Open Call Competition
The messenger is part of the message: The role of expectancy violations in media theory • Robin Blom, Ball State University • Many studies in mass communication have focused on source credibility in persuasion, but to the point that some scholars have overlooked other important factors, such as the actual message. In its place, media phenomena could be better understood by integrating expectancy violations in theoretical models explaining how media content affect audience members, in particular by taking into account an interaction between source trust and content expectancy. This may better explain why people sometimes believe distrusted sources more than trusted ones, and vice versa.

Overriding the Threat Dynamic: Facebook Sociability for Trust and Perceptions of Difference • Brandon Bouchillon, Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne • The more racial or ethnic diversity a person lives around, the less likely they are to espouse feelings of trust for the average person, as differences have instead become reasons to pull back, prompting a mass erosion of social capital in America. The present study looks to social networking sites as a means of still hosting diverse contact, even in spite of the hunker down, for reinforcing trust and perceptions of difference locally. Results of a two-wave national web survey (N = 387) indicate that using Facebook to interact with new people at Time 1 contributes to generalized trust at Time 2, while neighborhood-level racial and ethnic diversity still undermines trust over the same period. Yet, diversity has less of a negative impact on trust for more sociable Facebook users, as interacting with new people on the site moderates the negative association between racial/ethnic differences and trust. This suggests that Facebook has a utility for not only facilitating diverse contact, but reinforcing trust, toward changing the way users perceive of diversity everywhere.

Mental schema as explanations for third-person perceptions, censorship and media literacy programs addressing “revenge porn” • Michael Boyle, West Chester University; Michael Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • Although mental schema are offered as an explanation for third-person perceptions, prior research on this topic has tended to focus on perceived exposure. This study extends the schema explanation by measuring self-reported exemplar availability, demonstrating this factor is a critical predictor of perceived influence on self and others across two national studies. Additionally, analysis shows that these mental examples directly and indirectly influence support for restrictions on revenge porn and support for media literacy programs to help train individuals to be critical media consumers related to this issue. Experimentally presented exemplars did not amplify the availability of such examples or alter overall perceptions, suggesting these models are deeply held and may stem from broader concepts of powerful media.

Building and bridging political divides. Reconceptualizing political disagreement and its consequences for political tolerance. • David Coppini, University of Denver • This study uses a sample of the American adult population (N=693) to examine the relationships between different forms of political disagreement and political tolerance. First, this study re-conceptualizes exposure to political disagreement along the lines of political heterogeneity and political extremity. Second, this study examines how the intersection of political heterogeneity and political extremity shapes political tolerance. Third, this study examines the affective mechanisms that explain the relationship between political disagreement and political tolerance.

Mediatized rituals: De-reify the media in the age of deep mediatization • Xi Cui, College of Charleston • We propose the concept of mediatized rituals to better address the ritualistic orientation toward an increasingly mediatized social reality which is constructed through algorithmic collection, processing and (re)presentation of data by communication technologies. We argue that two characteristics of human communications in mediatized societies can objectivate a socially constructed reality as something natural and authentic, giving rise to people’s ritualistic orientation toward this reality. Bitcoin is analyzed to illustrate the utility of the concept.

Communication Mediation Model Across Cultures: Multilevel Mediation Model Effects of News and Discussion on Participation • Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; Trevor Diehl, University of Vienna; Brigitte Huber; James H. Liu, Massey University • Since introduced by Prof. McLeod and the Wisconsin School at the turn of the century, a large body of research on the Communication Mediation Model account has showed positive mediated effects of news use and discussion on political participatory behaviors. Most of these studies, however, rely on individual-level survey-data, collected in the USA. This paper seeks to palliate these shortcomings by testing the CMM on a multilevel mediation model with data collected across twenty countries.

The Evolution of Regime Legitimacy Imaginaries on the Chinese Internet • Yingru Ji, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Angela, Xiao Wu • This study examines popular perceptions about the ruling state on the Chinese Internet. To observe the impact of the state’s project of “online public opinion guidance,” we chose two historical moments from 2011 and 2016, and systematically captured and analyzed massive amounts of speech traces on Weibo that contain the term tizhi, a discursively flexible, yet distinctively Chinese concept onto which sentiments related to the state are projected. Combining semantic network clustering and critical discourse analysis, this study revealed, historically and macroscopically, the relative dominance of differing ways of evaluating the state’s legitimacy. Specifically, we found that the previously dominant legitimacy-challenging framework comprised of (Western) democratic references imploded and was absorbed by a nationalist discourse that enhances state legitimacy, and that the legitimacy-criticizing framework drawing from the state’s own “reform framework” has undergone depoliticization into administration-focused compartments. Our study has conceptual and methodological implications for researching Chinese web-based contentious politics.

The “Affective News” Extended Model (ANEM): A Multi-Topic Study of Narrative Persuasion from Political Messages • Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick; Melissa Robinson; Rebecca Frazer; Emily Schutz • Narrative persuasion has garnered much attention but yielded inconsistent results. The present work focuses on narrative persuasion regarding political attitudes and derives hypotheses from the “Affective News” Extended Model (ANEM). A 2 x 2 online repeated-measures experiment (N = 225) presented four texts on controversial political issues, which were either presented as news or fiction and either in a narrative vs. inverted-pyramid version. A narrative text structure produced greater attitude change in line with text stance than inverted-pyramid texts, which was still detectable with a one-day delay measure. Narrative texts also instigated greater suspense, which mediated the persuasive impact. These impacts occurred regardless of whether texts were presented as news or fiction.

Expression and the Political Self: How Political Expression on Social Media can Strengthen Political Self-concepts • Daniel Lane, University of Michigan; Slgi Lee; Fan Liang; Dam Hee Kim, University of Michigan; Liwei Shen, University of Michigan; Brian Weeks, University of Michigan; Nojin Kwak, University of Michigan • Communication theorist have argued that expression can shape our self-concepts. While researchers have often used this theoretical perspective to explain political communication processes on social media, little work has explicitly tested the mechanisms underlying political expression effects. This study addresses this theoretical gap, by testing a model in which political expression on social media increases the importance of users’ political self-presentation concerns, which in turn is associated with strengthened dimensions of political self-concept.

Cause and Effect: Development and State of the Art of Experimental Communication Research, 1980-2015 • Jörg Matthes, U of Vienna; Franziska Marquart, University of Amsterdam; Brigitte Naderer; Desiree Schmuck; Florian Arendt, University of Munich (LMU) • This paper examines the development and state of the art of experimental communication research by focusing on two aspects: External validity and theoretical scope. We provide content analytical data of 36 years of experimental studies published in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Media Psychology. Findings point to persistent shortcomings, especially with respect to samples, stimuli, exposure settings, and theory-driven design decisions. Implications for experimentalists, editors, and reviewers are discussed.

It’s not “Fake” it’s “Alternative”: Experimentally Parsing the Effects of Misinformation • Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina; Joon Kyoung Kim, University of South Carolina; Susan Rathbun-Grubb; Mark Tatge • A between-subjects (N=570) experimental study examined how fake news might influence public perceptions and decisions to share false information related to the recently reignited autism–vaccine controversy. Findings indicated that – relative to participants in a factual news condition – those exposed to a fake news story (purporting that vaccines cause autism) reported stronger beliefs in the existence of an autism-vaccine link. Counterfactual beliefs, in turn, were positively associated with greater levels of communicative engagement with the issue.

The Political World Within: Conceptualizing Political Transportation • Bryan McLaughlin, Texas Tech University; John Velez, Texas Tech University; Joshua Dunn, Texas Tech University • This paper conceptualizes political transportation. Specifically, we clarify the process through which citizens represent diverse political narratives in the mind and then mentally simulate these political story worlds “as if” they were directly experiencing them. Additionally, we introduce the concept of self-generated political transportation. Finally, we discuss how political transportation provides a novel understanding of how and why political communication messages affect political attitudes, emotions, beliefs and behaviors, providing suggestions for future research.

A Typology of Information Distribution Organizations • Jasmine McNealy, University of Florida • This study investigates the ways in which IDOs create, use, distribute, and store information to create a typology. Typologies group things by familiar characteristics, thereby constructing descriptive definitions of what should fit into a particular category. In so doing, this study advances information processing theory (IPT), which theorizes a continuous pattern of development for human brains, but which uses the model of a computer to describe how humans process sensory data. Further, IPT is used in the modern study of artificial intelligence and explores the needs of information users including specific processes or practices.

The Effects of Modality, English Language Proficiency, and Length of Stay on Immigrants’ Learning from American News About Politics • Yulia Medvedeva, Zayed University; Glenn Leshner, University of Oklahoma • This online experiment empirically tested the findings of a survey conducted by Steven Chaffee and colleagues in which immigrants with lower language proficiency and shorter tenure in the U.S. demonstrated higher political knowledge scores when they reported relying on television news instead of print news. Data demonstrated that immigrants who perceived they were lacking in language skills correctly recognized 1.13 more answers to questions about stories from television news in comparison to print news.

Electroencephalography in Communication Research: Some Fundamentals, Opportunities, and Challenges • Alyssa Morey, University at Albany • EEG holds vast potential for pursuing a range of communication inquires and advancing understanding of a variety of communication processes. Primary objectives of this manuscript include facilitating basic literacy of EEG methods and research among communication scholars, and inspiring enthusiasm for EEG-communication research. Integration of EEG methods into communication research further advances the agenda of expanded horizons and innovated boundaries that has and will continue to bestow vibrancy, prominence, and relevance upon the discipline.

Thumbs Up! Impacts of Interactive News Voting Affordances on Selective Exposure, Voting and Persuasion • George Pearson, The Ohio State University; Daniel Sude, The Ohio State University; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick • News is now commonly consumed online, often displayed with popularity cues (i.e., likes, votes). An experiment manipulated users’ ability to “vote” on news and observed pro- vs counter-attitudinal selective exposure, along with attitudinal impacts. Participants showed a preference for pro-attitudinal material, but consumed less pro-attitudinal material when voting. Actual reading of and down-voting a counter-attitudinal article were not related, implying people voted without reading. When participants had the ability to vote, their attitudes were weakened.

The Trump Bump: The Influence of Elite Anti-Media Rhetoric and Political Activity on Emotions, Perceptions of News Media Importance, and Public Support for the Press • Jason Peifer • Examining how political figures in the mold of President Trump may affect various facets of goodwill for the press, a two-wave online experiment exposed participants (N=330) to anti-media rhetoric or news coverage of policy-related actions. Results highlight how when one perceives the President to represent a force of harm, the emotion of anger and values about the normative roles of the press can mediate the influence of such representations on support for the press.

The secret parents and health campaigners want to know: How social appeals influence the information processing of healthy foods • Lelia Samson, Radboud University; Moniek Buijzen, Radboud University • Aiming to prevent obesity by promoting healthy eating, this research investigated how social appeals can increase attention, positive emotions, and memory for nutritious foods. Framed through the information-processing framework and the social modeling of eating, two mixed-factorial experiments examined how adolescents process pronutritional images varying in social appeals. This approach is promising as adolescents are especially susceptible to social factors due to their developmental stage. Study 1 (N = 58; 12-18 years old; 54% female) investigated how social cues activated the appetitive motivational system, attracting attention, affect, and arousal. Study 2 (N = 165; 12-18 years old; 53% female) examined whether social appeals further directed attention and mental resources towards processing the healthy foods. As hypothesized, adolescents’ attention, positive emotions, memory, and visual focus to healthy foods were increased through social appeals. Recommendations for health communication practice and research are formulated.

Media Use and Depression in the General Population: Evidence for a Non-Linear Relationship • Sebastian Scherr, University of Leuven • Depression is the most common metal disorder linked to media use. Theoretically, the relationship between depression and media use has been conceptualized as a linear function. However, depressive symptoms vary from dysphoric moods to severely depressed states with major social impairment, thus providing a strong alternative rationale for a non-linear relationship. We report on findings from a representative telephone survey of the general German population (N = 2002) including both the respondents’ motivation behind spending time using traditional media and a measure to screen for depression in the general population. Our curve-fitting methodology revealed that the associations between depression and media use are described by a cubic growth function for newspapers, the radio, magazines, and books; associations with television use were positive, but more complex. The relationship between depression and media use should be modeled as a polynomial function for more accurate estimations in the future.

Equal Access to Online Information? Google’s Suicide-Prevention Disparities May Amplify a Global Digital Divide • Sebastian Scherr, University of Leuven; Mario Haim, University of Munich (LMU); Florian Arendt, University of Munich (LMU) • Worldwide, people profit from equally accessible online health information via search engines. Therefore, equal access to health information is a global imperative. We studied one specific scenario, in which Google functions as a gatekeeper when people seek suicide-related information using both helpful and harmful suicide-related search terms. To help prevent suicides, Google implemented a “suicide-prevention result” (SPR) at the very top of such search results. While this effort deserves credit, the present investigation compiled evidence that the SPR is not equally displayed to all users. Using a virtual agent-based testing methodology, a set of three studies in 11 countries found that the presentation of the SPR varies depending on where people search for suicide-related information. Language is a key factor explaining these differences. Google’s algorithms thereby contribute to a global digital divide in online health-information access with possibly lethal consequences. Higher and globally balanced display frequencies are desirable.

Terror, Terror Everywhere? How Terrorism News Shape Anti-Muslim Policy Support: Perceived Threat and Risk Controllability • Jörg Matthes, U of Vienna; Desiree Schmuck; Christian von Sikorski • A quota-based experiment (N = 501) examines the effects of terrorism news on emotions and policy support depending on threat components (i.e., the number of offenders) and risk components (i.e., diffuse vs. non-diffuse risk). News articles featuring a diffuse risk elicit fear irrespective of the number of offenders, whereas a portrayed non-diffuse risk evokes fear as well as anger, only when the number of offenders is high. Anger and fear subsequently increase anti-Muslim policy support.

The Effects of Hostile Media Perception and Third Person Perception on Political Participation in the Partisan Media Context • Ki Deuk Hyun; mihye seo • Scholars suggest that hostile media perception (HMP) and third-person perception (TPP) can motivate people to take political action to counteract the unwarranted influence of slanted media. Little research has been undertaken, however, regarding how HMP and TPP relate to political participation in partisan media settings in which news media hold specific partisan or ideological inclinations. This study explored HMP and TPP of partisan media and their associations with political participation in South Korea, which has a strongly partisan media system. Findings indicate that partisans tend to have strong HMP and TPP of antagonistic partisan media. Interestingly, progressives’ HMP and TPP of hostile conservative media were stronger than conservatives’ HMP and TPP of progressive media. Accordingly, HMP and TPP of conservative media were more strongly associated with political participation than HMP and TPP of progressive media. The political and media contexts of a specific country that might shape the relationships among HMP, TPP, and political participation are discussed.

Questionable Morals: A Systematic Analysis of Reliability in Research Using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire • Daniel Tamul, Virginia Tech; James Ivory, Virginia Tech; Jessica Hotter, Virginia Tech; Madison Lanier, Virginia Tech; Jordan Wolf, Virginia Tech • While Moral Foundations Theory has drawn significant interest from the popular press and academics alike, the moral foundations questionnaire (MFQ) is subject to questions about reliability in both its scale building and validation phases. We examine the scale’s development and offer a systematic content analysis of 539 scholarly works using the MFQ in to assess its internal consistency. Mean reliability scores for four of the five subscales were below acceptable reliability thresholds.

What’s More Scandalous? How the Interplay of Textual and Visual Frames Affects Candidate Attitudes and Voting Intentions in Political Scandals • Christian von Sikorski; Johannes Knoll • Previous framing effects research largely examined textual and visual influences separately thus neglecting potential interaction effects between the two communication channels. A 2×2 experiment examined the effects textual, respectively, visual isolation of a scandalized politician. Results revealed that textual isolation cues had no effect. In contrast, visual isolation resulted in more negative candidate attitudes. Yet, this effect was only detected in absence of the textual isolation frame. Negative attitudes, in turn, decreased individuals’ voting intentions.

Journalism History, Web Archives, and New Methods for Understanding the Evolution of Digital Journalism • Matthew Weber, Rutgers University; Phil Napoli, Duke University • Archived webpages are a critical source of data for understanding change in the news media industry. This article outlines a methodological approach to utilizing Web archives as a means of examining change in the news media industry. In order to highlight the power and potential of Web archives for journalism research, a case study examining local news in the United States is used to illustrate the methodological challenges and promise of working with these data.

Who has Set Whose Agenda on Social Media? A Dynamic Social Network Analysis of Tweets on Paris Attack • Fan Yang, University at Albany, SUNY • This study investigates the agenda-setting theory in the context of social media through dynamic social network analyses of 102,145 Tweets in a week after Paris attack on Twitter. Results indicate that professional mass media organizations still hold a greater agenda-setting ability than individual opinion leaders. While the overall media agenda significantly correlates with the individual-opinion-leader, time-series analysis reveals the inter-agenda-setting effects between the two are immediate and decrease as time elapses.

Testing the Criterion Validity of 10 Measures of Media Favorability for Corporate Financial Performance: A Case Study of the Media Coverage of Food Companies • XIAOQUN ZHANG, University of North Texas • This study identifies 10 measures of media favorability in the literature and compares the conceptual differences among them. Using the data of nine food companies, it tests the criterion validity of these measures for corporate financial performance. The results suggest one measure — Fombrun-Shanley index — has the highest criterion validity among 10 measures of media favorability, and is the best measure to predict corporate financial performance.

 

Student Paper Competition
Credibility labels and perception of partisan news brands • Megan Duncan, University of Wisconsin-Madison • “Concern about partisan audiences blindly following partisan news brands while simultaneously being unable to distinguish the credible news from hoax news dominates media criticism and theoretical inquiries. Some have proposed a credibility label as a solution. This experiment manipulates the partisan cues of the news brand and of the news content. Then, it introduces a credibility label and measures the changes in perception, monitoring for a backfire effect. Using news credibility theory and literatures on selective exposure and Partisan Media Opinion hypothesis, it investigates the effects credibility labels have on partisan audiences, partisan news brands, and partisan news stories. It finds credibility labels may be an effective media literacy tool, though a relatively diminished effect is found on strong partisans.

