: A Cultural Intermediary Perspective • Jeffrey Duncan • Video game content creators act as a ‘cultural intermediary’ between game producers and players. Through an interpretive textual analysis of YouTube videos by content creators of two popular games, this study explicates this mediating role the creators play in negotiating the encoding and decoding of gaming messages and their ability to influence audience opinion and producer decisions, highlighting an underrepresented group of creative workers that mediate messages in the gaming industry.
Research Paper • Faculty • Theorizing the mediasphere: NRA media and multimodal dependency • Dawn Gilpin, Arizona State University • This paper uses NRA media operations to illustrate the phenomenon of the mediasphere, defined as a strategically established subsystem of cultural production entrenched in promotional culture and characterized by hybridity, commodification, epistemic authority, embeddedness, identification, centralized control, and oppositionality to mainstream media. A mediasphere represents an attempt to establish audience dependency through multimodal centrality and thereby exercise social and cultural influence; it thus has implications for evolving understandings of information systems, propaganda and promotional culture.
Research Paper • Faculty • The Space Between Home and Away: Sixteen Fragments across Communication as Culture • Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Coker University • “This paper uses sixteen fragments, linked narratives, to make sense of and bring meaning to the space between home and away. Written in an accessible style and broadly inspired by the feminism of Laura Mulvey and the philosophical poetics of Jacques Derrida, the paper
challenges communication as culture to work toward a more narrative, more poststructuralist conceptualization of health communication in particular and communication as culture in
general.”
Extended Abstract • Student • Emotionally charged and politically polarized: An interpretive approach to social media analysis • Efrat Gold; megan boler, University of Toronto • Meaning is never inherent, nor is it neutral. The social act of interpretation, which gets mapped onto people and events, is deeply embedded within pre-existing cultural traditions. Using data from Twitter, Facebook, and Gab as cultural artefacts, we excavate the ways that meanings are made and conveyed through social media. Entering social media to undertake research can feel like entering a new world with its own history, rules, language, and norms. To the less embedded outsider, this world can feel dis-orienting – it is not immediately obvious where to turn, and even less obvious how to make meaning out of what one finds. The ways that people use social media are not neutral, nor are they static – in recent years, it is increasingly clear that social media is doing something, and that something is very influential. But what exactly is this doing and how is it being done? How do social media expressions and interactions speak to deeper beliefs and understandings that people hold about themselves and the world they inhabit? This paper invites a critical reflection on how the work of making meaning out of people, politics, and events is done. As an artefact that says something about the culture from which it stems, social media can inform understandings of the contemporary reality they reflect. Using case studies of comments and interactions among social media users as an occasion to explore cultural practices and disruptions, we dig deep to reveal the social and interpretive aspects already at play.
Research Paper • Student • The spectacle of flags • Julie Grandjean, Texas Tech University • While news editors tend to still consider images as mere illustrations for what is verbally explained (Geise and Baden, 2015), it is important to consider that the analogical properties of images (Abraham and Messaris, 2001) makes them appear more truthful and representative of reality. However, reality tends to be fluid depending on whose story we listen to. This paper narrates the stories of two realist rivals planting their respective national flags on two yet unexplored territories. While the American flag on the Moon was meant as a way to prove the American technological superiority over the USSR to end the Cold War, the Russian flag in the Arctic can be seen as a political move by President Putin to recreate the lost grandeur of the Soviet Union and reenact the Cold War in order to revive his political support at home. By doing so and recording their exploits, the two actors created national narratives that go beyond the simple performance of erecting a flag; I argue that these images construct an affectual nationalist identity through elites’ performance of flag planting, and mass media’s role in staging these political events as a “spectacle.”
Research Paper • Faculty • A reckoning in journalism education: Examining the approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism syllabi • Azeta Hatef; Sara Shaban • The 2020 protests in the U.S. prompted a reckoning in newsrooms across the country, presenting a critical moment to reflect upon journalism education and preparing students to report on a diverse world. Through Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine syllabi from American universities, focusing on core principles and values in journalism education, specifically their approach to discussions of race, gender, and marginality. While few engage in critical discussion, most universities continue to utilize a traditional framework.
