My research is motivated by my interest in the challenge of reaching the audience that strategic communicators want without having to broadcast the online messages to everyone. Message diffusion is getting substantial attention from public relations, advertising, and strategic communication scholars and professions for its significant social and economic consequences. My research is driven by the phenomenon of sharing—Individual users can become gatekeepers controlling access to information.
On-going projects
Parasocial, Wishful identification, and Personalities
The study examined how wishful identification (WI) and parasocial relationships (PRS) with YouTubers work differently in predicting product attitudes (PAT) and purchase intention (PI). It also investigated the cognitive effects of electronic word-of-Mouth (eWOM) sharing on PAT and PI and the moderation effects of self-esteem on PI. The researchers used a survey in and found that eWOM sharing mediated the correlation between WI and PAT and PI. YouTube product review (vWOM) creators’ credibility mediated the association between PSR and PAT & PI. Self-esteem moderates the mediation of PAT on the effects of WI and PSR on PI of the endorsed products in the vWOM. The theoretical implication on eWOM and source credibility scale and practical implication on influencer marketing were discussed in the study.
The study examined how wishful identification (WI) and parasocial relationships (PRS) with YouTubers work differently in predicting product attitudes (PAT) and purchase intention (PI). It also investigated the cognitive effects of electronic word-of-Mouth (eWOM) sharing on PAT and PI and the moderation effects of self-esteem on PI. The researchers used a survey in and found that eWOM sharing mediated the correlation between WI and PAT and PI. YouTube product review (vWOM) creators’ credibility mediated the association between PSR and PAT & PI. Self-esteem moderates the mediation of PAT on the effects of WI and PSR on PI of the endorsed products in the vWOM. The theoretical implication on eWOM and source credibility scale and practical implication on influencer marketing were discussed in the study.
Virtual Identity and Continuing Engagement with Virtual Reality Device
The project will explore individuals' virtual identity construction and how it influences their engagement with virtual reality devices such as Oculus. The team is applying for a grant through the University's grant system.
The project will also investigate how individuals with social phobia behave differently when they talk to a group using VR and how they construct identities that the influence sustains in real life.
The outcome of the project would contribute to how people engage with VR technology and how it influences the adoption and the sale of technological products. It will also help understand how technology shifts human communication and how VR helps with psychological well-being.
The project will explore individuals' virtual identity construction and how it influences their engagement with virtual reality devices such as Oculus. The team is applying for a grant through the University's grant system.
The project will also investigate how individuals with social phobia behave differently when they talk to a group using VR and how they construct identities that the influence sustains in real life.
The outcome of the project would contribute to how people engage with VR technology and how it influences the adoption and the sale of technological products. It will also help understand how technology shifts human communication and how VR helps with psychological well-being.
The project explores factors that influence individuals’ cognitive and heuristic processing of misinformation that elicits different communicative behaviors. The project aims to explore the interaction effects of news authenticity and comment congruence on internal and external authentication. It also investigates how people make decisions to share misinformation by examining the effects of systematic or heuristic methods to process information.
The results reveal that strong cognitive efforts in message processing do not mean that people are rational and can make accurate judgments that may, on the contrary, be highly biased by individuals’ emotions. The finding suggests limited effects of emotions on sharing, which varied by individuals’ ability to evaluate news credibility. The study found that people who lacked the ability to detect fake news deeply believe in the news, whereas those who could make some judgments, spread the news for authentication. Sharing becomes a way to authenticate the news via social networks.
The study was supported by an external grant.
The results reveal that strong cognitive efforts in message processing do not mean that people are rational and can make accurate judgments that may, on the contrary, be highly biased by individuals’ emotions. The finding suggests limited effects of emotions on sharing, which varied by individuals’ ability to evaluate news credibility. The study found that people who lacked the ability to detect fake news deeply believe in the news, whereas those who could make some judgments, spread the news for authentication. Sharing becomes a way to authenticate the news via social networks.
The study was supported by an external grant.