An enterprise for magic, dragons, and Impalas: Evaluating and Comparing Multiple Fandoms Through A Semiotic Approach • Sara Erlichman, Penn State • By perceiving fans as critical consumers who are textual poaching, Rabinowitz’s (1985) interpretation strategies creates an all-inclusive fandom comparative analysis, by focusing on narrative properties. Through a content analysis, this study conducted a preliminary analysis evaluating the use of semiotics to understand fans discourse online in the fandom forums of Star Trek, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Supernatural. This quantitative study successfully demonstrates the value in cross-comparison of outside genre fandom community’s discourse.

Understanding the Effects of Perspective-taking on Stereotyping and Negative Evaluations: A P-curve Analysis • Qian Huang; Wei Peng, University of Miami; Jazmyne Simmons • Perspective taking has shown mix results and stirred controversy in its effects on stereotype suppression. The inconsistent results raise concerns about the robustness of true perspective-taking phenomenon. The present study used the p-curve analysis to examine the possibility of p-hacking and publication bias among published studies in perspective taking. The result showed evidential value regarding potential p-hacking problems. The implications for both perspective-taking and p-curve analysis were discussed.

News and Informational Media Usage, and Vaccination Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Perceived Vaccine Efficacy and Perceived Vaccine Safety • Juwon Hwang, UW-Madison • Given the importance of vaccination to reduce the health consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases, media have covered benefits and necessity of vaccination through news and informational program. This study investigates the associations between both news and informational usage of media (TV, radio, magazines, and the Internet) and vaccination behaviors (Flu, H1N1, and Pneumonia) focusing on the mediating role of perceived vaccine efficacy and perceived vaccine safety. Analyzing a representative U.S. sample, a total of 19,420 adults who over age 18 were included. Results showed that both news and informational media usage contributed to the higher perceived vaccine efficacy, and in turn, the more uptakes for Flu, H1N1, and Pneumonia vaccination. Similarly, the more use of TV news and NPR led to the higher perceived vaccine safety, and in turn, the more vaccination uptake of Flu, H1N1, and Pneumonia. In contrast, informational media usage contributed to the less perceived vaccine safety, and in turn, the fewer vaccination uptakes of Flu, H1N1, and Pneumonia.

Does Natural Mean Healthy? How Natural Label Contributes to Nutritional Self-Betrayal Among Health-Conscious Consumers • Donghee Lee, University of Florida • Thanks to the recent surge of interest in health and well-being, American consumers are more health-conscious now than ever. Despite this awareness, however, even self-described health-conscious consumers still eat unhealthy food for pleasure. This study provides a conceptual model describing the process through which health-conscious individuals may justify unhealthy food consumption. Using the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, this paper argues that individuals rely on the loophole effect, which refers to the psychological process of engaging in active self-deceit. Individuals can use this effect to capitalize on the healthfulness commonly associated with the word “natural” that often appears on the labels of unhealthy food, convincing themselves that the food is actually good for them. Once health-conscious individuals recognize a natural label on the unquestionably unhealthy food package, they experience guilt from the conflict between their health and hedonic goals. This paper provides a counterargument to widely-accepted information deficit models in this field by arguing that the unhealthy food choices of consumers are founded neither on the lack of information nor their vulnerability to food manufacturers’ deceitful advertising. Rather, consumers are an active agent making self-serving choices, using a “natural” label as an excuse to attribute blame for their health and hedonic goal conflict. This paper attempts to advance Cognitive Dissonance Theory by presenting possible factors influencing one’s food-related dissonance process.

How Issue Attribution and Power Exemplification Redirect Transgender Intergroup Stereotype Content: An Integrated Threat Approach • Minjie Li • Through an experiment, the present study explores how issue attribution and power exemplification in news coverage influence the general audience’s intergroup cognition. More specifically, this experiment investigates how issue attribution (Societal Attribution vs. Individual Attribution) interacts with power exemplification (High-Power Transgender Exemplar vs. Low-Power Transgender Exemplar) in the media narrative to redirect people’s stereotype content of transgender people and the consequent emotional, behavioral, and attitudinal outcomes. Furthermore, I explore the role of perceived threats in the cognitive processing of stereotype content. The experiment findings demonstrated that issue attribution and power exemplification in the news coverage did not significantly influence people’s stereotype content of and attitudes towards transgender people. However, realistic threats were negatively associated with perceived warmth, while symbolic threats were negatively associated with perceived competence.

Emotional Flow and Order Effects: Anger, Compassion and Moderating Effects of Perceived Interest • Hang Lu, Cornell University • Emotional appeals can elicit emotions that evolve over time. As an exploratory step to empirically test emotional flow of multiple discrete emotions, the current study investigates whether the order of information inducing anger vs. compassion influences persuasion, the conditions under which the order is more impactful, and the underlying mechanisms. The results of a one-factor between-subjects experiment show that among those highly interested in a message topic, there is a primacy effect of anger-inducing message on punitive policy support. Further analyses suggest that the anger elicited by the first message and the emotional intensity aroused by the last message explain this primacy effect. The current study contributes to the literature by integrating classic research on order effects with the emerging emotional flow perspective, exploring an understudied emotional experience, empathic anger, and providing new insights on the role of emotional intensity in influencing persuasion.

Stepping into the Story Worlds: Modeling the Effects of Narratives in Immersive Mediated Environments • Zexin Ma • This paper presents an extended theoretical framework to model the psychological mechanisms and persuasive effects of narratives in immersive mediated environments (IMEs). IMEs allow individuals to perceive themselves to be completely enveloped with the aid of immersive technologies. Drawing upon previous research on narrative persuasion and immersive media, the model of narrative effects in IMEs (MNEIMEs) predicts that narratives presented in immersive (vs. non-immersive) mediated environments will promote more story-consistent attitudes and behavioral intentions/willingness. In addition, MNEIMEs proposes that viewers in IMEs will experience a higher level of spatial presence, social presence, transportation, and identification than those in non-IMEs. Spatial and social presence are hypothesized to mediate the effect of media format (i.e., IMEs vs. non-IMEs) on transportation and identification, respectively. Furthermore, media format will have an indirect effect on counterarguing through spatial presence, social presence, transportation, and/or identification. These psychological mechanisms (i.e., spatial presence, social presence, transportation, identification, and counterarguing) are also predicted to mediate the effects of media format on persuasive outcomes. Theoretical contributions and directions for future research are discussed.

2018 ABSTRACTS

Faculty Paper Competition
No time to think: The impact of smartphone technology on mindfulness and reflection • Mary Beth Bradford, Florida Southern College • As smartphones have become more prevalent in society, so have become consequences. Using research from Carr (2010) and Turkle (2015), this study investigated the relationship between smartphones and reflection, mindfulness and hyperactivity. The results showed that smartphone addiction symptoms of withdrawal are significantly related to hyperactivity and negatively related to reflection. Phubbing, which is snubbing others with a smartphone, is negatively related to levels of mindfulness. Social media addiction was not a significant predictor.

Pro-Vaxxers Get Out: Anti-Vaccine Advocates Influence Questioning First-Time, Pregnant, and New Mothers  on Facebook • Amanda Bradshaw, University of Florida; Summer Shelton, University of Florida; Easton Wollney, University of Florida; Debbie Treise, University of Florida; Kendra Auguste • Facebook has revolutionized health information-seeking behavior with crowd-based medical advice. Decreased vaccination uptake and subsequent disease outbreaks have generally occurred in localized clusters based upon social norms; however, geographically unrestricted Facebook networks may promote parental refusal congruent with digital identity formation. Interactions within the largest closed Facebook group for vaccination choice were analyzed through the lens of Social Influence Theory. Anti-vaccination advocates impacted questioning mothers’ expressed vaccination intentions through both informational and normative influence processes.

Anyone Can Be a Troll: Predicting Behaviors and Perceptions of Uncivil Discourse Among Reddit Users • Daniel Montez, Brigham Young University; Pamela Brubaker, Brigham Young University; Scott Church, Brigham Young University; Ching (Jina) Shih, Brigham Young University; Spencer Christensen, Brigham Young University • Uncivil discourse is an increasingly pervasive problem on computer-mediated communication platforms. This study examined predictors of trolling behaviors as well as perceptions of trolling among 438 Reddit users. A path analysis indicated malicious motives mediated the relationship between personality traits (i.e., the Dark Triad) and online incivility. Outspokenness did not directly or indirectly predict incivility. Results also showed that both those with malicious motives who more or less serve as malicious online lurkers, as well as those who are uncivil online (i.e., trolls), view trolling as a functional approach to online discourse. This was further supported as both groups of individuals considered trolling as not being dysfunctional. Those who merely observed incivility on Reddit did not consider trolling to be a functional part of online discourse. Age, time spent on Reddit, and the Dark Triad did not predict functional/dysfunctional perceptions of trolling.

Risk Factors for Cyberbullying Victimization: A Survey of Adult Internet Users in 19 Countries • Tiernan Cahill, Boston University; Kate Mays, Boston University; John Donegan, Boston University; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; James H. Liu, Massey University • Research on cyberbullying has historically focused primarily on the experiences of children and adolescents and been limited to cross-sectional associations between risk factors and outcomes. The present study expands the understanding of causal risk factors for cyberbullying victimization among adults through a longitudinal panel survey of Internet users in 19 countries. The risk factors investigated include demographic attributes, online behavior, and personality attributes.

Emotional expression and social media practices: A social identity-based perspective • Xi Cui, College of Charleston • This study explores general patterns of the relationship between emotional expressions and social media practices such as hashtags and post sharing with three datasets of two breaking events and one longitudinal collection. We assume a social identity perspective and attend to the identity meanings of various hashtags. Findings deepen our understanding of identity-driven social media uses in different topical contexts and possible influence of strategic self-presentation in moderating the expressions of emotions and identities.

Predicting Cellphone Use while Driving and Walking Among College Students • Tao Deng, Michigan State University; Juan Mundel, DePaul University; Kristen Lynch, Michigan State University; Anastasia Kononova; Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University • Amidst growing concerns related to use of cellphones while driving and walking, we explored different predictors of risky cellphone use, including demographic factors, psychological individual differences, and problematic use of technology using a cross-sectional survey of college students at a large Midwestern university (N = 577). Results showed that problematic social media use had the strongest predictive power on cellphone use while driving and walking, with psychological individual differences predicting risky cellphone use while driving.

Facilitating Role of Opinion Climate in Speaking Out: Testing Spiral of Silence in Social Media • Sherice Gearhart, Texas Tech University; Weiwu Zhang, Texas Tech University • Through secondary analysis of data collected from a nationwide survey of adults (N = 956), this study uses the spiral of silence theory to examine the facilitating potential of the opinion climate cultivated on social media. Specifically, the role of individuals’ previous experience of online harassment via social media in speaking out is examined. Results identify potential positive effects of like-minded online opinion environment in facilitating speaking out behavior.

From the Margins to the Newsfeed: Social Media Audiences’ Disruption of the Protest Paradigm • Summer Harlow, University of Houston; Danielle Kilgo, Indiana University • This content analysis expands protest paradigm research, examining the relationship between social media audience engagement and newspaper articles about protests in 2017. Results showed stories that were not posted to social media housed more negative frames and devices that delegitimize protesters. For select protests, audiences engaged more with articles with legitimizing content, suggesting users, like journalists, follow a paradigm that legitimizes some protests and marginalizes others.

Instagramming Social Presence:  A Test of Social Presence Theory and Heuristic Cues on Instagram Sponsored Posts • Erika Johnson, East Carolina University; Seoyeon Hong, Rowan University • This study investigates Social Presence Theory, using sponsored posts on Instagram. By testing a 3 (social presence) x 2 (heuristic cues) x 2 (source of sponsorship) mixed subjects experiment (N = 378), the results showed significant main effects of social presence, heuristic cues, and source on social media engagement. Results show that higher social presence, higher likes (heuristic), and official sources lead to higher social media engagement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for how to effectively deliver sponsored contents on Instagram.

I DON’T USE FACEBOOK ANYMORE: An investigation into the relationship between the motivations to leave Facebook and the Big Five personality traits • Seoyeon Hong, Rowan University; Klive (Soo-Kwang) Oh, Pepperdine University • This study linked the Big Five personality traits with motivational factors to leave Facebook. The Big Five were expected to predict eight factors retrieved from existing literature. Results showed that neuroticism was positively related to addiction, banality, peer pressure, and privacy while conscientiousness was negatively related to peer pressure, addiction, annoyance, and emergence of new platforms. Openness was positively related with banality but negatively with addiction and peer pressure. Theoretical and practical interpretations are also discussed.

Who are the second screeners? Personality traits predicting dual screen use • Brigitte Huber; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; James H. Liu, Massey University • This study investigates the relationship between personality traits and second screening for politics worldwide. Employing two-wave panel-data from 19 countries, this study tests how the Big Five personality traits relate to dual screening practices. Results show that extraversion positively predicts second screening. In contrast, agreeableness and openness to new experience are negatively related to second screening. Moreover, multilevel analysis is performed to test whether the between-country variation is related to cultural and technical indicators.

Pundits, Presenters and Promoters: Investigating Gaps in Digital Production among Social Media Users Using Self-Reported and Behavioral Measures • Ke Jiang; Rui Wang; Lance Porter; Martin Johnson • We investigate the relationship between the social characteristics of social media users and their production of digital content. Matching survey data with self-reported user profiles and a year’s worth of actual posts on Twitter, we found four dominant fields of discussion and three main types of actors participating in these discussions. Pundits, presenters and promoters tweeted about different combinations of lifecasting, politics, promotion and entertainment to gain digital capital in 2016.

Developing and Testing Web-based Avatar Customization as a Self-Affirmation Manipulation Tool • Hyunjin Kang, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Hye Kyung Kim, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University • In two lab experiments, this study tested the potential of web-based avatar customization as a new self-affirmation manipulation method. Study 1 (N = 126) found that the process of avatar customization has a self-affirming effect equivalent to a widely used self-affirmation method. Study 2 (N = 139) further found that avatar customization reduces defensive processing of self-threatening health information among those who most likely to be defensive. We discuss practical implications and future research directions.

Effects of User versus Object Agency in Interaction with Smart Objects: A Moderated Mediation Model of Anthropomorphism and Perceived Connectedness • Hyunjin Kang, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University; Ki Joon Kim, Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong • In human-IoT interaction, both users and smart objects can exercise own agency. The current study examines interplay of the locus of agency (user vs. object) and anthropomorphic cues on user responses to interactions with IoT mediated by sense of connectedness. Experiment results (N =71) indicated that users generally exhibit more positive responses to IoT interactions when they have own agency. Yet, anthropomorphism was shown to relieve agency tension among users when objects have own agency.

The effects of gratifications on the continuance intention to use a mobile instant messenger service • Hyunjung Kim • In this study, we examined the motivational factors associated with the intention to continue to use an MIM service and explored the relationship between the size of an MIM group chatroom and the respective effects of the motivational factors. The results demonstrate that the effect of the social interaction gratification on the intention to continue using the MIM was greatest among those who mainly use the service for small-group chatrooms with three to five members.

Checking in During Irma: Investigating Motivations, Emotions, and Narratives on Facebook’s Safety Check Feature • Seoyeon Kim; Lucinda Austin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University • This study investigated public discourse on social media during the recent natural disaster Hurricane Irma through a quantitative content analysis of 750 Facebook posts. Levels of public engagement across different motivations for use, emotions, and crisis narratives were examined. Posts elicited higher engagement when users were motivated by information sharing; expressing fear/anxiety; and using victim narratives. Emotions across different crisis narratives are also discussed.

Snapchat Usage from the International Perspective: Comparison between the United States and South Korea • Haseon Park, University of North Dakota; Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota; Joonghwa Lee, University of North Dakota • This study explored international differences in Snapchat usage between the United States and Korea by taking long-term orientation, separateness self-schema, and motivations into account. The results from online survey revealed that both long-term orientation and separateness had positive relationships with attitudes toward Snapchat and intention to use Snapchat. Motivations that significantly influence attitudes toward Snapchat and intention to use Snapchat were also found to be different between the two countries. Implications are discussed.

YouTube, show me “How-to”: exploring parasocial interaction and self-efficacy mechanism governing behavioral intent in YouTube tutorial videos • Hyosun Kim, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point • A web survey was conducted to examine how “How-To” videos on YouTube affect purchase intent toward the products featured in the videos. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the findings suggest that perceived authenticity predicts parasocial interaction, which then affects self-efficacy to predict purchase intent. Thus, results revealed a significant mediating role of parasocial interaction and self-efficacy in the learning process that positively affects people towards buying the product they learned about from the YouTube tutorial videos.

Characteristics of Compensated Consumer Reviews and the Effect of Compensation Disclaimer on Attitude and Purchase Intention • Su Jung Kim, Iowa State University; Ewa Maslowska, University of Amsterdam; Ali Tamaddoni, Deakin Business School • This paper examines different characteristics and effects of compensated versus self-motivated reviews, and the mechanisms behind these effects, using mixed methods in two studies. The findings of text mining analyses suggest that, despite compensated reviews provide more elaborate and evaluative content, they are perceived less helpful than self-motivated reviews. The findings of a randomized experiment suggest that compensation disclosure negatively influence consumers’ attitude and purchase intention via increased suspicion of the reviewer’s ulterior motives.