Research Paper • Faculty • Thatcherism, Trumpism, and the Potential of Organic Ideology • Kristen Heflin, Kennesaw State University • In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Stuart Hall struggled to make sense of Thatcherism, an ideology that was incoherent, brought together seemingly opposed viewpoints, and embraced contradiction. Ultimately, Hall developed the concepts of organic ideology and organic intellectual to help make sense of this ideology full of contradictions. This paper examines the theoretical roots of organic ideology and the role of organic intellectuals. It also discusses the concepts in relation to Trumpism and the MAGA movement.
Research Paper • Student • Disinformation and Weaponized Communication: The Spread of Ideological Hate about the Macedonian Name in Greece • Minos-Athanasios Karyotakis, School of Communication HKBU • The current research examined 38 of the most influential disinformation-fueled news (or “fake news”) stories regarding the Macedonian Name Dispute (MND) and the “Prespes Agreement” in the years of 2018 and 2019 by employing the critical discourse analytical (CDA) method of ideological discourse analysis proposed by Van Dijk. The study’s main objective was to expand the relevant literature regarding disinformation, power relations, and hate campaigns by examining the ideological narratives and constructions disseminated through the disinformation-fueled news stories during that two-years-period. The findings showed that those news stories were successfully weaponized and resulted in empowering identity characteristics and ideological narratives through the distancing method (us versus them), the alienation with elements of dramatization (e.g., territorial loss of the Greek Macedonia due to the “Prespes Agreement”), and the sense of victimization and dehumanization that demanded emergency actions to protect the ingroup (Greece) from the outgroup (North Macedonia and its Greek assistants).
Research Paper • Student • Interrogating Perceptions of Risk and Responsibility in Sports During the Coronavirus Pandemic • Charli Kerns, University of Tennessee, Knoxville • This autoethnography examines whitewater kayakers’ decision to paddle the Big South Fork River in Tennessee to reveal the emerging tensions between individual risks inherent in the sport and the much broader constellations of risks into which its participants are interposing themselves during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic rationalities form the context within which individuals engage in neoliberal approaches toward risk-taking in action sports. In turn, these practices articulate with broader frameworks of responsibility in postmodern society.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Dead and Back to Life: “The Eight Hundred” in the Field of Power • Zhaoxi Liu • In 2019, the Chinese movie “The Eight Hundred” abruptly cancelled its release while China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic, due to political sensitivity. A year later, as China tried to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie became a market-reviving hero. This case study explains the dramatic experience of the movie by exploring the interrelations among the field of cultural production, the field of power, and the field of broader social context.
Research Paper • Faculty • Leaning In, Pushed Out: Postfeminist Precarity, Pandemic Labor, and Journalistic Discourse • Jessica Maddox; Brian Creech, Temple University • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the postfeminist ideal of “having it all” became more contradictory, as women struggled to juggle work and childcare. This research, using critical discourse analysis, examines how lifestyle and explanatory journalism made sense of this problematic ideal as it became evidently untenable during the pandemic. Here, journalism operates as a discursive structure, obscuring its own complicity in sustaining postfeminist and neoliberal relations around the expectations that surround working mothers.
Research Paper • Student • Genre, the meaning of style?: Categorizing Japanese visual kei • Lucy March • This paper explores the Japanese musical movement visual kei, and how to make ontological sense of it given its sonic and visual inconsistencies. Scholars describe visual kei as a socially-driven act of resistance, and as a commercial product with consistent generic characteristics. Examination of a case study demonstrates how visual kei occupies these contradictory spaces simultaneously, and how terms like genre and subculture capture the visual kei’s hybrid nature when used in the appropriate context.
