Department: Ph.D. Degree Program
The primary objective of the Ph.D. program is to develop mass communication scholars who are capable of critical thinking and independent scholarship.
Abstract: The primary purpose of the current study is to examine the effects of sexualized images of influencers on the effectiveness of advertising regarding both cognitive and motivational processing. Overall, the results indicate that the sexualized images of influencers negatively affect the evaluation of the influencer, which in turn affects attitude towards the ad and […]
Read MoreAbstract: Consumers are increasingly in support of sustainable marketing and demarketing has received attention as a viable strategy in response to this growing sentiment. As only a few studies focused on testing demarketing in the context of mindful or anti-consumption, this study tested the effects of practical elements such as a company’s mission commitment level to the […]
Read MoreAbstract: Building favorable destination image and evoking positive feelings toward tourism ads are essential to the success of destination marketing in the competitive tourism business environment. The current study investigated the potential of virtual reality (VR) in providing new and innovative avenues for promoting destination image in tourism and testing its impact on advertising engagement […]
Read MoreAbstract: The primary purpose of the current study is to examine how the presence of two digital ad features—an ad skip option and ad time display, representing behavioral and cognitive control respectively, impact viewer response to in-stream video ads in terms of perception of control, reactance and advertising outcomes. A 2 (Skip option: skippable vs. non-skippable) […]
Read MoreAbstract: To further the understanding of how communication executives make tough calls in times of organizational-public conflict, we use a conjoint analysis to identify key drivers for organizational stance decision-making. This is the first-ever conjoint analysis applied to advancing the contingency theory of strategic conflict management by examining the relative importance of key contingency factors […]
Read MoreAbstract: News consumption enhances the contact experience for first-generation immigrants and sojourners in their acculturation to the host culture. Using acculturation theory, this study explores interdisciplinary concepts related to understanding immigrants’ and sojourners’ believability evaluation of disinformation. By conducting an online experiment, the authors examined the believability of disinformation by asking immigrants and sojourners (N=71) to discern […]
Read MoreAbstract: This research addresses how positive and negative publicity about athlete endorsers influences motivational mechanisms (appetitive and aversive) underlying cognitive and affective processing and evaluation to ads. Participants viewed an ad for a soft drink brand that featured an athlete endorser while psychophysiological measures of cognition, emotion, and arousal were collected. Each ad was preceded by […]
Read MoreAbstract: In response to calls for greater integration of research on the effects of visual images in the emotional and cognitive processing of health-related posts on Facebook, this study examined the questions of how gain-and-loss framed images, the valence of emoticon responses, and level of personal relevance of health topics contribute toward intentional engagement (e.g., […]
Read MoreYan Jin (PI), Shelley Spector (Co-PI), and Taylor Voges (PhD Candidate, Co-PI). “The Power of Myth and Truth: Uncovering the History and Growing Role of Native Americans in Public Relations.” The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication, Penn State University ($7,040), 2022-2023. Description: This proposed project aims to make the diverse voices of Native Americans heard louder and […]
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