Peer-To-Peer Connections: Perceptions of a Social Networking App Designed for Young Adults with Cancer • Allison Lazard; Adam Saffer; Lindsey Horrell; Catherine Benedict; Brad Love • Objective: Social support is a critical, yet frequently unmet, need among young adults (YAs) affected by cancer. YAs desire age-appropriate resources that will help them connect to members of the YA cancer community. Given the overwhelming adoption of smart phones among YAs, a peer-to-peer, social networking mobile app is a promising intervention to provide this desired social support if the design affords meaningful connections. Methods: We interviewed 27 members of the YA community to assess perceptions of the Stupid Cancer app. Findings: Most participants expressed interested in using the app to connect with other YA survivors/caregivers. Connection preferences varied by prevalence or rarity of one’s cancer diagnosis. Additional themes shared included: juxtaposition of the desire for profile anonymity versus profiles with more personal information such as pictures, the need for multiple matching algorithms and filter options to find connections that meet varying support needs, and desire for tailored messaging and chat room features (e.g., topic-specific, search capabilities). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the promise of using an app-based platform to fulfill YA cancer survivors’ unmet peer support needs. Practical Implications: Peer-to-peer networking apps should be designed so users can control their identify and customize connection features in this underserved cancer population.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Social Capital: Examining the Impacts of Mobile, PC, and Tablet Uses on Bonding and Bridging Social Capital • Hoon Lee; Scott Campbell • This study aims to tease out the distinctive repercussion of a particular ICT use for the accrual of social capital.  Our results demonstrate mobile phone use is positively associated with bonding capital, whereas using desktop PC explains enhanced bridging capital. It is further shown that private-oriented use of mobile phone mainly contributes to the cultivation of bonding capital while using desktop PC for political ends is the key predictor of augmented bridging capital.

A Review of Media Addiction Research from 1991 to 2016 • Louis Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Cheng Chen • In this review study, a descriptive analysis was conducted of the media addiction research published from 1991 to 2016. The search of all academic output published in 13 major academic databases within the 26-year period yielded 1,099 SSCI/SCI articles that were relevant to this study. The review was focused on the trends, developmental periods, study domains, themes, research methods, measurement instruments, and research purposes in the field of media addiction. The implications of these findings for future media addiction research are discussed.

Does being an expert make you more negative? An investigation of subjective expertise and electronic word-of-mouth communication • Jiangmen Liu; Cong Li, School of Communication, University of Miami • This study aims examines how communicator’s subjective expertise impacts generation of eWOM and through what mechanisms. A 2 (subjective expertise: high vs low)  2 (anonymity: anonymous vs real identity)  2 (audience size: large vs small) between-subjects experiment conducted online. Results revealed a two-way interaction between subjective expertise and anonymity on eWOM valence. Findings provide theoretical contributions to eWOM research by exploring the influences of communicator characteristics and platform characteristics on eWOM generation.

Issue-Based Micromobilization via Call-to-Action Message: Path analysis model linking issue involvement to expressive action in social media • Elmie Nekmat, National University of Singapore; Ismaharif Ismail, National University of Singapore • This study investigates identity- and perceptual-based factors determining individual expressive support for issue-driven collective action on social media. A mediated pathway model positing influence of personal issue involvement via individual-group identification, perceived individual-network issue opinion congruity, and perceived participative efficacy on likelihood to engage in expressive support (commenting, ‘liking,’ ‘sharing’ of message and information) was evaluated. Results reveal group identification as robust mediator of issue involvement, predicting expressive support irrespective of user issue attitudes. Perceived participative efficacy is the strongest predictor of likelihood to express support but, like perceived individual-network opinion congruity, demonstrate variances between users with different levels of issue involvement and attitude. Results suggest a more intricate micromobilization process that needs to consider contextual issue-group positions and status quo in society, as well as counter-groups dynamics on social media.

The Emotional Consequences of Social Exclusion through Social Media • Dominik Neumann, Michigan State University; Nancy Rhodes, Michigan State University • Using social media affords an unfiltered window into the lives of friends. Although this can facilitate positive relationships, it also affords awareness of social activities friends are enjoying, that the user has not been included in. We report an initial, qualitative investigation into perceptions of self-exclusion and ostracism and emotional consequences of these types of exclusion. Thinking about an ostracism situation led to higher anger, and lower regret and happiness than thinking about self-exclusion.

News Finds Them, and Then What? How Post-Millennials Engage with Social and Mobile Media News • Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, University of Connecticut; Preeti Srinivasan, University of Connecticut • The reliance on social and mobile media for news is changing how young adults engage with and learn from news. Focus groups with current college students (N = 60) explore how they experience news via different media formats and how the content influences them. Results reveal social and mobile media as imperfect but unavoidable convenience, a general hesitation to engage publicly with news content, and a sense of awareness of but not learning from news.

Twitter versus Facebook: Discussing Controversial Issues on Social Media • Mustafa Oz, Southern Indiana University • Abstract: This study compares how do people express their opinions on the Facebook versus on Twitter. It was sought to understand whether people were more willing to express their opinions on some social media channels than others. It was assumed that fear of isolation and affordances may influence users’ opinion expression behaviors on social media websites. Overall, the results suggested that people were more likely to express their opinion on Twitter than Facebook when they think the majority does not support their opinion.

Smartphone and Self-Extension: Functionally, Anthropomorphically, and Ontologically Extending Self via the Smartphone • Chang Sup Park, University at Albany, SUNY; Barbara Kaye • This paper focuses on the blurring boundary between the smartphone and humans and aims to identify types of self-extension people experience through smartphone use. Based on in-depth interviews with 60 smartphone users, the findings support three types of self-extension via the smartphone – functional extension, anthropomorphic extension, and ontological extension. The findings suggest that smartphone users perceive that the smartphone has become an important part of their self and influences their identity.

Big data and crowdfunding for startups: An application of social capital theory • Sun-Young Park, University of Massachusetts Boston; Boon Thau Loo • Crowdfunding is a recent financing phenomenon as a tool for startups to raise seed funding for them. Utilizing big data analytics for crowdfunding platforms, such as AngelList (N = 744,036) and Crunchbase (N = 10,156), and social media sites, such as Facebook (N = 37,761) and Twitter (N = 70,563), our research investigates the impact of social engagement on startup fundraising success through the lens of social capital theory. The results show cognitive, structural, and relational dimensions of social capital sources served as important predictors of fundraising for startups.

Predicting Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Use in South Korea: The Roles of Socio-Demographic Characteristics, Innovativeness, Sense of Belonging, and Computer Self-Efficacy • Kyungeun Jang, Yonsei University; Jinyoung Choi, Yonsei University; Seonggyeol Cho, Yonsei University; Namkee Park, Yonsei University • This study explored the factors that affect individuals’ adoption and use of AI chatbots, focusing on socio-demographic characteristics, innovativeness, sense of belonging, and computer self-efficacy. The study fills the gap between the current use of AI chatbots and the lack of empirical studies that examined the predictors of adoption and use of the technology. The study is also expected to stimulate future research, calling for attention to individual and psychological factors for AI chatbot use.

Take them there: From narrative engagement to behavioral intention in cause-related immersive storytelling • Geah Pressgrove; Nicholas Bowman, West Virginia University; Jennifer Knight • This study explores the role of immersive storytelling in a prosocial context. Across three stories, using immersive storytelling technologies (such as head-mounted displays) led to the highest levels of presence, but there was no association between presence and increased attitudes towards the story content. Only narrative engagement impacted attitudes. Data suggests that telling engaging narratives that increase the viewer’s self-efficacy, independent of immersive technologies, are key to behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

How Many Will Read It on Reddit? A Model That Predicts Rankings of Reddit News • Aditya Ravindra Bhat; Ronald Yaros, University of Maryland • Research investigated social media sites in the context of user engagement and sharing of news, but few studies have focused on how user interactions could predict the ranking of news sources. 8,300 postings were collected from Reddit – the fourth largest news aggregator in the U.S. – to develop a new formula that can predict rankings of news sources. Initial results indicated the formula can successfully predict Reddit rankings with at least 70 percent reliability.

Predictors of Multiscreen Use: A Comparative Study of the United States and the Netherlands • Claire Segijn, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities; Anastasia Kononova • Previous cross-country studies found that media multitasking was most prevalent in the US and the least prevalent in the Netherlands. The current study seeks explanations for these differences by comparing survey data from the US (n = 314) and the Netherlands (n = 328) and examining audience, media, and cultural factors as predictors of multiscreening, a specific form of media multitasking. The results showed that media factors are the most important predictor of multiscreen use.

Hey Alexa! Tell us Why People Adopt and Trust Voice Activated Digital Assistants • Claire Sauter, St. John Fisher College; Morgan van der Horst; Mary Wilson, St. John Fisher College; Sophia Germano, St. John Fisher College; Ronen Shay, St. John Fisher College • This study employed a survey (n=235) content analysis, and pseudo-experiment to examine the factors that contribute towards the adoption of Alexa, Google Home, and Siri devices. The findings demonstrated perceived companionship with the virtual assistant was the strongest predictor of adoption; statements before wake words are not found in device transcriptions; emotions towards assistants are positive, but neutral towards the degree of privacy; and perceived usefulness is a predictor of trust for all brands studied.

Who Will Reply to A Troll? A Network Approach to Understanding Trolls in Online Communities • Qiusi Sun; Cuihua Shen • This study investigated trolls’ influence in online communities by examining how individual members react toward trolls. Trolls are antisocial individuals provoking emotional responses and disrupt discussions. Using social identity theory and a dataset from YouTube, the study found out that individual members’ centrality, discussion network’s density, other members’ previous response to trolls, and the community’s cumulative response to trolls and the negativity of troll posts are associated with individual members’ likelihood of responding to trolls.

Social media and the classroom: Reversing the knowledge gap through tweets • Jason Turcotte • Knowledge gap theory demonstrated mass media’s role in facilitating learning disparities between the haves and have nots. The knowledge gap is also conditioned by the medium, yet the role of digital platforms is less clear. As social media plays an increasingly routine role as an information source and as a pedagogical tool, this study examines the effectiveness of incorporating social media in mass communication instruction.

Who leads the conversation on climate change?: A study of the global network of NGOs on Twitter • Hong Vu; Hung Do; Hyunjin Seo, University of Kansas; Yuchen Liu, University of Kansas • Using a big data approach, this study investigates how climate change NGOs across the world communicate and interact on Twitter. It found that the Global North/South hierarchy is perpetuated in the network of these NGOs, with those from the Global North and Oceania dominating the conversations on climate change. Our social network analyses identified several types of centralities, conceptualized as connectivity, as predictors of an organization’s interactivity and posting. Implications for interorganizational communication and online opinion leadership were discussed.

Space-body Relationship: Visualizing Geolocation on Instagram and the Implications on Psychological Well-being • Shaojung Sharon Wang, National Sun Yat-sen University • This study investigated how location-based image sharing on Instagram might provide meaning for socio-spatial interaction processes by connecting bodies with locations. The results of an online survey showed that the use of Instagram features and visual appeal of an Instagram profile can both significantly predicted the users’ sense of space. Users’ sense of space had a positive impact on inner space and online social support and both inner space and online social support positively predicted three aspects of perceived interpersonal attraction: physical attraction, sexual attraction, and group attraction. The three aspects of perceived interpersonal attraction can further positively predict psychological well-being (PWB). Theoretical implications on how Instagram users might shorten the inner distance and trigger social perceptions by exhibiting external spatial beauty on a visual-oriented social platform to achieve PWB are discussed.

Information Control as a Mood Enhancer: Mood Management through Website Interactivity • Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina; Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Reece Funderburk, University of South Carolina • This paper examines the interplay between mood (positive, negative, and neutral) and website interactivity (high and low) on responses to brand websites. Participants in a negative mood reported greater mood change and more positive attitudes toward a high-interactivity website whereas people in a positive mood exhibited non-significant mood change and comparable evaluations of the websites with different levels of interactivity. Participants in a neutral mood reported non-significant mood change but more favorable attitudes toward a high-interactivity website.

‘This Message Will Self-Destruct’: Brand Use of Ephemeral Content on Snapchat for Strategic Communication • Brooke Smith, Brigham Young University; Christopher Wilson, BYU; Pamela Brubaker, Brigham Young University • This study seeks to understand why and how brands use ephemeral content on platforms like Snapchat. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 23 brand social media managers who were involved in with brands’ Snapchat account. The results show that the ephemerality of the content shared on Snapchat was a key driver in platform adoption. Also, brand representatives wanted to reach younger audiences by telling them authentic visual stories. However, brands must balance the desire for carefully crafted brand stories the rawness characteristic of ephemeral content.

The Alternatives to Being Silent: Exploring the Opinion Expression Avoidance Strategies for Discussing Politics on Facebook • Tai-Yee Wu, National Chiao Tung University; Xiaowen Xu; David Atkin • This study integrates the theories of planned behavior and spiral of silence to examine one’s opinion expression avoidance on Facebook political discussions. Survey results suggest that self-efficacy and subjective norms promote the intention to adopt both tacit and “hassle” avoidance strategies. The latter could even benefit individuals with higher fear of isolation to less explicitly reveal disagreements if normative influence decreases. Findings from this comprehensive framework expand present understandings of online opinion expression and withdrawal.

When Journalism and Automation Intersect: Assessing the Influence of the Technological Field on Contemporary Newsrooms • Shangyuan Wu, Nanyang Technological University; Edson Tandoc, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Charles Salmon • In this era of “big data,” where information circulates in unprecedented amounts, this paper examines the use of automation in newsrooms to manage the data deluge – not from the perspective of news workers, but from the technologists driving these digital innovations instead. Using field theory and in-depth interviews with technological firms, this study maps out the principles and practices of the technological field and the pressures and powers it exerts on the journalistic field today.

How Does Customization Influence Conspicuous Consumption among Socially Excluded versus Included Consumers? • Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina; nandini bhalla, University of South Carolina; Anan Wan, University of South Carolina • A lab experiment was conducted to analyze how the interplay between social exclusion and customization influenced consumers’ tendency of conspicuous consumption. The results indicated that compared to socially included participants, socially excluded participants expressed a significantly stronger tendency of conspicuous consumption after customizing a website. However, such a difference between social exclusion and social inclusion was not observed among participants who just read the information on the website without customizing it. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed and future research suggestions also provided.

Relationships between Gameplay Motives, Gaming Activities, and Quality-of-Life Perceptions among Older Game Players • YOWEI KANG, KAINAN UNIVERSITY, REPUBLIC OF TAIWAN; KENNETH C.C YANG, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO, USA • Older adults have increasingly become an important and profitable segment. This empirical research analyzed data from 127 older game players (>55 years old) in Taiwan and examined how their gaming activities were influenced by their use motives and whether playing digital games could subsequently influence their quality-of-life (QOL) perceptions. The linear regression analyses found that the motive to seek social connectedness positively predicted their gameplay duration (β=0.36, t=2.76**). Participants’ motive to obtain relaxation also positively predicted their gameplay frequency (β=0.93, t=12.00***). In terms of their quality-of-life perceptions, our study found that gameplay frequency positively predicted participants’ satisfaction with their own material living conditions (β=0.13, t=2.87**) and social relationship with family members (β=0.34, t=4.03***). Commitment to playing digital games, on the contrary, negatively predicted participants’ satisfaction to take part in productive and main activities (β=-0.29, t=-3.28***).

Beyond the “Good or Bad” Typology: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Association between Social Media Use and Psychological Well-Being • Fan Yang, University at Albany, SUNY; Ruoxu Wang, The University of Memphis • A meta-analysis of 54 studies was conducted to examine the association between social media use and psychological well-being. Using social media does not necessarily link to users’ psychological well-being because the relationship between the two is contingent upon different types of social media use (active versus passive), motivations for social media use (instrumental versus relational), and age of social media users. However, the association does not vary by social media platforms (Facebook versus others).

 

Student Paper Competition
Repurposed Geo-data and the Counterpublic: Folk Theories of Remote Check-ins to Standing Rock on Facebook • Jeeyun Baik, University of Southern California • This study defines social media users’ remotely checking in to political locations as an evolving form of counterpublic. It conducted a case study on Facebook check-in posts to Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 2016 where the users virtually stood with protesters who were fighting against the Dakota Access oil pipeline construction. Analyzing the discourse across the public remote check-in posts, five folk theories were identified regarding solidarity, counter-surveillance, privacy, education on geo-data and debunking rumors.

Whenever, Wherever:  The Persuasive Effects of Commercials Experienced with Mobile Virtual Reality • Priska Breves, University of Wuerzburg; Nicola Dodel, University of Wuerzburg • With the rise of mobile VR, advertisers started producing immersive commercials in order to engage and persuade consumers. A 2×1-between-subjects-experiment (N=62) was conducted in participants’ living rooms under natural conditions, where they either experiencing the immersive commercial with a cardboard HMD or on a laptop. Serial moderated mediation analyses indicated positive effects of mobile VR due to elevated feelings of spatial presence; however, persuasive effectiveness was only increased if reported cybersickness was low or moderate.

The Effects of Modality, Device, and Task Differences on Human-likeness in Virtual Assistant Interaction • Eugene Cho, Penn State University; Maria D. Molina, Penn State University; Jinping Wang, Penn State University • This study attempts to explore the effects of modality, device, and task differences on attitudes toward virtual assistants (VAs), and the mediating roles of perceived human-likeness. A 2 (modality: voice vs. text) X 2 (device: mobile vs. laptop) X 2 (task type: hedonic vs. utilitarian) mixed factorial experimental design was employed. Findings suggest that voice (vs. text) interaction was mediated by higher level of perceived human-likeness to evoke more positive attitudes toward the VA system, but only with utilitarian (vs. hedonic) tasks. Interestingly, interaction using laptops (vs. mobile phones) also enhanced perceived human-likeness of the virtual agent. This study offers theoretical and practical implications for VA research by exploring the combinational effects of modality, device, and task differences on user perceptions through human-like interactions.