Extended Abstract • Student • Extended Abstract: Race-conscious public health: A critical discourse analysis of the Release the Pressure Campaign • Hayley Markovich, University of Florida • This study focuses on the Release the Pressure campaign aimed at addressing high blood pressure and heart disease rates among Black women in America. Through a critical discourse analysis guided by critical race theory and intersectionality, the study explores how the campaign centers race and responds to structural racism to address heart health. Analysis of the Release the Pressure campaign and its discourses provides an avenue for scholars and practitioners to create race-conscious campaigns.
Research Paper • Student • “The Day Joy Was Over:” Representation of Pregnancy Loss in the News • Zelly Martin, University of Texas at Austin • Recently, news coverage of miscarriage has exploded, fueled primarily by celebrities discussing their personal experiences. To assess discursive constructions of the miscarriage experience in legacy news and women’s magazines, a corpus of 212 articles about pregnancy loss from the New York Times, the Washington Post, People Magazine, and Us Weekly are analyzed using critical discourse analysis. Findings reveal that pregnancy loss coverage perpetuates heteropatriarchal and postracial ideology in service of the narrative of U.S. exceptionalism.
Research Paper • Faculty • India’s #MeToo Movement in Bollywood: Exposing Cultural & Societal Mores • Umana Anjalin, University of Tennessee; Abhijit Mazumdar, Park University • Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, aspiring actresses of the Indian film industry have revealed facing sexual harassment at the hands of male colleagues. Using feminist standpoint theory and theoretical thematic analysis of Bollywood actors’ online interviews about facing sexual harassment, this study uncovered common themes about India’s societal, cultural, and administrative mores. It also suggested a few recommendations to overcome the problem.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Extended Abstract The One with the Anniversary, the Friends 25th Anniversary Extravaganza: A political economy approach to a postmodern pseudo-event • Gigi McNamara, University of Toledo • American broadcast television continues to redefine and reassess its business model as competition for content from steaming services intensifies. In addition, television executives and producers are awash in what I have identified as a “hyper-nostalgic” era of television with reboots and relaunches dotting the primetime landscape. Paying homage to this hyper-nostalgic moment is the publicity juggernaut surrounding the 25th anniversary of the long-running NBC show, Friends. While there are no current plans to relaunch this program with new scripted content, the anniversary event, I contend is indicative of Boorstin’s theory of the pseudo-event. Moreover, I purport the on-going celebrity status of its cast members has furthered strengthened Friends inclusion in the television canon of timeless classics. In my full paper, I will overview the evolution of this hyper-nostalgic pseudo-event and will also draw on the theories from political economy of communication scholars including Riordan, Douglas and Andrejevic. This event also proves to be the “perfect storm” in terms of integrated marketing. The hyper-nostalgic virtue signaling includes both original viewers of the show and a newer younger audience, too young to have watched in the 1990s. Marking this specific historical intersection of celebrity and commerce, Friends continues to identify a new audience, and new consumer base, in this enduring nod to the past.
Research Paper • Faculty • Investigative journalism and effects of capitalist “pathologies” on societal integration: Challenging Habermas’s “colonization” thesis • Ali Mohamed, United Arab Emirates University • “Abstract
Habermas suggests that his “colonization” thesis applies not only to individuals within organizations, but also to institutions like media. Examples Habermas offers point to the vulnerability of journalism, especially, to “market imperatives” in capitalist societies. We challenge this notion by considering the work of investigative journalists who have adapted to advanced digital information technologies in order to reveal “concealed strategic actions” by capitalist interests that operate largely beyond the democratic will-formation of the lifeworld.”
Extended Abstract • Student • Feigning Indignance, Reinstating Power: Paradigm Repair, Femicide, and the Publishing of Ingrid Escamilla’s Murdered Body • Dominique Montiel Valle; Zelly Martin, University of Texas at Austin • In this study, we shed light on the media controversy surrounding the publishing of photos of Ingrid Escamilla’s murdered body in Mexico. Using a theoretical lens that integrates paradigm repair and decolonial feminism, we interrogate how four of Mexico’s most read news publications attempted to reify their media authority in the midst of high threat. We then probe how this positioning reifies media values and institutional alliances that further and perpetuate the devaluation of women.