Playing the Visibility Game: How Digital Influencers and Algorithms Negotiate Influence on Instagram • Kelley Cotter • Algorithms regulate who and what gains visibility on social media. Yet, discussions of algorithmic power often neglect the ways knowledge of algorithms might constrain their power. Through a thematic analysis of online discussions among Instagram digital influencers, I observe that influencers actively learn about the platform’s algorithms and pursue influence as if playing a game. Influencers’ discursive interpretations of algorithms—and the “game” more broadly—intervene between the algorithms and influencers to shape influencers’ behaviors.

Moving with presence: A 4-week virtual reality-based exergame training with cognitive challenges on executive functions in people aged 50 and over • Tim Huang, Michigan State University • The older population, which has grown dramatically, is at a considerably higher risk for having problems related to the aging of the brain. Exergames show the potential to combine the cognitive benefits of physical activity and attractiveness of videogames and been found to be more effective as a tool for cognitive improvement in older adults. However, the mechanism by which exergames led to cognitive improvement has not been fully explored. The current research investigated the impacts of immersion (i.e., VR) and types of task-load on cognitive benefits in the context of exergaming and hypothesized the feeling of presence as a mediator between immersion and cognitive benefits. A 4-week exergame training, which consisted of eight 20-minute exergame sessions, was designed to test the hypotheses and answer the research question of the current research. The experiment was a 2 (high immersion vs. low immersion) x2 (task-relevant vs. task-irrelevant loads) between-subject factorial design. The results (N=41) showed that task-irrelevant load led to cognitive improvement immediately after a single-bout training, and immersion had an impact on cognitive impact after the 4-week training. However, the results after the 2-week training showed that both factors played an important role. Furthermore, spatial presence mediates the impacts of immersion on cognitive benefits. The significance of this study includes both theoretical and practical implications were also discussed.

Predictors of Peer-to-Peer Communication among Elder Adults within an Online Interactive Communication System • Juwon Hwang, UW-Madison; Junhan Chen • Despite the benefits and growing interests in online communication using technology among elder adults, little is known about the factors that predict engagement in a computer-mediated social support (CMSS) communication among elder adults. Based on an interactive communication system for elder adults, we explore how psychosocial and physical well-being characteristics predict engagement in peer-to-peer communication. Of eligible participants who were 65 and older, and have experienced one or more of clinical criteria of this study, we analyzed 174 of participants who were assigned to the intervention and used the interactive communication system during the 6-month study period. Results indicated that participants who have better emotional well-being but more physical symptoms were more likely to engage in online peer-to-peer communication. Specifically, elder adults with higher social support and a bigger size of the social network, and those with less depression were more likely to engage in peer-to-peer communication, whereas those with more physical symptoms and worse physical quality of lives were more likely to interact with peers.

How should an embodied conversational agent carry out small talks? The effect of the agent’s passivity in small talks on user psychology • Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University • We examined how an embodied conversational agent (ECA) should carry out small talks with human users. In a 3 (agent type: active vs. passive vs. control) x 2 (topic: selfie vs. etiquette) between-subjects online study, participants interacted with a fictitious ECA who engaged in small talk as an active participant or a passive observant of human culture. We found that the passive agent elicited higher threat to uniqueness and perceived interactivity than the active agent.

Snapping Up Legacy Media: Using Theory of Affordances to Explain How News Outlets Behave on Snapchat • Eun Jeong Lee, Texas State University • This study uses an affordances approach to explore how U.S. media outlets utilize Snapchat to reach young people, the audience least engaged with traditional media. Using content analysis and interviews, this study found that publishers on Discover adopt Snapchat’s affordances and adapt their story topic and presentation of content with an emphasis on the visual. Yet, differences emerge between traditional “legacy” and “new” media outlets, especially in news judgment.

International Student’s Social Networking Sites Use,  Perceived Social Support, and Acculturative Stress • Lin Li • This study examined the mechanisms through which ethnic and host social networking site (SNS) use influenced international students’ acculturative stress. By surveying international students in an American university (N = 263), the study found that host SNS use was associated with less acculturative stress through the increased level of social support from the host country, while ethnic SNS use was associated with more acculturative stress through the decreased level of social support from the home country.

Intermittent Discontinuance: The case of Twitter • Margaret Yee Man Ng • Early studies tend to view innovation discontinuance as a one-time complete abandonment of an innovation in use. However, this study argued that post-adoption behavior is not simply a binary distinction between use and non-use, but is a wide array of practices enacting varied degrees of engagement with and disengagement from an innovation. Using a national Twitter user survey (N = 419), this study identified differences (i.e., demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics) among continuing adopters, intermittent discontinuers, and permanent discontinuers.

Normalized Incivility: Two Studies of Social Cues in Online Discussion Environments • David Silva, Washington State University • Civility is required for democratic political communication, but the frequency of incivility online presents a vexing problem. This study approaches incivility from a social psychological framework and tests the efficacy of social cues on discussion intention. Findings from two experiments show group norms predict group identification, which affects communication intentions. Some social cues reduce perceptions of normative incivility, but others have adverse effects. Best practices and future research are discussed considering these results.

The Effects of Expectation Fulfilment of Likes on Anxiety and Depression: The Role of Perceived • Lipei Tang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Using a cluster sampling method, this study (N = 475) proposed and tested a moderated mediation model to examine the effect of expectation fulfilment of Likes on social media on anxiety and depression. Results found both conditional direct effect and conditional indirect effect of expectation fulfilment on people who Liked on anxiety and depression through perceived social support (importance of social media post as moderator). Theoretical implications are discussed.

“NextDoor People Are Nuts”: Analyzing Twitter Perspectives About the People and Purpose of NextDoor • Kelsey Whipple, University of Texas at Austin • This qualitative textual analysis examines how social media users characterize NextDoor, the private, geo-specific social platform dedicated to fostering neighborhood communities online, on another social platform: Twitter. By exploring the major themes of Twitter public discourse about NextDoor, this study seeks to analyze NextDoor’s role within a larger network of virtual online communities, as well as understand what type of people are assumed to use it and how users share and prioritize information.

Self-control and Media Multitasking:  The Role of Conflict Identification and Intrinsic Motivation • Shan Xu, Ohio State University; Guanjin Zhang, Ohio State University • Based on the preventive interventive (PI) model of self-control, the current study investigates how trait self-control influences multitasking while studying and pinpoints two mediators: intrinsic motivation and conflict identification. Results from a survey study suggested that students who scored high on trait self-control were more likely to identify a conflict between media multitasking and schoolwork, and had a stronger intrinsic motivation toward study, which in turn decreased media multitasking during educational activities.

Human-like vs. Robot-like Voices: The Impact of Voice Cues of a Virtual Health Assistant and Health Information Sensitivity on Users’ Perception and Behavioral Intentions • Hyun Yang, The Pennsylvania State University; Ruosi Shao, Penn State University • This study shows (1) the relationship between voice cues of a virtual health assistant and perceived social presence; (2) the relationship between perceived social presence and credibility; (3) the moderating effect of trustworthiness beliefs in machine/human on the relationship between voice cues and perceived credibility; (4) the effects of perceived credibility on self-disclosure and behavioral learning intentions; and (5) the effect of health information sensitivity on self-disclosure intention. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

2018 ABSTRACTS

Encouraging Safe Wildlife Viewing in National Parks: Effects of a Risk Communication Campaign on Visitors’ Behavior • Katie Abrams, Colorado State University • Seeing wildlife in their natural habitat with little to no boundaries or protections can have some undesired consequences, especially as people get up close to animals. In four national parks, we tested the effects of a risk communication campaign designed using several elements from previous research and relevant theories on how close national parks’ visitors got to wildlife. Results showed, once the campaign was in place, fewer visitors were observed within unsafe distances to wildlife in three of the four parks.

Mapping perceived barriers to science communication: Inter-issue and inter-group comparisons • Lee Ahern, Penn State; Sushma Kumble, Towson; Jeff Conlin; Jinping Wang, Penn State University • The science of science communication has established that barriers to science communication are different for different science issues, for different audiences, and in different contexts. The research presented here takes a novel approach to measure and visualize the public’s—and scientists’—perceived barriers to effective science communication for specific issues. Results provide face validly for the approach, with known audience difference and issue differences mapping out significantly differently across perceived barriers to effective science communication.

Barriers in Communicating Science for Policy in Congress • Karen Akerlof, American Association for the Advancement of Science, George Mason University; Maria Carmen Lemos, University of Michigan; Emily T. Cloyd, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Erin Heath, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Selena Nelson, George Mason University; Julia Hathaway, George Mason University; Kristin Timm, George Mason University • How does Congress use science? And what are the barriers that staffers experience in finding, interpreting, and using scientific information in energy, environment, and science portfolios? This qualitative study of 16 interviews with Republican and Democratic staffers from the House and Senate applies a science usability model to the hyper-polarized legislative context, finding similarities, and some potential differences, between “strategic” use of science to support or defend policy positions and “substantive” use in policy decisions.

A Content Analysis of e-Cigarette Brand Messages on Social Media • Jordan Alpert, University of Florida; Huan Chen; Alyssa Jaisle, University of Florida • Although rates of cigarette smoking in the U.S. are declining, E-cigarettes (e-cigs) are rapidly expanding. While there is no definitive conclusion yet on the dangers of e-cigs, data indicates that e-cigs can be addictive and dangerous since they contain nicotine. The FDA permits e-cig brands to market their products, but imposed restrictions on messages that promote flavors and claims that e-cigs are healthier than cigarettes. However, these rules can be circumvented within social media platforms like Twitter. The objective of this study was to perform a content analysis of tweets posted by the top selling e-cig brands on Twitter to identify and categorize the most frequently utilized communication strategies. Using the hierarchy of effects framework, over 500 tweets were analyzed, which resulted in behavioral messaging as the most often used messaging strategy, followed by affective and cognitive. Findings indicate that brands are creating messages in Twitter to engage with followers, offer discounts, and advertise flavors. However, tweets about the positive health effects of using e-cigs were minimal. Implications of unregulated messages within social media include attracting young adults to become part of the e-cig community, which can lead to trial and frequent usage.

Exploring differences in crisis literacy and efficacy on behavioral responses during infectious disease outbreaks • Lucinda Austin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Brooke Liu, University of Maryland; Seoyeon Kim; Yan Jin • This study examined the effects of efficacy and literacy on individuals’ information seeking and protective action taking during infectious disease outbreaks through a nationally representative survey of 1,164 U.S. adults. New measures of crisis efficacy and disaster literacy were tested. Results revealed that crisis efficacy, organizational efficacy, and disaster literacy drove information seeking and protective action taking, while health literacy did not. Interestingly, disaster literacy negatively predicted both information seeking and protective actions.

Shall we? Let’s Move! • Aqsa Bashir, University of Florida • Beyond her status as the wife of the first African American U.S. president, former First Lady Michelle Obama is famous for her commitment to health and fitness. In 2010, she launched the Let’s Move! Campaign, aimed at combating childhood obesity in order to achieve a healthier future for America. Little research has examined the media coverage this campaign received. Hence this paper describes a framing analysis of media coverage by two popular news sources, one conservative—FOX News, and one liberal—CNN. The analysis revealed three distinct frames: healthy future for American children, policy change, and exercise is trendy. Furthermore, the campaign received more positive coverage from the liberal news source as compared to more neutral coverage by the conservative news source.

Strategic Communication as Planned Behavior: What Shapes Scientists’ Willingness to Choose Specific Tactics • John Besley, Michigan State University; Kathryn O’Hara, Carleton University; Anthony Dudo, University of Texas, Austin • Truly strategic science communicators make careful choices about the goals and communication objectives they seek to achieve. They then select the tactics that have the most likelihood of allowing them to achieve their communication objectives ethically and efficiently. However, little previous research has sought to develop and test theory aimed at understanding these choices. The current study therefore aims to contribute to the development of a theory of strategic science communication as planned behavior based on the Integrated Behavioral Model. It does so in the context of exploring Canadian scientists’ reported willingness to choose six different tactics as a function of attitudes, normative beliefs and efficacy beliefs. The results suggest that beliefs about both response-efficacy and self-efficacy, and perceptions of ethicality and norms, are important predictors of willingness when considering a tactic. Differences between scientists in terms of demographics and related variables provide only limited benefit in predicting such willingness.

Bringing People Closer: The Pro-Social Effects of Immersive Media on Users’ Attitudes and Behavior • Priska Breves, University of Wuerzburg • This experimental study (N = 85) examined how varying the degree of immersiveness of a short documentary about a remote health issue influenced users’ reported spatial presence, feelings of empathy, perceived issue importance, and behavior. Participants watched the documentary using either a high-quality VR headset (HTC Vive), a low-quality cardboard VR headset or a regular computer screen. Technology’s immersiveness affected the dependent variables as predicted, increasing spatial presence and resultant attitudes and behavior.

Vulnerable live patients, powerful dead patients: a textual analysis of doctor-patient relationships in popular Chinese medical dramas • Li Chen, WTAMU • Using Framing Theory as a theoretical framework, this study examined depictions of patients and doctor-patient communication in Chinese medical dramas. Two major findings were revealed by the textual analysis. First, medical dramas extended the definition of “patient” to include family members, an outcome of the impact of Confucian ethics. Second, doctor-patient communication was found to be two-fold: conversations during interventions were typically paternalistic, while conversations about non-medical issues exhibited consumeristic features. Doctors’ unshakable dominance during interventions resulted from patients’ lack of awareness of their rights as independent individuals, while doctors’ vulnerable position in medical disputes resulted from systemic deficits in the current legal system. Both trends challenged the typical doctor-patient relationships described by previous literature. The study showed that media dramas defined and presented inherent problems in doctor-patient communication, identified and pointed out (either directly or indirectly) the causes of most of these problems, and made moral judgements about these issues using vivid individual stories, but they did not attempt to offer solutions to the problems. Theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed.

The Effects of Format and Language on Information Retention of Climate Change News Narratives in Digital Presentations • Christina Childs DeWalt, Florida Atlantic University • Reporting on climate change has been a special challenge for journalists, but new approaches to storytelling may help curb some of the inherent confounds found in environmental discourse. Through experimental analysis, this study examines how anthropomorphic language (assigning human characteristics to non-human agents) and non-linear digital news story formatting can impact online media consumers retention of information presented in climate change news narratives.

Campus sustainability: An integrated model of college students’ recycling behavior on campus • Moonhee Cho, University of Tennessee • Proposing an integrated model based on multiple theoretical approaches, the study examined factors influencing college students’ campus recycling intention and actual recycling behavior. An online survey results with a total of 475 responses found that self-determined motivation, attitude toward recycling, perceived behavioral control, and negative anticipated emotion had direct effects on campus recycling intention while recycling intention, self-determined motivation, and household recycling influenced actual campus recycling. Both theoretical and practical implications are also provided.

Social Media and Concerns about Global Climate Change: News Use and Political Ideology in 20 Countries • Trevor Diehl, University of Vienna; Brigitte Huber; Homero Gil de Zúñiga, University of Vienna; James H. Liu, Massey University • This study tests the relationships between political ideology and social media for news in forming public concerns about global climate change in 20 countries. Little is known about how dependency on social media shapes attitudes toward climate change, especially in non-Western contexts. Theories of risk perception are examined using multi-level comparative analysis with survey data (N=21,218). This study contributes to conversations about the ability of media technologies to create informed public opinion on science issues.

Health Behavior Intention: A Concept Explication • Ciera Dockter, University of Missouri • Health behavior intention is considered one of the most effective ways to measure and predict an individual’s behavior, but research in health communication and related fields indicate the concept needs revision. Differing concepts are used interchangeably, and operationalization and measurement of health behavior intention do not take into account the many factors that can influence health behavior intention. This explication addresses these issues by providing a new conceptual definition and operationalization of the concept.

Examining the Effect of Climate Change Images on People’s Estimation of Egocentric Psychological Distance • Ran Duan, Michigan State University; BRUNO TAKAHASHI, Michigan State University; Adam Zwickle • Climate change has been widely perceived as a psychologically distant risk, that is, its uncertain impacts will affect other people, will happen in other places or sometime in the future. In this study, relying on construal level theory, we examined how the level of abstraction and concreteness of climate change imagery affects viewers’ perceived psychological distance of climate change, including spatial, temporal, social, and hypothetical (level of uncertainty) distances. Participants (n=402) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions, one that had abstract images and one with concrete images. Results showed that the abstract and concrete images successfully activated people’s abstract and concrete mindsets respectively, and people who viewed abstract images were more likely than those who viewed concrete images to perceive climate change as a spatially and temporally distant issue.

Understanding the role of gatekeeping in New England journalists’ priorities for reporting on aquaculture • Kevin Duffy; Laura Rickard, University of Maine; Paul Grosswiler, University of Maine • Print news media tend to equate aquaculture with risk – a surprising finding given journalists’ general aversion to risk reporting. By framing aquaculture as “risky”, news producers build an agenda, potentially influencing public opinion. To understand risk culture surrounding aquaculture, research must examine not only newspaper content, but also perceptions of public mediators disseminating such messages. Using Q-method, we examine New England journalists’ (N = 15) perceptions of aquaculture’s news value, suggesting theoretical implications for gatekeeping.

Seatbelts Don’t Save Lives: Discovering and Targeting the Attitudes and Behaviors of Young Arab Male Drivers • Susan Dun, Northwestern University in Qatar; Amal Ali • Our two-part, mixed methods study, first investigated the driving beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of young Arab men then created and evaluated a message targeting their seatbelt beliefs and attitudes. There was change in the desired direction. The results provide information necessary for communication campaigns to specifically tailor persuasive messages for this high-risk yet understudied group of young Arab men in a bid to save lives and decrease the injuries that result from traffic accidents.