Research Paper • Student • That’s Why I Smoke Weed: An Analysis of #StonerMom Discourse on TikTok • Madison Mullis, University of Memphis • This research utilized Manning’s symbolic framework to gain a deeper understanding of the #StonerMom phenomenon. A textual analysis was used to examine 55 videos extracted from the “Discover” page on TikTok. The results found that the symbolic framing of drug use on TikTok draws on discourses of social inequality, subsequently reinforcing historical associations between marijuana and POC. #StonerMoms construct marijuana use as a parent-friendly activity through their social media discourse by utilizing the race-neutral term “cannabis” and by framing marijuana as a stress suppressant that helps them be more patient and attentive towards their children. As a result of privileged normalization, #StonerMoms have become complicit in the gentrification of marijuana.
Research Paper • Student • Beyond the Lens: Black Professional Athletes on Racism & the Realities of Breathing While Black • Christina Myers • “This study investigates how Black professional athletes articulate their lived experiences concerning race and racism in the United States through the online digital platform The Players’ Tribune. To explore these dynamics through Critical Race Theory, a qualitative content analysis of narratives (N=29) were analyzed. Results reveal themes of violence perpetuated by law enforcement, fear for the life of self and loved ones, identity, history of systemic racism, call for allyship, Black empowerment and unity. The researcher suggests the counter-narratives that prevail indicate a response against the predominant images and frames in mainstream mass media.
Keywords: Critical Race Theory, Black identity, Black athletes, race”
Extended Abstract • Student • Can Journalists be Activists? A Metajournalistic Discourse analysis of the relationship between Journalism and Activism • Sohana Nasrin, University of Maryland • The relationship between journalism and activism has been a complicated one (Di Salvo, 2020; Russell, 2018; Beaudoin, 2019; Camaj, 2018). Journalism scholars and practitioners have struggled to understand the purviews of the two concepts—journalism and activism. On the one hand, professional journalists have been too concerned with maintaining professional norms such as objectivity, fairness, balance, and the like and tried not to drift into activism while reporting on different issues (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2007). On the other hand, Journalism scholars have engaged in philosophical debates on whether objectivity is a precept of journalism anymore and suggested new values such as transparency (Ingram, 2020) to take its place. This often-contested relationship between journalism and activism got renewed attention, with journalists adequately and accurately covering social justice issues such as racism and scientifically complicated topics such as climate change. The rise of alternative and citizen journalism challenged traditional news media and the norms they abide by. The renewed interests in the relationship between journalism and activism necessitate scholarly attention to understand how and whether journalism and activism can co-exist as professional journalists seek to inform the public. This study attempts to understand professional journalists’ attitudes toward the relationship between journalism and activism by analyzing the metajouranlistic discourse around the topic in the United States. The metajouranlistic discourse indicated that there emerged a shifting attitude toward how professional journalists define journalism.
Extended Abstract • Student • Melodramatic Platforms: the emotional theatre of collective political storytelling on social media • Míchílín Ní Threasaigh, University of Toronto; Ali Azhar, University of Toronto; megan boler, University of Toronto • “If social media is the new digital town hall, Canadian and American democracies are in trouble. Once a site of promise for democratizing mass communication, the internet has also become a site of problematic information and polarized affect. As meta-narratives about national identity clash across social media platforms, it is urgent that we understand how new media is shaping political polarization. In this paper we seek to understand the roles of social media platforms, emotion, and narrative in shaping online civic discourse. More specifically, we ask,
1) How might we analyse social media expressions as a form of collective storytelling?
2) What is the role of emotion in the production and circulation of these polarized political meta-narratives? and,
3) What roles do social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Gab play in catalyzing, organizing & circulating these emotionally-charged political meta-narratives?