Reaching an At-Risk Population: Visual Health Communication Campaigns for Migrant Workers • Susan Dun, Northwestern University in Qatar; Amal Ali; Bothayna Al-Mohammadi, Northwestern University; Sana Hussain; Muhammad Muneeb Ur Rehman; Muhammad Humam, Northwestern University in Qatar • The needs of a rapidly globalizing world have created a demand for construction and maintenance labor, much of which has been done by migrant workers from developing countries resulting in approximately 258 million migrant workers operating around the globe. Such laborers are often a vulnerable population because of low literacy levels and unsafe work conditions. Developing effective health message campaigns to assist migrant workers to understand how to navigate health systems and receive care is necessary to improve their quality of life. The purpose of our project is to test the effectiveness of primarily visual communication messages targeted at educating and motivating migrant workers to utilize available health resources. Following standard health communication campaign procedures, our project has three stages: Phase 1 formative research where we interviewed migrant workers to assess their health conditions, health facility utilization and preference of channel and media, results which we report here. In phase 2 we are currently developing visual communication messages targeting the issues we discovered in the formative research, a process we anticipate completing by mid-April. In phase 3 we will conduct the evaluation research, testing message comprehension and persuasiveness in May 2018. We are partnering with a labor supply company who will use the revised messages to communicate with their employees, resulting in, hopefully, an actual increase in the quality of life of the workers. As expected, we discovered a lack of understanding of and difficulties in navigating the health care system; problems which our visual communication messages should help alleviate.

Latitudes, Attitudes, And Climate Change Agency • Troy Elias, University of Oregon; Mark Blaine, University of Oregon; Deborah Morrison, University of Oregon; Brandon Harris, University of Oregon • This research uses international survey data from 1,211 Brazilians, Costa Ricans, Nigerians, and Americans to examine which media, psychological, and cognitive variables influence the tendencies of Brazilian, Costa Rican, Nigerian, and American consumers to participate in pro-environmental and green purchasing behaviors. Results of the study indicate that America lags behind Costa Rica, Brazil, and Nigeria in pro-environmental attitudes, pro-environmental identity, attitudes toward green purchasing, and pro-environmental behaviors.

Engagement in Cancer Screening: Theoretical Exploration Using A Meta-Analytical Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Guangchao Feng, Shenzhen University; Zhiliang Lin, Jinan University; Wanhua Ou, Shenzhen University; Xianglin Su, Shenzhen University • The present study aims to explore the theoretical underpinning of low participation in screening programs through a model-based meta-analysis. It was found that the health belief model is the most adopted theoretical framework. Moreover, the intended uptake of screening was only positively predicted by cues to action, health literacy, and perceived susceptibility, and behavior was negatively predicted by intention.

Examining the Impact of Motivational Salience and Involvement on Visual Attention to Scientific Information • Laura Fischer, University of Kentucky; Courtney Meyers, Texas Tech University; Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University; Courtney Gibson, Texas Tech University; Mathew Baker, Texas Tech University • Literature suggests scientists struggle to make information salient to consumers, and the value-oriented frame may be a way to connect with consumers through increased motivational salience. To evaluate the effects of competing message frames on visual attention, an eye-tracking experiment was conducted to understand participants’ attention to messages about two agricultural science issues. The results indicated the reader devoted more time to reading advertisements that were framed to be more motivationally salient.

In the Crosshairs: The Perils of Environmental Journalism • Eric Freedman, Michigan State University • Journalists covering environmental issues around the globe are at heightened risk of murder, arrest assault, threats, self-exile, lawsuits, and harassment because environmental controversies often involve influential business and economic interests, political power battles, criminal activities, and corruption, plus politically, culturally, and economically sensitive issues concerning indigenous rights to land and natural resources. This study uses in-depth interviews to explore such situations, including the psychological effects on these journalists’ sense of mission and professional practices.

Risk perception, efficacy belief, and safety climate: Use of risk perception attitude framework to examine information seeking for workplace health and safety among flight attendants • Timothy Fung • Using the risk perception attitude framework (RPA), this survey study examined the joint influence of risk perception, efficacy belief, and safety climate on flight attendants’ intent to seek workplace health and safety information. Findings showed that significant differences in information availability and negative attitude toward service protocols and work-related guidelines were observed among the four RPA groups. Safety climate moderated the effect of efficacy belief on the relationship between risk perception and information seeking intent.

The role of counterfactual thinking in narrative persuasion: Its impact on patients’ adherence to treatment regimen • Timothy Fung • The purpose of this study is to explicate the underlying process of how narratives, accompanied with counterfactual thinking, exert cognitive and affective influence on audiences. One hundred thirty-six patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis participated in a 2 (Goal failure) by 2 (Counterfactual thinking) between-subject factorial experiment. The analyses showed that promotion-/prevention-framed failure and additive/subtractive counterfactuals jointly influenced the patients’ anticipated regret and mental simulation, which, in turn, influenced their attitudes and intentions toward treatment adherence.

Journalists, Policy, and the Role of Evidence in the News • Nicole Gesualdo, Rutgers University; Matthew Weber, Rutgers University • Evaluating the presence of research evidence in the news can reveal how journalistic practices affect the ways in which audiences assess information, such as the credibility of policy proposals. This study uses content analysis to analyze the type and quantity of evidence in articles about regulations on food marketing to children, and the language choices made in the articles. Results indicate consistency in language use across time and news organizations, suggesting established norms and routines.

Tweeting in the Midst of Disaster: A Comparative Case Study of Journalists’ Practices Following Four Crises • Amber Hinsley, Saint Louis University; Hyunmin Lee, Drexel University • This comparative case study examines how local journalists used Twitter as a crisis communication tool during four emergency situations in the U.S. The public’s retweeting and liking patterns also identified messages that resonated with them. A content analysis found that while local journalists used objective reporting most frequently across all crises, there were variances in Twitter practices of journalists covering the two man-made crises. The two natural disasters showed more similarities. These findings can help develop best-practices strategies for journalists and benefit emergency management personnel as well.

Time to Work Out! Examining the Behavior Change Techniques and Relevant Theoretical Mechanisms that Predict the Popularity of Fitness Mobile Apps with Chinese-Language User Interfaces • Guanxiong Huang, City University of Hong Kong; Enze Zhou • Eyeing the huge potential mHealth market in China, developers both inside and outside of China have created an increasing number of fitness mobile applications with Chinese-language user interfaces. The present study analyzes the content of those fitness mobile apps (N = 177), with a particular focus on their behavior change techniques and relevant theoretical mechanisms. It finds that three theoretical mechanisms, modeling/observational learning, self-regulation, and social comparison/social support, are prevalent among fitness mobile apps with Chinese-language user interfaces. Moreover, based on the configurations of the behavior change techniques, three distinct clusters are identified: “instructional apps” (N = 75), “self-regulation apps” (N = 58), and “triathlon apps” (N = 44). Among them, “triathlon apps” equipped with technical features reflecting all three theoretical mechanisms are found to be the most popular among users. This suggests the usefulness of health behavior change theories in promoting physical activity via mobile apps in that the inclusion of more theoretical content in the app design enhances the app’s effectiveness. More theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

“To Fly Under Borrowed Colours”: Mediated Communication and Scientific Ethos • Cheryl Jorgensen-Earp, Lynchburg College; Darwin Jorgensen, Roanoke College • Credit for insulin’s discovery played out through mediated communication to separate audiences: to scientific audiences through science journals and anniversary reminiscences and to the public through journalistic accounts. Claims by the four principal researchers clustered around punctuation of the sequence of events, bolstered by three aspects of discovery: primacy of scientific ideas, importance of place, and uses of power. These elements provide prescriptive advice for modern scientists conducting mediated outreach to a skeptical public.

Folk theorizing the quality and credibility of health apps • Shaheen Kanthawala, Michigan State University; Eunsin Joo; Anastasia Kononova; Wei Peng; Shelia Cotten, Michigan State University • Increasing popularity of health apps raises questions regarding how individuals assess their credibility and quality. Through semi-structured interviews and open coding thematic analysis, we found users determined credibility of health apps through cues based on app features, ‘borrowed’ credibility decisions, and equated quality to personal preferences. Non-quality or credibility cues leading to download were also noted. Findings are discussed as folk theories of quality and credibility of health apps using dual-processing models and media literacy.

Smart Device Proficiency and Use, Loneliness, and Ego Integrity: An examination of older adult smartphone users in South Korea • Kisun Kim, Bowling Green State University; Sung-Yeon Park, University of Nevada, Reno; Hyung-Cheol Kang, Sookmyung Women’s University • The relationship between smartphones and older adults’ ego integrity in South Korea was examined. Older adults who used a smartphone were recruited to investigate their smartphone proficiency/use, loneliness, and ego integrity. Smartphone use was directly related to higher ego integrity, but smartphone proficiency was not. Loneliness was negatively related to ego integrity. Path analysis revealed that the relationships between smartphone proficiency and ego integrity and smartphone use and ego integrity was each mediated by loneliness.

Environmental Framing on Twitter: Impact of Trump’s Paris Agreement Withdrawal Announcement on Climate Change and Ocean Acidification Dialogue • Sojung Kim, George Mason University; Sandra Cooke • Despite the popularity of social media, its role in communicating emerging environmental issues has not received much attention. One example is ocean acidification (OA), the process by which carbon dioxide dissolves into and acidifies the world’s oceans. Although scientists consider OA to be as dangerous a problem as climate change (CC), public awareness of OA is low. This study investigated how public discussions about CC and OA occurred on Twitter, with what content frames and by whom. Tweeting patterns before and after President Trump’s announcement of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement were compared. The results showed that for CC tweets, Political/ Ideological Struggle/Activism and Disaster frames were the most prevalent, whereas a fair amount of Promotional or Piggybacking frames were found among OA tweets. Trump’s withdrawal decision sparked substantial debate on CC and facilitated open expressions of extreme and polarized opinions on Twitter.

Hope in the Depths of Despair: Theorizing about Hope in the Fear Appeal Context • Hanyoung Kim; Yen-I Lee, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia; Jeong-Yeob Han, University of Georgia Department of Advertising & Public Relations • Although various theories have postulated that fear as the central emotional construct in their suppositions, fear stems from only the half portion (i.e., threat component) of fear appeal messages. In addition, empirical evidence for the role fear in predicting persuasion outcomes is scarce. Addressing this issue, the current study sought to operationalize a qualitatively different emotion, hope, in the fear appeal context by taking the cognitive appraisal theory and functional theories of emotion as theoretical bases. Results from an experimental study (N = 223) revealed that perceived efficacy and perceived threat, which stem from efficacy and threat components, respectively, positively predicted hope in a multiplicative manner. That is to say, perceived threat positive moderated the impact of perceived efficacy on hope. In addition, hope positively affected the persuasion outcome (i.e., intention to obtain HPV vaccination). Theoretical and empirical implications for health communication are discussed.

Unveiling Psychological Mechanisms of Climate Change and Health Message Processing: A Mediation Approach • Sojung Kim, George Mason University; Di Pei; John Kotcher, George Mason University; Edward Maibach • The present study employed a longitudinal survey experiment with American adults to investigate whether cognitive and emotional responses to messages about climate change-related health risks would mediate the relationships between participants’ individual differences and their injunctive beliefs and behavioral intention of supporting climate change policies. Liberals or people with poorer health were more persuaded by the messages, and in turn reported stronger injunctive beliefs and policy support, compared to conservatives or people with better health.

The Politics of Environmentalism and Resistance to Media Advocacy of Pro-Environmental Civic Engagement in South Korea • Hyunjung Kim • The purpose of the current study is to establish a basis for and propose a strategy to increase individuals’ participation in the environmental movements by reducing resistance to mediated communication advocating environmentalism in South Korea. Drawing on the theory of psychological reactance, we explored a possible explanation for the decrease in individuals’ participation in environmental movements despite media advocacy and increased public awareness of the need for an environmental movement. A web-based experiment was conducted with a 2 by 2 factorial design with media and political orientation as between-subjects factors. The results demonstrate that pro-environmental civic engagement intention after exposure to an online newspaper editorial advocating the environmental movement is greater for the progressives in the progressive media group than for those in the conservative media group. The effect of media congeniality was explained by perceived media credibility and psychological reactance to the message. Implications of the findings are discussed.

The Role of Risk, Efficacy, and Worry in College Students’ Health Insurance Information Seeking: Applying the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) Framework • Hyeseung Koh, University of Texas Austin; Sara Champlin, The University of North Texas; Amanda Mabry-Flynn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • The purpose of this study is to identify what might motivate college students to engage in health insurance information seeking and to more effectively target health insurance communication by segmenting the audience based on differences in motivations. The risk perception attitude (RPA) framework was used as a theoretical foundation to guide the study. The results indicated that risk perceptions and efficacy beliefs influenced college students’ health insurance information seeking, which is mediated by feeling of worry. There findings emphasize that both cognition and emotion play an integral and often tandem role in influencing health information seeking behaviors. Based on our findings what can health communication scholars, health practitioners, message designers, policy makers, and university health staff do to encourage students to seek information or to improve their physical and psychological health.

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Positive and Negative Vaccine Attitude Predictors in Singapore and the United States • Wei Yi Kong; Christopher Cummings; David Berube • Vaccines are some of the most effective disease prevention tools but there are growing concerns over vaccine safety and efficacy. With vaccine attitudes underpinning vaccine uptake, this study investigated the factors predicting vaccine attitudes and how those factors differ across cultures. Results found traditional media to impact on negative vaccine attitudes, and suggest health belief, science and technology belief, and vaccine governance trust to be influential in changing attitudes in Singapore and the United States.

How Perceived Similarity Moderates Sympathy and Pride Appeal Organ Donation Messages • Sining Kong, University of Florida; Yu Hao Lee • This study aims to examine how perceived similarity affects the effect of different emotional appeal organ donation messages. Through two factorial-design experiments (2×2: similarity vs dissimilarity, and sympathy vs pride), we examined how perceived similarity moderates emotional appeals in organ donation messages. Study 1 is an online experiment examining perceived similarity and physical similarity. Study 2 is a lab experiment with incidental similarity and demographic similarity. The results revealed that only perceived similarity has an impact on people’s emotional and behavioral intention. Furthermore, regardless of the emotional appeal message, perceived similarity induced both more sympathy and pride, which indicates a mixed altruistic and egoistic motivation in organ donation intention. These findings offer important theoretical and applied implications for future research.

Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness in Online Health Information Seeking • Seow Ting Lee, University of Colorado Boulder • This study explicates the relationship between intrinsic human motivation needs and extrinsic information gratification needs to understand why people go online for health information. Applying Self Determination Theory, the study adopts a relational approach to examine online health information seeking behaviors within the framework of patient-physician relations, consistent with a significant body of work that has implicitly or explicitly juxtaposed online health information seeking and the face-to-face doctor’s office visit experience. Based on a survey of 993 online health information seekers in India, our findings suggest that the three basic human motivation constructs of Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness differentially predict online health information seeking behaviors. Support for Autonomy in the online environment emerged as the most salient predictor of online health information seeking behaviors, but support for Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness in the office visit experience could not explain why people engage in online for health information seeking.

Revisiting the Effects of Threat Appraisal and Self-efficacy on Protection Motivation from a Terror Management Theory Perspective • Jiyoung Lee, Syracuse University; Yungwook Kim, Ewha Womans University • Although a wealth of studies has tested fear appeals, little has noted why fear appeals sometimes fail to result in health-promoting behaviors. By applying terror management theory (TMT), this study retested how severity, susceptibility, and self-efficacy affect fear control and danger control responses in the context of fear appeals on terrorism. Four hundred participants were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: mortality salience (200) and control (200). Results from multi-group analyses show the significant relationships between susceptibility-danger control, severity-danger control, and susceptibility-danger control in all groups. Importantly, self-efficacy was a contributor for leading fear control responses especially to death-primed individuals whose susceptibility is high. Danger control responses were shown to participants who had both high levels of severity and self-efficacy but only confined to those who are not death-primed. By investigating health-related influencers and behavioral outcomes from a TMT perspective, this study can expand the current fear appeals literature.

Breaking the silence: Extending theory to address the underutilization of mental health services among Chinese immigrants in the United States • Jo-Yun Queenie Li, University of South Carolina • Using a nation wide survey of 445 Chinese immigrants in November 2017, this study investigates the effects of cognitive barriers (i.e., acculturation levels) and affective obstacles (i.e., mental illness stigma) on Chinese immigrants’ perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral responses toward mental health services, by combing situational theory of problem solving and the theory of planned behavior. Findings provide empirical support for the combined model, showing that all the cognitive and affective factors can predict Chinese immigrants’ communicative action and behaviors regarding mental health services utilization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Now or future? Motivating Chinese women to get the HPV vaccines for their children • Sixiao Liu; Janet Yang; Haoran Chu • This study examines the impacts of gain vs. loss-framed messages and narrative messages on Chinese women’s intentions to get the HPV vaccines for their children. No main effect was found for message types, but loss-framed message slightly increased vaccination intention. Time orientation moderates the relationship between message framing and vaccination intention. Narrative message works better among present-minded individuals, whereas gain-framed message was more persuasive for future-minded individuals.

Framing Obesity: Effects of Obesity Labeling and Prevalence Statistics on Public Perceptions • Jiawei Liu; ByungGu Lee; Douglas McLeod; Hyesun Choung • This study investigates the effects of obesity labeling (disease vs. body type) and prevalence statistics (prevalence rates of obesity, extreme obesity, or overweight-obesity combined). Our findings suggest that adults’ obesity perceptions deviate from reality and that they use framed cues as reference points when making estimates/judgments; audience perceptions of the nature and prevalence of obesity were significantly affected. In addition, perceiving obesity as a disease and as more widespread can produce positive real-world outcomes.