To answer these questions, we draw upon findings from our three-year, mixed-methods, funded study of affect and narratives of race and national belonging on social media during the 2019 Canadian and 2020 U.S. federal elections; using the January 6th Capitol Riots as a case-study in the melodramatic genre of collective political storytelling on social media.”
Research Paper • Student • Themes, ideology, and social media: A critical analysis of a US Vice President • Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, University of New Mexico • Considering the paucity of literature in Vice-presidential research, this study analyzes the social media (Facebook) discourse of Vice President Mike Pence, the 48th Vice President of the United States (US). Employing Norman Fairclough’s (2010) three-tier Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) model, I conduct a textual analysis of the Vice President’s social media discourse to analyze the salient themes and ideologies in his Facebook posts. I observed that Vice President Mike Pence portrayed himself like a President in waiting in the wake of President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings. In addition, findings of this current study indicated that from the ideological standpoint a mediated version of “Trumpism” was performed in the Vice President’s Facebook posts and he indicated his strong Republican values of Conservatism.
Research Paper • Faculty • Witnessing the Power of Digital Activism BTS’ Involvement Brought into the Social Movement: A Case of the Black Lives Matter • Jiwoo Park • “The Black Lives Matter movement erupted after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody during the first six months of the pandemic in the U.S. During the same timeframe, BTS was the most tweeted-about celebrity in the U.S. Through exploring a role BTS’ Twitter activity played for the social movement, this paper reflects on the nature of activism in the social media age and argues for the importance and value of digital activism.
Keywords: ARMY, BLM, BTS, Digital Activism, Slacktivism”
Extended Abstract • Student • “Extended Abstract: Narrative Formation: Black Women, Writing, and Vogue Magazine” • Rachel Parker, The University of Alabama • “Since their circulation beginning in the 18th century, women’s magazines spoke to an audience as varied as their content, including educated women to the housewife (Cramer, 1998). Focusing on subject matter that was important to their readers such as: housekeeping, careers, and marriage, women’s magazines were able to carve out their own niche for this specific market of reader whose interests was being overlooked.
This focus led to an audience showcasing a homogenous group of women in terms of values, education, and race. Focusing on one group as your audience led to the exclusion of others, particularly Black women.
This article will analyze this lack of Black women to be included in these publications as audience members as well as writers through the application of Muted Group Theory (Ardener, 1975).”
Research Paper • Faculty • Toward a Framework for Intersectional Listening In Strategic Communication • Katie Place, Quinnipiac University • This qualitative study explored the intersection of listening theory and intersectional theory to develop a framework for intersectional listening in strategic communication contexts. Interviews with 30 strategic communication professionals and executives were conducted to understand how they embody listening.
Research Paper • Student • Membership negotiation’ flow in CCO model may explain institutional bias at a nonprofit media site • Elizabeth Potter, University of Colorado Boulder • “Scholars can use the “membership negotiation” flow of McPhee & Zaug’s four-flows model of how communication constitutes organization to show how volunteer members of a nonprofit media and news production organization may be included or excluded as members of a local government institution. Aspects of the “membership negotiation” flow also can be used to illustrate how potential members are included or excluded from a volunteer news organization. Finally, the “membership negotiation” flow of the four-flows model of how communication constitutes organization can be used to theorize about how institutional bias may pervade the governmental institution of which this organization is a part.
This case study offers insights into just one way that scholars might think about how to study institutional bias. Because the four-flows model is ontological and because it draws from Giddens’s structuration theory, it has strong explanatory power that can be used to study similar organizations and organizational communication precepts in the future.”