Spotlight on Suicide: A Content Analysis of Online News Coverage of Celebrity Suicide Death, 2012-2017 • Susan LoRusso, University of Minnesota, Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication • Using the Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide, 311 media reports of 43 celebrity suicide deaths from 2012-2017 were analyzed. Good-reporting practices were largely absent in the census, and an average of three poor-reporting practices per media report were present. Additionally, a comparative analysis was conducted assessing adherence before and after the Associated Press included guidelines for reporting on suicide in the 2015 Stylebook. Differences in media outcomes between celebrities’ level of fame were also explored.

Processing Victim Portrayals: How Multiple Emotions and Victim Perceptions Influence Collective Action for Environmental Justice • Hang Lu, Cornell University • Social conflict situations, such as environmental injustice, racial discrimination and gun violence, have been drawing increasing public attention. To help resolve these conflicts, collective action from the general public is needed. Through two experiments, the current research examined one possible way to get the public involved with collective action, that is, via the portrayals of victims and the emotions and perceptions the portrayals convey. The first experiment (N=954) adopted a 2 (compassion: high vs. low) x 2 (moral outrage: high vs. low) between-subjects factorial design. The second experiment (N=990) utilized perspective taking instructions (empathic vs. objective) for manipulation. Together, the findings from the two experiments show that emotions, such as compassion, moral outrage, and distress, and cognitive factors, such as perceived victim’s suffering and identification with the victim, mediated the effects of victim portrayals on collective action intentions. These findings contribute to the literature by connecting victim portrayals with collective action, expanding the array of emotions in predicting collective action, and furthering the investigation of collective action in third-party contexts.

Green Dress Reactance: Examining the Identity Threat and Resistance to Persuasion • Yanni MA • Environment communicators often face challenges in campaigning for pro-environment strategies, in which messages cannot successfully promote sustainable behaviors such as recycling. Research has shown that resistance to persuasion by means of showing psychological reactance could be the reason the persuasive messages fail to work. However, what elicits the defensive mechanism to persuasion has not been fully studied. An experiment conducted to examine the underlying role of environmental identity in understanding identity threat after reading anti-/pro-recycling messages. Additionally, this article examines the role of perceived identity threat in relation with three major components of resistance (i.e, psychological reactance, counteraruging and negative emotion). Results find an anti-recycling message increases identity threat among high environment identifiers, which leads to high resistance. Moderated mediation analyses suggest that identity threat depends on people’s environment identity, and may also be an antecedent of reactance, counterarguing and negative emotion.

Perceived Barriers and Facilitators in Primary Care of Diagnosing Mental Illness in the Geriatric Population: A Systematic Review • Nia MASON, Louisiana State University; Stephanie Whitenack, Louisiana State University; Diane Francis, Louisiana State University • The aim of this systematic review is to determine the barriers and facilitators in primary care of diagnosing depression and anxiety in geriatric patients. The 15 studies offered five themes. Three were exclusive to barriers: education, stigma, and the negative attitudes of medical professionals. No themes were specific to facilitators. Two themes, communication and time, were considered barriers and facilitators. Findings show that doctors recognize barriers but suggest offering continued education to better understand effective ways of communicating with this population.

We drink so we are: Effects of perceived similarity with a drinker on observational learning • Mira Mayrhofer; Jörg Matthes, U of Vienna • Based on social cognitive theory, we conducted two experiments manipulating the presentation of a model’s alcohol-related behavior (rare drinker, experienced drinker, alcoholic) and the occurrence of alcohol consequences. Results suggest that model-observer similarity mediates effects of alcohol portrayals on expectancies, however, only for self-referencing participants. A direct path from consequence portrayal to expectancies and attitudes was also found. Participant’s alcohol-related behavior moderated effects, underlining the need of targeting mediated health-education efforts based on it.

Third-person Effects of Conflicting Information about Childhood Vaccinations.: Role of Health Locus of Control and Issue Importance in Predicting Individuals’ Support for Immunization Requirements • Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina; Joon Kyoung Kim, University of South Carolina; Jo-Yun Queenie Li, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • Researchers have well-documented individuals’ perceived gap in media influence between oneself and others, called third-person perceptions (TPPs). Building on this robust body of research, this study investigates how parents perceive impact of inconsistent conclusions about childhood vaccinations and its impact on support for immunization requirements. Individuals’ importance of childhood vaccinations was positively associated with TPPs and support for immunization requirements. Health locus of control was not associated with TPPs, but negatively associated with supporting required immunizations.

Creating Patient Self-Advocacy Workshops for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Individuals: Process Description, Pilot Results, and Suggestions to Establish Evidence-Based • Richard Mocarski, University of Nebraska at Kearney; William (Sim) Butler, University of Alabama; Nathan Woodruff, Trans Collaborations; Robyn King, University of Nebraska at Kearney; Debra Hope, University of Nebraska Lincoln; Natalie Holt, UNL; Larisa Spencer; Brittany Hanzlik; Joshua Eyer, University of Alabama • Individuals who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming (TGNC) can face many barriers to health care ranging from lack of appropriately trained providers to overt discrimination and refusal of care. Many of these challenges are exacerbated in rural areas where health care can be sparse for everyone. Although more providers who are educated to provide TGNC-affirmative services is the ideal solution, in the short term TGNC individuals would benefit from being better able to self-advocate for appropriate care. This paper describes the pilot testing of a narrative-based self-advocacy training workshop developed in a community based participatory research partnership. The workshop was well-received in a small pilot test with six members of the TGNC communities. Specific strategies included in the workshop and details on measuring outcomes are described in the paper. The workshop protocol fits well in the context of narrative medicine and represents an application of forensics to help reduce health disparities for TGNC people that also can serve as a model for other evidence-based workshops.

Exploring the Antecedents of Online Information Seeking and Sharing in a Public Health Crisis • Bitt Beach Moon, Indiana University; Chang Won Choi, Innocean Worldwide; Sung-Un Yang, Indiana University • The purpose of this study is to explore the antecedents of information seeking and sharing during a public health crisis. Focusing on the 2016 Zika-virus outbreak in South Korea, the study conducted the online survey of 788 Korean participants to test the research hypotheses. The results showed publics’ online seeking and sharing behavior were influenced by cognitive, affective, and media trust factors. Theoretical and strategic implications were further discussed in the conclusion.

Name frame and celebrity endorsement effects of autonomous vehicle technology communications: Mechanisms and moderators • Jessica Myrick, Penn State University; Lee Ahern, Penn State; Ruosi Shao, Penn State University; Jeff Conlin • Autonomous or driverless vehicles (or cars) represent an emerging technology that has the potential to radically transform the everyday lives of people around the world. Despite the world-changing predictions hovering around the technology, there has been little research into how this automotive technology is being communicated, or theorizing about the most effective ways to increase public acceptance of it. As such, the purpose of the present investigation is to empirically test the effects of using different name frames (i.e., autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars, or driverless cars) and using celebrity endorsers on audience responses to promotional messages about autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, we want to examine how these promotional messages are interpreted in light of individual differences in audience members, such as a tendency to enjoy novel consumer products or to trust machines over humans. Finally, we seek to assess how attention to news coverage of autonomous vehicles may also influence audience responses to promotional messages about autonomous vehicles. A nationwide experiment (N=721) found strong evidence that attention to media, emotional responses (excitement, anxiety, curiosity), subjective knowledge, and some message factors impacted risk perceptions and behavioral intentions. Implications for theory and message design are discussed.

The Effects of Media-Induced Nostalgia After a Celebrity Death on Social Sharing and Prosocial Behavior • Jessica Myrick, Penn State University; Jessica Willoughby, Washington State University • When a well-known celebrity dies, mass media outlets cover the event and people talk about it. When the celebrity was also a famous media figure who lived a long life, chances are high that much of that media coverage and conversation relate to memories of the past. As such, this situation is ripe to evoke nostalgia, a mixed affective state that has previously not received much attention as a potential response to media about a celebrity’s death. Two studies, a survey immediately after Mary Tyler Moore’s death and a later experiment, investigated the role of nostalgia in shaping social sharing intentions as well as intentions to help the diabetes community through prosocial actions. The results revealed that nostalgia is an important drive of media effects in this context and it can be used in strategic messages to promote prosocial health-related actions after a celebrity death.

Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone: Emotional Support and Health Outcomes of Low-Income Adults • Kang Namkoong, University of Maryland; Samantha Stanley; Jiyoun Kim • This study examines the effects of perceived emotional support networks on health outcomes of low-income populations. Secondary data was collected from the Health Information National Trends Survey (Cycle 4). Results reveal that lacking an emotional support network has greater detrimental effects on the physical health and psychological well-being of low-income persons compared to comparable higher income persons. These findings suggest the need for health programs that that enhance access to emotional support for underserved populations.

The Effects of Social Norms and Role Model Messages on College Women’s Intentions to Refuse Unwanted Alcohol • Nicole O’Donnell, Virginia Commonwealth University • This study analyzes the effects of exposure to electronic health messages on the likelihood of sorority women to refuse unwanted alcohol. One place to reach sorority women with targeted health messages is on social networking sites, and there is a need for research that explores the best theory-based message strategies for these platforms. A total of 822 sorority women participated in a randomized controlled trial pretest-posttest experiment with four conditions. Individuals viewed role model messages, norm corrective messages, a combination of these approaches, or a control condition with no health information. Individuals in the three treatment conditions had higher post-exposure intentions to refuse alcohol compared to individuals in the control condition. In addition, individuals in the norm corrective and combined conditions had higher post-exposure normative perceptions than individuals in the role model and control conditions. No between-group differences were observed for post-exposure self-efficacy. Regarding media effects, individuals in the norm corrective condition rated the messages as having a greater information quality than individuals in other conditions and participants perceived that norm corrective messages would have the greatest influence on their peers. Implications for health behavior theory and media effects research are discussed.

Adopting an affirmative consent definition in sexual assault prevention programming on college campuses • Rebecca Ortiz, Syracuse University • Sexual violence is a major concern on college campuses. Colleges and universities are encouraged to take a more comprehensive and active prevention approach to addressing sexual violence on college campuses. As a result, some colleges and universities have adopted and educate their students using an “affirmative consent” standard, such that for a sexual encounter to be considered consensual, it must include explicit, voluntary, and conscious agreement to engage in sexual activity by all parties involved. Whether adoption of an affirmative consent standard by college students actually leads to a greater likelihood to engage in affirmative sexual consent communication is, however, still largely unknown. The current study thus sought to examine the extent to which accurate knowledge and understanding of affirmative sexual consent could explain the likelihood that college students would intend to engage in affirmative sexual consent communication, alongside other influential predictors, as proposed by the Integrated Behavioral Model. Results indicated that while college students who were more likely to define sexual consent based upon an affirmative consent stand were also more likely to intend to engage in affirmative sexual consent communication in the future, it was ultimately the ability to apply that knowledge to a variety of situations that predicted behavioral intentions. Colleges and universities must therefore not only inform their students about the definition of affirmative sexual consent, they must also provide them with situational knowledge about how to engage in affirmative sexual consent communication.

From Sensation to Stigma: Changing Standards for Suicide Coverage in Journalism Textbooks, 1894-2016 • Perry Parks, Michigan State University • This paper is a historical and interpretive analysis of journalism textbooks published from 1894 to 2016 to show how instruction on suicide coverage shifted dramatically with professional practice and social attitudes over the 20th century. Suicide was a popular genre of sensational human interest story featured in early journalism textbooks, but contemporary texts barely acknowledge suicide, portraying it as a generally private matter requiring characteristics of prominence, impact or unusualness to make news.

Shifting Perceptions of Global Warming in 2011 and 2017 • Shaelyn Patzer; Selena Nelson, George Mason University; Marc Trotochaud • Research has shown that, despite the difficulties of distinguishing the influence of climate change from natural fluctuations in the weather, some individuals believe that they have personal experienced the effects of global warming. Correspondingly, evidence has indicated that specific experiences recounted by individuals are often reflections of actual trends in regional and local weather. Many of the papers exploring personal experience have focused on establishing the credibility of this link, with less attention placed on examining how perceptions have changed over time. Through a series of four studies, this paper employs nationally representative, qualitative survey data from 2011 and 2017 to explore the ways that individuals believe they have been impacted by climate change. Our study found that, while there is considerable influence of recent weather events in the content of responses, there is evidence to believe that awareness of long-term climate trends has increased.

A Communication Inequalities Approach to Disparities in Physical Activities: The Case of the VERB Campaign • Macarena Pena-y-Lillo, Universidad Diego Portales; Chul-joo Lee, Seoul National University • This study focuses on the VERB campaign and explores disparities in physical activity between children of more and less advantaged groups. Using a three-wave longitudinal survey dataset, this study found that the effects of exposure to the VERB campaign on behaviors were mediated by perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intentions. However, only children from advantaged backgrounds were able to turn their intentions into physical activity practice.

The crucial role of friends in health communication • Klaus Schoenbach; Marium Saeed • In this study, we investigate the role of friends as an important factor for the health behavior of teenagers primarily in two ways: as a source of health information, but also as encouraging health-related actions. For this purpose, we use data from a large-scale and representative survey of 13-20 year-old nationals in Qatar, an Arab country with severe health problems among its adolescent population. Our results show that, first, Qatari teenagers think that their friends care about health issues very similar to their own. But friends are also an important source of health information; they are consulted often, their information is trusted, and they provide health information that encourages their peers to attempt to change their own health behavior. Finally, peer orientation – i.e., perceptions of how much their friends care about health issues – is more relevant in steering adolescents’ health information seeking than their own personal concerns about health.

Why aren’t we talking about weight? Information underrepresented women receive about weight management during pregnancy • Summer Shelton, University of Florida; Matthew R. Cretul, College of Journalism & Communications, University of Florida; Amanda Kastrinos; Debbie Treise, University of Florida; Amanda Bradshaw, University of Florida; Easton Wollney, University of Florida; Alexis Bajalia; Kendra Auguste • Excessive gestational weight gain is associated with a number of adverse health outcomes for mother and baby. This research assessed the patient-provider conversation about nutrition, exercise, and weight management from the perspective of the prenatal patient. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18, low-income, underrepresented women, living in the rural South. Findings revealed the majority of women’s providers had never discussed their gestational weight gain, even when particularly excessive. Recommendations for improving this conversation are provided.

Parachuting into a hurricane: Twitter interactions between government entities and the public during Hurricane Irma • Jeremy Shermak, University of Texas at Austin • Twitter has become a communications mainstay during natural disasters. During 2017’s Hurricane Irma, Twitter was ablaze with information from citizens, media, and government agencies racing to provide urgent – perhaps lifesaving – information. However, Twitter, even in a crisis situation, is not immune to incivility and detrimental activity that often afflicts social media. This study analyzed Twitter communications between government entities and citizens throughout the storm to examine ways these messages often became uncivil.

Facebook use, emotions, and pro-environmental behaviors: The mediating role of hope and worry • Tsung-Jen Shih, National Chenghi University; Wen-wei Chen, National Chenghi University • This study examined the impact of Facebook use and how hope and worry mediated the effects of Facebook use on people’s pro-environmental behavior. This study also investigated how the mediation effects of emotions may condition one feature of the social networking sites, the social norms. Drawing upon survey data from college students in Taiwan (N = 778), the results indicated that hope negatively mediated the effect of Facebook use. Additional analysis showed that, after taking risk perception into account, the negative effect of hope on pro-environmental behavior disappeared. Worry also served as a significant mediator and this mediation effect was moderated by social norms. Specifically, the indirect relationship became stronger when people’s perceived social norm on Facebook was lower. Implications of the findings will be discussed.

Perceived scientific agreement as a gateway belief leading to pro-environmental behaviors: The role of balanced reporting and conflicting comments on Facebook • Tsung-Jen Shih, National Chenghi University • In the issue of climate change, there exists a gap between scientific consensus and public perception of scientific agreement. Whereas the occurrence of climate change and its association with human activities are generally accepted within the scientific community, the general public is found to have a misunderstanding about the level of consensus. To the extent that perceived scientific consensus is linked to public attitudes, this study examined its origination and consequences in an experimental context. Drawing upon a two factorial, between-subject experimental design, this study found that participants exposed to one-sided stories, either supporting or opposing climate change, perceived more scientific certainty than those exposed to the balanced story. Furthermore, the effect of the texts on attitudinal certainty was moderated by the type of comments left by the users. Finally, perceived agreement and attitudinal certainty were found to mediate the effect of texts on pro-environmental behaviors. Implications of these findings will be discussed.

Attribution and attributional processes of organizations’ environmental messages • Sumin Shin, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Eyun-Jung Ki, The University of Alabama • This experimental study, guided by attribution theory, investigated the impact of the substantiation and specificity of organizations’ environmental messages on perceived communication motivation and how this perception prompts audiences’ affective and cognitive responses. Findings showed that specific messages increased perceived intrinsic motivation, while vague messages increased perceived extrinsic motivation; in turn, the perceived intrinsic motive positively influenced audiences’ message attitude, organization attitude, message credibility, organization credibility, and organization’s green image, but the perceived extrinsic motive negatively influenced these aspects.

“You Can’t Drink Oil”: How the Water is Life Movement Employed Risk Communication Techniques to Garner Popular Support for Their Cause • Sarah Smith-Frigerio, University of Missouri • During the Mni Wiconi (Water is Life) movement, Facebook Live videos and curated Facebook videos became popular among groups within the larger assemblage of water protectors protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Videos used fear appeals, calls to action, and frames of mitigating loss to persuade popular opinion to support the cause. Case study analysis of the 25 most-viewed videos from four different Facebook pages found themes involving the battle between peaceful, prayerful water protectors and violent law enforcement officers. Additionally, the potential loss of life and violation of treaty rights were found in fear appeals. Calls to action included funding legal defense, petitioning political figures and governmental agencies, and most importantly, coming to Standing Rock to bear witness and to stand with water protectors. There was also narratives about women, children, and elders of many tribes, united together, on the front line to prevent the loss of our planet and lives.