Research Paper • Faculty • Living For—And Maybe Off—Journalism: French and American Journalists’ Career Expectations • Matthew Powers, University of Washington, Seattle; Sandra Vera-Zambrano, Universidad Iberoamericana • Drawing on Bourdieu, this paper explores journalists’ career expectations in France and the United States. Through interviews, we show that highly-resourced journalists in both countries expect to make a living doing work they love. By contrast, lesser-resourced journalists emphasize the sacrifices they make pursuing their careers. While sacrifices vary according to nationally-distinctive labor regulations, journalists in both samples find “virtues in their necessities” (Bourdieu, 1984) by highlighting the possibilities that a journalism career affords.
Research Paper • Faculty • The “major mea culpa:” Journalistic discourse when professional norms are broken • Erica Salkin, Whitworth University Department of Communication Studies; Kevin Grieves, Whitworth University • The “corrections statement” is sufficient for media organizations to address small mistakes. When larger missteps occur, however, more substantive work is needed not only to correct the record, but to protect the organization’s claim to an authentic journalistic identity. This study analyzes a sample of such “major mea culpa” statements to explore how media organizations talk about their significant professional errors and the tools they use to maintain their journalistic identities when such errors occur.
Research Paper • Faculty • Quenching the Pan-Asian Desire – Thai’s Boys’ Love, Tranculturalism, and Geolinguistic Fusion • Hong-Chi Shiau, Shih-Hsin University • “This
study attempt s to unpack the pan Asian Boys’ Love gen re phenomen on by
reading into a Thai BL hit I told Sunset about you , a coming of age story revolving
around two male protagonists in Thai Chinese diaspora. As a result of the real coming
of age drama, this BL has successfully merged two sub genres geikomi (also known as
bara) and Boys Love (BL) manga in the Japanese manga context. T h e use of shared
linguistic repertoire in Asian community is further examined. Its counter flows from
Thailand to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea offer media scholars
an fertile ground to understand East Asian fans’ practices. While this drama is by no
means the first counter flow case, it affords media scholar s to unpack how boys love
(BL) drama can inter penetrate Asian countries rapidly that has paved the way for a
decentering of the Western dominated global mediascape, as guest editor called for
attention in this issue. Thai s producers use of new practice to engage global audiences
has also destabilized the problematic theoretical dichotomy of East/West global/local
cultural imaginary.”
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Courage and Conviction: Christopher Columbus and the Rhetorics of Cancel Culture • Brian Snee, University of Scranton • Courage and Conviction: The True Story of Christopher Columbus follows the classic formula for apologia: vehement denial, strategic bolstering, differentiation, and a call for transcendence. The short film engages in its act of dissuasion while simultaneously performing complex commemorative work. It evokes the past not merely to lead its audience in the act of collective remembering, but also to encourage them to forget much of that past. The film urges its audience to move on, and to allow Columbus—his holiday and his effigies—to stand. Textual analysis reveals it as example of amnestic rhetoric.
Extended Abstract • Faculty • Social Media as an essential tactical resource for police whistleblowers • Rhon Teruelle, Purdue University Northwest • This article examines social media and The Lamplighter Project on Twitter as an example of a tactical resource for police whistleblowers. While whistleblowing, the act of exposing and reporting police wrongdoing is still viewed in a negative light by the majority of law enforcement, recent incidents such as the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor display the need to hold police accountable for their actions. Moreover, reports that some police officers were involved in the attack against America’s capitol clearly exhibits that members of law enforcement are not above committing unlawful acts. The Lamplighter Project plays a key role in providing police whistleblowers a safe space on Twitter, allowing them to report on and expose police misconduct, brutality, and malfeasance.
Extended Abstract • Student • The Framing of Other: How Framing Can Be A Postcolonial Tool For Institutional Power • Kris Vera-Phillips, Arizona State University • Framing is a function of power. This conceptual theory paper investigates how leaders and institutions use the media strategy of framing as a postcolonial tool for obtaining, maintaining, and reinforcing power. Entman (1993) identified four functions of framing: defining problems, diagnosing causes, making moral judgments, and coming up with remedies. I will take each function of framing defined by Entman, apply lessons from postcolonial studies, and show how both are reflected in demonstrations of power.