Changing the Image of STEM: Challenging Adolescents’ STEM Stereotypes Using Diverse Media Role Models • Jocelyn Steinke, Western Michigan University; Brooks Applegate; Jay R. Penny; Sean Merlino • This study investigated the effects of viewing online videos featuring diverse STEM role models. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to assess the efficacy of the videos in challenging stereotypes and promoting identification. Findings indicated that adolescents favored female and Black/African American followed by White and Hispanic STEM role models. Additionally, adolescents reported a preference for STEM role models who challenged gender and racial/ethnic STEM stereotypes, pursued interesting hobbies, and worked in interesting STEM fields.

The Impact of Source Credibility and Risk Attitude on Individuals’ Risk Perception toward GM Foods: Comparing Young Millennials in the U.S. and China • Ruoyu Sun; Juan Meng, University of Georgia • This research investigates the effects of source credibility and risk attitude on young millennials’ risk and benefit perceptions and purchase intentions toward GM foods. Results from two samples (young millennials in the U.S. and China) confirmed individuals’ risk attitude significantly influences their purchase intentions toward GM foods. Results also revealed a significant interaction effect of source credibility and risk attitude on risk perception of GM foods among Chinese respondents. Practical and research implications are discussed.

A systematic review of research on news media coverage of the environment • BRUNO TAKAHASHI, Michigan State University; Anthony Van Witsen; Apoorva Joshi; Ran Duan, Michigan State University; Wenzhu Li • In this study, we examine the English language literature on news media coverage of environmental issues from 1975 to 2016 to describe the state of the field. The study uses the systematic review methodology to explore the geographic diversity of the studies, the environmental topics and media that have been analyzed, and the methodological and theoretical approaches that the studies followed. Particularly, these findings call attention to the disproportionality in the analysis of climate change, the focus from and on the U.S. and Europe, and the focus on newspapers over other forms of media. Given the expansion of environmental communication research in this decade itself, our study highlights the scope for scholars to examine, for example, issues such as sustainability or environmental justice, and assess media coverage from developing countries and growing economies where the news media present a largely different picture of environmental issues than they do in the developed world. We critically reflect on these trends to provide recommendations for future research.

Resisting Stigma and Evaluating Realism in Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for Psychiatric Drugs. • Tara Walker, University of Colorado Boulder • Classic labeling theory suggests that people diagnosed with mental illness internalize this label, but research has shown that individuals will sometimes actively resist stigma. This study analyzes responses to a survey about a DTC advertisement to look at how experience with mental illness influences perceptions of stigma and realism. The study concludes that perceiving stigma is a form of resistance, and people experienced with mental illness tend to see the ad as more stigmatizing and less realistic.

Does Truvada ‘Prevent’ HIV? Examining How News Can Alter FDA-Regulated Messages • Ryan Wallace, University of Texas, Austin • Examining how the HIV-1 Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drug Truvada is represented in news media, this long-term study utilized mixed methods (content and textual analyses) to accurately identify how journalistic choices could impact the way in which this drug is portrayed—spreading misinformation about effectiveness and influencing audience’s perceptions. This study also identified how media routines, like finding sources and citing approved “indications for use,” may have serious public health implications by systematically altering FDA-regulated messages.

Applying the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model to Examine Public Engagement with Genetically Modified Foods in China • Nainan Wen • The Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) has received consistent support in health and environmental contexts. However, it still remains a question whether it applies to other contexts, such as scientific controversies for which risks are perceived to have great impact on human beings’ collective wellbeing in the long run. Therefore, this study extended to test the PRISM in the context of genetically modified foods in China. Based on a stratified quota sample of 1,370 citizens collected in Jiangsu Province, this study found that the PRISM variables predicted GMO information seeking and subsequent behavior of engaging in GMO related activities through direct or indirect paths. However, information insufficiency had less significant impact compared with the other PRISM variables. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Counter Self-Objectification Induced Appearance Anxiety: Testing Persuasion Resistance Strategies on Objectifying Social Media Content • XIZHU XIAO • Despite the opportunities for health information seeking and health behavior modeling social media provides, it induces various negative effects such as self-objectification and body image concerns among young adults. Using a between-subject experiment, this study tests the effects of persuasion resistance strategies (persuasive intent warning vs. persuasive intent priming) on countering appearance anxiety caused by objectifying social media images. Results suggest that intent warning significantly reduces appearance anxiety compared to the control condition. However, intent priming worsens the adverse impacts of objectifying social media content. As opposed to previous research that argues intent priming is effortless, this study shows that intent priming is as demanding of cognition as intent warning in an objectifying social media environment. Implications and future directions are further discussed.

User Engagement in Public Discourse of Genetically Modified Organisms: The Role of Opinion Leaders on Social Media • Qian Xu, Elon University; Nan Yu, University of Central Florida; Yunya Song • This study examines how source attributes of opinion leaders and message frames adopted by them influence user engagement in the public discourse of genetically modified organism (GMO) on Chinese social media. Account type and account verification emerged as significant predictors for engagement in the GMO discourse. Users were more likely to engage in GMO opinion leaders’ posts when they adopted the fact, opportunity, pro-GMO, or international frames in their posts. The findings also revealed that different source attributes and message frames varied in their abilities to influence three dimensions of user engagement – numbers of reposts, comments, and likes, respectively.

How does Media Promote Pro-environmental Behaviors as Collective Action: An Examination of Illusion of Knowledge • Xiaodong Yang, Shandong University; Xiaoming Hao, Nanyang Technological University; Shirley Ho, Nanyang Technological University • This study revisits the mechanism underlying media effects in promoting pro-environmental behaviors via affecting individuals’ knowledge by including illusion of knowledge as an important factor that shapes attitude and behavioral change in addition to actual knowledge. Regarding illusion of knowledge, both illusion in self-evaluation of knowledge and illusion in perceived knowledge differential between self and others are taken into accounts. The results showed that individuals’ attention to media messages about climate change affected both actual knowledge and illusion of knowledge, which promoted their positive attitude toward pro-environmental behaviors, and in turn motivate pro-environmental behavioral intention. In particular, the more positive illusion people had in self-evaluation of knowledge and in perceived knowledge differential between self and others, the more positive attitude they would develop. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Engagement in Science: Exploring the View and Engagement Practice of Scientists from Different Organizations • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; John Besley, Michigan State University; Anthony Dudo, University of Texas, Austin • The current study investigated how scientists from different types of organizations (university, NGO, industry and government) view and practice public engagement. This project surveyed scientist members from seven scientific societies. The results suggest that scientists in different organizations shared some views regarding the factors that influence engagement activities and communication objectives, differences were also observed. Scientists from the industry consider themselves less involved in public engagement and have slightly less willingness to practice in the future, and scientists from NGO are more engaged and perceive more positive normative belief than others. The findings addressed the gaps in science communication research that overlooked engagement contributors outside of academia, and suggest area of potential emphasis for public engagement support from organizations.

Scientific Societies’ Support for Public Engagement: An Interview Study • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; Anthony Dudo, University of Texas, Austin • Scientific societies play an important role in scientists’ career development and have a great impact on the advancement of science. The current study explores scientific societies’ view of and support for public engagement. Interviews with 21 key actors of societies based in the U.S. suggest that societies recognize the value of public engagement and outreach, and the emphasis has been increasing over time. Depending on the size and the discipline of the society, various types of engagement activities and support are offered. We also explored the potential challenges and opportunities for societies to support science public engagement. The current project aimed at providing societies an overview of this issue and identifying ways societies can better allocate resources to support public engagement.

Exploring Public Perception of Depression: The Interplay between Attribution of Cause and Narrative Persuasion • Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • Improving awareness and mitigating stigma related to depression have been a concern to both health communicators and practitioners. This study conducted a 2 (narrative vs. non- narrative) by 2 (high controllability vs. low controllability) experiment (N=242) to test the interaction effects of narrative persuasion and cause controllability of depression. The results show that narrative messages attributing depression to an uncontrollable cause increase identification, feeling of pity, and intention to help. However, the study finds that the positive effects of narrative messages are conditional, and they may be less effective than non-narrative messages when the cause of depression is controllable. Also, the findings suggest identification as the underlying mechanism of such interaction effects on emotional and behavioral responses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed further.

2018 ABSTRACTS

Teaching
Expectations v. reality: Comparing perceptions of the advertising industry between students and professionals • Sara Champlin, The University of North Texas; Sheri Broyles, Dr. • Perceptions of the industry matter to newly minted advertising graduates and to the professionals who recruit new talent. However, it’s unclear how these two perspectives overlap. The present study assessed student and professional perceptions simultaneously to determine opportunities for teaching that will bridge discrepancies. Professionals and students see eye-to-eye in many areas, but specific skills, salaries for account executives and media buyers, and overall performance/supervision differed between the two groups. Teaching suggestions are discussed.

Dimensions of News Media Literacy among U.S. Advertising Students • Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University; alice kendrick • A national survey of advertising students addresses AEJMC’s 2017 recommitment to teaching news media literacy. On scales of knowledge and attitudes, advertising students rated themselves overall as above average on self-reported estimates of Media Literacy. Students exhibited higher degrees of understanding of and interest in the “Messages and Meanings” and “Authors and Audiences” dimensions than they did in the “Value of Media Literacy”. Those with higher grade point averages and access to internships placed a higher value on media literacy than other groups. Implications for educators are discussed.

Rebuilding from the Ground Up: Developing a New Approach to Visual Communications Curriculum • Adam Wagler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Collin Berke • As technology develops, visual communications education must evolve with the times. In the fall of 2015, the curriculum committee at [University Name] College of Journalism and Mass Communications was tasked with evaluating the visual communications program. This committee set out to answer one question: “Are we preparing graduates of our program to be successful in a dynamically changing media industry?” The purpose of this case study is to explore the development of a new visual communications program with summative assessment data that addresses this reality. The proposed solution changed the objectives from four production areas to four conceptual areas: critical thinking, storytelling, how technology works, and integrating media. This paper assesses the effectiveness of an emporium and challenged based learning model implemented for the new program that was launched in the fall of 2016. The results indicate evidence of the effectiveness of the approach through assessment data. The program recognizes that students need the space to learn, fail, and experiment while faculty must be willing to change as well as resist the urge to profess. The success relies on everyone’s comfort in embracing changes in media.

“Keep it true-to-life”: The role of experiential learning in advertising and public relations pedagogy • Amanda Weed, Ashland University • Experiential learning is an important component of advertising and public relations pedagogy as “real world” projects and provides students with distinct benefits that may improve their success as early-career practitioners. Through examination of five experiential learning categories, this study contributes to pedagogy practice by providing a detailed snapshot of how award-winning practitioners and educators perceive experiential learning, how experiential learning is integrated in advertising and public relations education, and identifies areas for improvement.

Open Competition
Applying artificial neural networks to predict ad viewership during TV programs • Fiona Chew, Syracuse University; Beth Egan; Chilukuri Mohan, Syracuse University; Ruochen Jiang; Sushanth Suresh, Syracuse University; Kartik Joshi, Syracuse University • We applied artificial neural networks (ANNs) to analyze TV ad viewership during commercial breaks predicated on second-by-second data that tracked audiences’ mechanical ad avoidance behavior. ANNs comprise hardware and algorithm processing devices trained to discover relationships and patterns, establish and define linkages among numerous variables with large and diverse data. Results identified key attributes that predicted ad viewing declines. These included programs originality/rerun, number of ads, ad placement pod position and ad duration.

An Examination of the Effects of Multicultural Advertising Strategies on Consumer Decision-Making Processes • Carolyn Lin; Linda Dam • Few advertising research studies address how perceived social distance – the level of acceptance individuals feel towards people from a different racial background – may impact consumer responses toward advertising spokespersons from different racial groups. This study explores whether perceived social distance between consumers and multicultural advertising spokespersons influences consumer decision-making processes. Findings suggest that cross-cultural group relations could help explain the underlying consumer decision-making process, which influences the effectiveness of multicultural advertising practices.

Make It Fit: The Effects of Brand-Game Congruity in Advergames on Brand Recall, Attitude, and Purchase Intent • Frank Dardis, Penn State University; Michael Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University; Jose Aviles, Wittenberg University; Erica Bailey, Angelo State University; Stephanie Orme, Penn State University; Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University • Brand congruity, or how well a brand seems to “fit” within the media or external environment in which it is placed, has been studied in numerous sub-areas within the advertising and marketing literature. The concept has received some attention in the realm of embedded in-game advertising (IGA) and advergames, with most studies focusing on brand memory. The current study was the first to manipulate a high-congruity and low-congruity brand within a single advergame and simultaneously evaluate players’ brand recall, attitude, and purchase intent. Further, although differing from each other in absolute congruity, each brand was conceivably suitable in performing some of the real-world functions exemplified in the game. Results indicate strong support for the placement of a high-congruity brand in an advergame, particularly regarding brand attitude and purchase intent. This is especially compelling because, in the current study, participants had to use the brand to succeed at the game; the brand communication was not simply an embedded message. Practical implications are discussed.

Got Muscle? A Longitudinal Study of Masculinity in Fragrance Ads in Esquire and GQ • Laura Beth Daws, Kennesaw State University; Justin Pettigrew, Kennesaw State University • Fragrance ads for women proliferate in style magazines for women, but what about ads for men’s cologne in men’s style magazines? This study examines men’s fragrance ads in the print edition of those periodicals longitudinally to see how ads use nudity and the “masculine ideal” to portray their product. Results of a content analysis of Esquire and GQ from 1950-2015 showed that the “masculine ideal” has remained a constant in fragrance ads over time.

Investigating the Implications of Distinct Personality and Message Factors on Consumer Responses • Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College; Cynthia Morton Padovano, University of Florida • This research examined psychological determinants of consumer responses to social media ads to understand the effect of consumer personality traits, regulatory focus and product appeal on consumer responses to social media ads. To that effect, this study assessed the impact of openness to experience and neuroticism on consumer responses following exposure to social media ads that employed message strategies that manipulated regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and product appeal (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Experimental results indicate main effects for openness to experience and neuroticism on responses to social media ads. Additionally, interaction effects were found between openness to experience, regulatory focus and product appeal, lending evidence to the influence of personality traits on message persuasiveness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Comparative Advertising as a Signal of Quality: The Role of Brand Credibility in Consumer Responses • Naa Amponsah Dodoo, Emerson College • Comparative advertising is a widely-researched area within advertising research. Despite the wealth of information on comparative advertising, research suggests that results from these studies more often than not demonstrate insignificant findings. Drawing on the signaling theory as a framework, this study sought to examine comparative advertising and its role in conveying brand quality relative to noncomparative advertising. With a focus on the U.S. wireless industry, consumer responses to comparative advertising were investigated. Results to some extent support previous literature espousing advertising as a signal of quality. Brand credibility as an important aspect of signaling theory was also examined for both comparative and noncomparative ads and was found to have an impact in consumer responses. Implications and limitations are discussed.

The role of media context and general advertising attitudes on ad avoidance • Esther Thorson, Michigan State; Samuel M. Tham, Michigan State University; Margaret Duffy, U of Missouri • This research develops theory about the role of media context and advertising attitudes regarding why people appreciate, are annoyed by, or attempt to avoid advertising. Media context is comprised of three elements: different media devices, media channels, and media content. The theory was applied in a nationwide survey and findings suggest that advertising appreciation, annoyance, and avoidance are processes rooted on all three factors identified as media context.

Beauty Brands and Micro-blogging in China: How Content Choices Affect Consumer Engagement on Sina Weibo • Mengling Cao, Florida Institute of Technology; Youngju (YJ) Sohn, Florida Institute of Technology; Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Florida Institute of Technology • The purpose of this study is to explore how beauty brands use social media to meet customer’s needs and improve customer engagement through social media posts. The development of social media helps brands extend their marketing areas and gain various benefits. Based on the uses and gratifications theory and literature about customer engagement, this study proposes several aspects about posts include posting day, message originality, modality, post content, and how they affect customer engagements online. In this study, a content analysis was conducted of 2,676 posts from the top 10 beauty brands in China on Sina Weibo, the biggest micro-blogging website in the country. In the results, customer engagements on Weibo were positively affected by modality (i.e., posts with videos) and post content (i.e., posts of incentives, giveaways, news, shows, and feedback, as well as posts with celebrity or spokesperson content).

Soil and Flower: The Relationship between Social Media Usage and Consumer Response to Social Media Advertising • Yang Feng; Quan Xie • This study examines how consumers’ motivations to engage with seven social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube) influence their evaluations of advertising on those platforms. Results from survey (N = 972, aged 18-35) not only provide empirical evidence for media context literature, but also advance media context literature by delving into different social media platforms. In particular, results revealed that people are driven by different motivations to use the seven social media platforms and they evaluate advertising on each platform in a different way. Furthermore, regression results revealed significant relationships between social media engagement motivations and ad evaluations (i.e., ad relevance, ad trust, ad attention, and ad intrusiveness). Also, the relationship pattern differs across the seven social media platforms. Discussion and practical implications were provided.

Eye-Catching and Unforgettable: The Role of Ad Creativity in Online Video Ads Featuring Augmented Reality Technology • Yang Feng; Quan Xie • This study aims to examine the role of ad creativity in video ads featuring augmented reality (AR) technology uploaded on YouTube. Through an online experiment, we compared people who hold positive pre-existing attitudes toward a familiar brand, people who hold negative pre-existing attitudes toward a familiar brand, and people who are unfamiliar with a brand in terms of their perceived creativity of a video ad featuring AR technology. Further, we explored the differential effect of three dimensions of ad creativity, namely, message usefulness, ad novelty, and ad-consumer association, on short and long-term brand name recall, short and long-term brand message recall, ad attitude, and brand attitude. Results demonstrated that for a familiar brand, people’s perceived creativity of an ad is biased by their pre-existing brand attitudes. For an unfamiliar brand, since people do not have pre-existing attitudes toward it, their perceived creativity of an ad for the unfamiliar brand is mostly shaped by their impressions of the ad. Moreover, results revealed that the three dimension of ad creativity play different roles in ad effectiveness.