Research Paper • Faculty • The Caucasities of Portland: Theorizing White Protests for Black Lives • John Vilanova • “This article uses “Caucasity” — a portmanteau of “Caucasian” and “audacity” — to retheorize the 2020 Portland, Oregon #BlackLivesMatter uprisings.
Promoted by the comedians Desus and Mero and proliferated through Black Twitter, Caucasity is best understood as a set of privileged performance practices deployed by white people, even while protesting white supremacy.
I historicize the term and analyze viral figures from the protests, arguing for productive nuance in theorizing white action for racial justice.”
Extended Abstract • Faculty • “I Know It’s Sensitive”: Internet Filtering, Recoding, and “Sensitive-word Culture” in China • WeiMing YE; Luming Zhao • In this article, we develop “sensitive-word culture” as a new lens for understanding Internet filtering and censorship, and online cultural production in China. Using in-depth interviews with 20 Chinese Weibo users, four types of word recoding are summarized and the motivations of users for recoding practices and the power relations are demonstrated. A notable finding suggests that “sensitive-word culture” is becoming a source and hub of slang and Memes production on the Chinese network society.
Extended Abstract • Student • Hybrid Media or Mediasport? Exploring Media Portrayal of Esports Culture • Steven Young, Ph.D. Candidate • Esports are growing in popularity at a rapid pace worldwide. In contemporary society, individuals watch esports broadcasts as part of their normal media consuming practices. Esports media significantly impact audience understandings, and play an integral role in shaping public discourse about esports culture. This study focuses on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), which is currently the most recognized first-person shooter esport worldwide and the third most popular game across all esports genres (Irwin & Naweed, 2020). Interested in how the cultural knowledge and experience of esports are represented in media, I explored professional CS:GO esports broadcasts from two prominent professional leagues, ESL Pro League (EPL) and ELEAGUE. EPL is significant because it is longest standing professional Counter-Strike league worldwide. ELEAGUE represents the first regularly aired professional Counter-Strike league in the United States. Together, these leagues serve as active participants in creating, shaping, and molding esports culture worldwide. A thematic analysis of textual and audio-visual data from professional CS:GO broadcasts revealed that esports culture is a novel phenomenon, similar to sport, but situated within video games, and interspersed with a variety of digital media. Using traditional sports metaphors and comparisons, as well as sportscast style match coverage and gameplay reporting, EPL and ELEAGUE illustrate CS:GO as a global media-sport. At the same time, both leagues emphasize technicity and rely on gamer jargon to frame professional CS:GO as a form of hybrid media intrinsically tied to game culture. Together these representations suggest that esports culture is a “hybrid media-sport.”
Extended Abstract • Student • Celebrity Capitol and Social Movements: A Textual Analysis of Bollywood Celebrities’ Tweets on 2020-21 Indian Farmers’ Protest • Ali Zain, University of South Carolina • Building on global trend of celebrity activism and concept of celebrity capital, this study qualitatively examines Twitter posts of Bollywood celebrities about 2020-21 Indian farmers’ protest to to discover the dominant themes of favoring and opposing discourses. It was found pro-farmers celebrities used rhetorical and explanatory support while others employed celebrity capital as political support to government to oppose protesters and their supporters. Some celebrities even engaged in celebrity-shaming and name-calling in their communications.
Research Paper • postdoc • “The Virus May Have Come From…”: COVID-19 Infodemic in China and the Politics of (Mis-)Translation • Sheng Zou, University of Michigan • This article delves into the COVID-19 infodemic on China’s Internet, particularly fake news stories attributing the virus’s roots to the United States. It approaches the false origin stories as transnational and intertextual constructs, which involve practices of (mis)translating and referencing foreign source texts to paradoxically delegitimate the foreign, especially Western, Other. Through a close reading of emblematic cases, this article identifies three mistranslation maneuvers and gestures towards ways to combat fake news in the post-COVID era.
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.
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.
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.
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.