The Impact of Erotic Appeal and Message Relevance on Selective Attention to Print Advertisements • Zijian Gong, Texas Tech University; Steven Holiday, Texas Tech University; Glenn Cummins, Texas Tech University • The effectiveness of sexual appeals in advertising continues to be subject to debate. One moderator of this effect is relevance, typically viewed as congruence between sexual appeals and the product. A contrasting view offered here is the relevance of the product to the audience. This experiment employed eye tracking to demonstrate how sexual appeals caused a visual distraction effect for low relevance ads. For high-relevance ads, this effect was not observed.

Social Network for Good: Framing the Message Type and Execution Style of “Cause- Related Marketing” Advertising for a Sports Brand on Social Network Sites • Ji Yoon (Karen) Han; Seungae Lee • Companies now use social network sites (SNS) as an opportunity to promote their values and interact with consumers, particularly for purposes of cause-related marketing (CRM). Traditional print CRM ads focused on promoting social cause (PCS) messages about which a brand commits. However, recent social media-based CRM ads rely on partake-in-our-cause (PIOC) messages. This study applied cause framing (cause-focused ad) and profit framing (product-focused ad) to CRM execution styles and investigated the interplay between the message type (PIOC vs. PCS) and execution style (cause-focused ad vs. product-oriented ad) on consumer response in social media contexts. The findings indicate that when a product-oriented ad is shown, a PIOC message led to more favorable attitudes toward the cause and higher levels of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention than did a PCS message. In contrast, when people were exposed to a cause-focused ad, the message type did not significantly affect attitudes or eWOM intention. Further, attitude toward the cause is identified as the mediator to explain the interplay between message type and execution style on eWOM intention.

How Advertising Relevance and Brand Relationship Strength Limits Disclosure Effects of Native Ads on Twitter • Jameson Hayes, University of Alabama; Guy Golan, University of South Florida; Janelle Applequist, University of South Florida; Stephen Rush, The University of Alabama • The growing scholarship on native advertising indicates that advertising recognition often leads to audience resistance of the persuasive messages. The current research conducts two national online experiments examining the impact of advertising relevance and brand relationship strength on native advertising outcomes on Twitter at low and high disclosure levels. Study findings indicate that both perceived relevance and brand relationship strength have the potential to limit audience resistance to the native advertisement.

Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Influencer Product Recommendation Motives on Social Media • Mengtian (Montina) Jiang, University of Kentucky; Nora Rifon, Michigan State University • Social media has seen an explosion of sponsored content created and shared by social media influencers. This study examines how a consumer interprets and infers the influencer’s underlying motives for writing and sharing these posts on Instagram. Three online surveys develop and validate a scale that identifies six distinct types of influencer motives that co-exist during consumer processing of sponsored content: Money, Selling, Image, Love, Sharing and Helping motives. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Effects of Sensation Seeking, Creator Attractiveness, and Content Characteristics on Branded Entertainment • Dahyun Hong; Jong Woo Jun, Dankook University • This study explores effects of branded entertainment on information processing of consumers. Using Korean female consumers as research samples tries to identify roles of consumer psychological factors, creator attractiveness, and content factors on purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. The findings of this study show that sensation seeking influenced purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. Creator attractiveness is related in positive ways, and content novelty and content credibility influenced purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. Lastly, attitudes toward content is connected to both purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions. These results could provide academic and managerial implications in terms of branded entertainment marketing.

How Storytelling Advertising Affects Consumers: Emotion as a mediator between narrative level and WOM intention • Sookyeong Hong, Hansei University; Jin-Ae Kang, East Carolina University; Glenn Hubbard, East Carolina University • Experimental study (n=300) tested the effects of storytelling in radio advertisements on participants’ emotional responses and intentions to share information about the product by word of mouth. Treatments included a story told by the founder of a company, the same story manipulated to come from a customer and a purely informational non-story control stimulus. The founder’s story elicited more favorable responses and had some effect on word-of-mouth intention, especially among participants preferring narrative formats.

Another Super Bowl Study: An Exploratory Research on the Impacts of Ad Effectiveness Factors on Consumer Engagement on Social Media • Gawon Kim; Ian Skupski; Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University • Using Super Bowl ads, this study explores the relationship between various ad effectiveness factors (length, frequency, clutter, position, social media mention, and liking) and consumer engagement (overall, positive, and negative comments) on social media (Facebook and Twitter). The findings of this study indicate that ad factors have significant impacts on consumer engagement. The effect is in overall social media posts positive and negative sentiment posts, but differently. Marketing implications for the results are discussed.

The attitudinal and behavioral effects of pictorial metaphors in advertising: Considering need for cognition and the mediating effect of emotional response • Soojin Kim, Louisiana State University • The current study investigates the effect of the interrelation between pictorial metaphor and headline in ads with an individual’s difference by Need for Cognition (NFC) on the attitude toward the ad, the brand, and purchase intention (PI), while considering emotions as a mediator. The current study’s findings highlight the importance of the match between pictorial metaphor and headlines for the ad effects by consumer’s cognitive tendency, considering affective responses.

Examining the Personality Traits and Motives That Predict Attitudes Toward and Engagement with Sponsored Content in Snapchat • Tiany Sousa; William Kinnally, University of Central Florida • Social networking sites (SNS) have revolutionized the communication between consumers and brands, publishers, and marketers. These platforms have become a way for advertisers to communicate directly and engage users with content that is innovative and less intrusive. The aim of this research is to examine the personality traits and motives (based on the uses and gratifications theory) that predict attitudes toward and engagement with sponsored content in Snapchat including Filters, Lenses, Discover, and Snap Ads. An online survey with 606 participants showed that the main motives of using Snapchat were social information seeking, entertainment, and impression management. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to examine the models that predict attitudes toward the sponsored features in Snapchat as well as the engagement with them. Several personality traits and Snapchat motives combined to predict attitudes toward and engagement with sponsored filters. In contrast, only social information seeking was significant predictor of attitudes toward and engagement with Discover feature. More results and practical implications are discussed.

Influencer Marketing on Instagram: The Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure, Source Credibility, and Brand Credibility • Susanna Lee, University of Florida; Eunice Kim • With the rise of social media, influencer marketing appeared as a relatively new form of celebrity endorsement. Although promotional posts on Instagram include messages that disclosure sponsorship and activate persuasion knowledge, consumers’ attitude toward the post may vary by source credibility and brand credibility. This study examines the effects of disclosure types, source credibility, and brand credibility on the effectiveness of Instagram marketing using influencers. Findings reveal that highly credible brands featured in Instagram posts have a positive impact on message credibility, eWOM intention, purchase intention, and attitude toward the ad. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The Effect of Soliciting Consumer Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns • Sun Young Lee, Texas Tech University; Yeuseung Kim; Young Kim, Marquette University • This study explores the mechanisms through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns that require consumer participation create more value for companies than do non-participatory CSR campaigns. Based on two distinguishing characteristics of participatory CSR campaigns—interactivity and consumer empowerment—we posit two routes to persuasion, one in which participatory CSR activities generate more favorable attitude toward the company and higher purchase intention through consumer–company identification, enhanced through perceived interactivity, and the other in which participatory CSR activities, in comparison to non-participatory, empower consumers, which, in turn, affects perceived CSR motives. We demonstrate these proposed mechanisms using an online experiment with one non-participatory CSR activity and three different types of participatory CSR activities. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Credible corporates require many likes: An examination of corporate credibility and bandwagon cues • Ruobing Li, Louisiana State University; Michail Vafeiadis, Auburn University; Anli Xiao; Guolan Yang • Compared to conventional advertising forms, social media native ads blend in the context and tend to be more interactive. To examine how corporate credibility and other viewers’ collective opinions associated with a promotional post influence its effectiveness, we conducted a 2 (high vs. low corporate credibility) by 2 (high vs. low bandwagon cues) between subjects experiment. Findings suggested that native ads published by highly credible corporate lead to less negative emotions among viewers and higher intention to engage in behaviors related to the ad and the product advertised; bandwagon cues influenced viewer psychology in a way that high bandwagon cues led to better evaluation of the ad, more positive attitude towards the ad, and higher behavioral intention. Corporate credibility also interacted with bandwagon cues in influencing the persuasive outcomes of the ad. Theoretical and practical implications on native advertising were discussed.

Cognitive Appraisals on a Brand Safety Issue and Hostile Consumer Behaviors: The appraisal-emotion-behavior (AEB) model • Joon Soo Lim, Syracuse University; Junga Kim; Chunsik Lee • Grounded in appraisal theories of emotions, this study tested the appraisal-emotion-behavior model for brand safety. The model posited that the appraisals of harm severity, ad intrusiveness and blame attributions for brand ads displayed next to offensive content would elicit negative emotions, which propels consumers to engage in hostile behaviors such as complaints, negative word of mouth and boycotts. To test the model, data were collected through an online survey using quota sampling (N = 483). Results of the SEM analysis supported the hypotheses regarding the effects of the appraisals on negative emotions. A mediation analysis further demonstrated that the effects of appraisals on the hostile consumer behaviors were mediated by evoked negative emotions. Findings of this study suggest that consumers react to the brand safety issue to the extent that they appraise the potential harm of the offensive content and attribute the responsibility to the brand.

Does When and Where Matter? The Influence of Ad Timing and Placement Context on the Effects of Online Behavioral Advertising • Xinyu Lu; Haesung (Claire) Whang; Jisu Huh • Behaviorally targeted advertising is receiving growing attention due to the preponderance of advertising dollars spent on online advertising and the rapid development of targeting techniques. Drawing on the goal activation model, this study examined the effects of two behavioral targeting strategies—ad timing and ad-context congruity—on consumers’ evaluations of an online behavioral ad. Results show a marginally significant relationship between ad timing and perceived ad relevance, and a significant relationship between ad-context congruity and consumer evaluations through perceived relevance. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Placing Brands on Facebook: How the Source and Context of Brand Posts Affect Brand Likeability • Mira Mayrhofer; Brigitte Naderer; Jörg Matthes, U of Vienna • In two experimental studies we examined how the source of branded messages and the contextual mechanisms elicited by surrounding posts influenced viewers’ evaluations of the messages. We found that humorousness of surrounding posts positively affected brand evaluations but only when the brand itself communicated the persuasive content. Hence, while user-generated brand posts might be less effective than previously thought, humorous contexts on social media sites can support positive environments for advertisers to communicate branded messages.

Political Campaigning Meets Digital Engagement: “Old” Failures and “New” Triumphs • Sally McMiillan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Courtney Childers, University of Tennessee; Stuart Brotman; Jinhee Lee; Jian Huang; Natalie Bogda • For decades, advertising spending, journalistic coverage, and polling predictions have been linked to presidential election outcomes. In the U.S. presidential election of 2016 those “old media” tools failed. Using big-data analytics, this study shows that volume and valence of digital political engagement on social media corresponded to the campaign outcome. The 2016 U.S. presidential campaign may represent a “tipping point” between “old” mass communication strategies and tactics and “new” approaches to citizen/consumer digital engagement.

Healthy Living and The Companies That Pay for It: A Qualitative Exploration of Health Native Advertising on BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post • Chris Noland, University of South Carolina; Jo-Yun Queenie Li, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • This exploratory study investigates the presentation of health native advertising on BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post, the two pioneers of displaying native advertisements on their sites. This qualitative content analysis identifies the sponsored companies, promoted products, presentation formats, information sources, and disclosure types in related to health native advertising. The current research offers health related advertisers, publishers, governmental officials, and scholars with key theoretical and practical insights upon which they can more effectively propose appropriate regulations and refine health native advertising strategies for audiences.

Value from construal level theory: The matching effects of social distance and message orientation for environmental advertising • Sun-Young Park, University of Massachusetts Boston; Eunyi Kim • This study examines the effects of the interaction between social distance and message orientation (i.e., construal level effects) on responses to advertising messages that promote recycling behaviors. The results show that the messages focused on the high-level (why-laden) features were more persuasive in terms of generating more positive attitudes toward advertising when messages are framed in terms of socially distant entities, whereas the messages focused on the low-level (how-laden) features were more effective when asking participants to make judgments for their proximal entities. For behavioral attitudes and intentions these effects were observed under the how-laden and proximal condition, but not observed under the why-laden and distant condition. The findings also demonstrate a unique pattern of construal level fit effects and potential moderators/mediators, such as message persuasiveness and the perceived relatedness between recycling and climate change mitigation, in the context of recycling advertising campaigns. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

When Our Goals Set Our Biases: How Regulatory Focus Moderates Persuasion Knowledge and Third-person Perception in Health Advertising • Giang Pham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Chang-Dae Ham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This study investigates how regulatory focus moderates the effect of persuasion knowledge on third-person perception in the context of health advertising. Two experiments revealed that persuasion knowledge positively influenced third-person perception, which in turn negatively affected ad evaluations. Regulatory focus, either chronic (Study 1: n=105) or induced (Study 2: n=97), significantly moderates the effects of persuasion knowledge on third-person perception and ad evaluations. Implications for improving advertising effectiveness are discussed.

A Meta-Analysis of Cause-Related Advertising Effects on Global Consumers • Michelle Rego, Johnson & Wales University; Dana Rogers; Mark Hamilton, University of Connecticut • Over the past 30 years, cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns have expanded worldwide. A series of 6 bivariate meta-analyses were conducted using a random effects assumption to determine effect sizes in this field. Moderators were tested using meta-analytic regression, but not found to qualify the results, which included the effect of CRM campaigns on brand attitudes, r=.248, 95% CI(0.189,0.373), and purchase intentions, r=.277, 95% CI(0.141, 0.404). Recommendations for future campaigns and research are discussed.

The Effects of Mood and Arousal on Information Searching and Processing on a Search Engine: Implications for Paid Search Ads • Sela Sar; George Anghelcev, Northwestern University in Qatar; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina; Chang-Dae Ham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jie(Doreen) Shen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • An experiment was conducted to examine how mood and arousal interact to influence consumers’ searching tasks and their information processing on a search engine result page (SERP). The results showed that people in a positive mood were more likely to focus on general (global) information of search result ads, whereas people in a negative mood were more likely to focus on detailed (local) information of search ads. There was a significant interaction effect between mood and arousal on information searching and processing on SERP. Theoretical and practical implications for advertisers/marketers and web content designers are discussed.

Determining the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives in advertisements for congruent and incongruent companies • Brett Sherrick, Purdue University; Jennifer Hoewe, Purdue University • This study aligns three theories – narrative engagement, identification, and congruity – to determine the most effective ways to communicate messages regarding companies’ work toward increasing their environmental sustainability. Using an experimental design, the results show that companies whose products run in line with a message of environmental sustainability should create advertisements illustrating their environmental efforts, as those ads should increase positive evaluations of that company. Featuring groups of people in these ads may work to further magnify those positive evaluations. Most interestingly though, this study finds that an advertisement containing a message presented in narrative form is effective in overcoming incongruity between the type of company and the sustainability initiatives presented in the ad.

Explaining the Success of Femvertising: A Structural Modeling Approach • Miglena Sternadori, Texas Tech University College of Media and Communication; Alan Abitbol, University of Dayton • This survey of U.S. adults (N = 419) investigates attitudes toward femvertising as they relate to gender, age, support for women’s rights, feminist self-identification, political affiliation, and trust in advertising. Femvertising is defined as “advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages, and imagery to empower women and girls.” Structural equation modeling reveals several antecedents and consequences of attitude toward femvertising, specifically women’s rights supporters and self-identifying feminists seem highly receptive of femvertising.

How Anticipated Regret Messages Interact With Mood To Influence Purchase Intention • Yanyun Wang; Sela Sar • The current study examines how different types of anticipated regret advertising messages (verbally framed vs. graphically framed) interact with consumer’s mood (positive vs. negative) to influence their attitudes and behavior toward the advertised product. The results revealed a significant main effect of message types. People tended to have better ad evaluation when the ad used graphically framed AR message compared with verbally framed AR message.

Memory at Play: Personalizing Advertisements Based on Consumers’ Autobiographical Memory • Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University; Jin Kang, The Pennsylvania State University; Michael Schmierbach, Pennsylvania State University • Targeted advertising promises to increase relevance to consumers, but risks backfiring if it seems overly intrusive. In the present study, we examined whether personalizing the online advertisement based on one’s autobiographical memory can foster positive reactions toward the advertisement. In two studies, participants went through a fictitious social media website where they talked about a special memory and saw an advertisement that was or was not personalized based upon their memory. Results demonstrate that personalized advertisements elicited favorable reaction towards the advertisement via enhanced feeling of nostalgia, but did not show an influence on affect or perceived intrusiveness.

Social Information in Facebook News Feed Ads: A Social Impact Theory Perspective • Fei Xue, The University of Southern Miss • Using social impact theory as a conceptual framework, the current research examined the effects of “social information” on Facebook users’ response to News Feed ads, including ad credibility, attitude-toward-the-ad, brand interest, intention to click, and purchase intention. Three factors were manipulated – relationship strength, physical distance, and number of affiliated friends. Strong main effects were found for relationship strength and physical distance. An interaction effect in click intention was also found between relationship strength and physical distance.

Perceived Native-ness of Social Media Advertisements: A Conceptualization & Scale Development Study • Jing Yang; Linwan Wu, University of South Carolina; Rachel Quint; Jaini Bhavsar • As the development of native advertising across various social media platforms, it has gradually become one of the main streams in digital advertising. It is difficult to reach an agreement on a comprehensive definition of native advertisements among industry practitioners and academia scholars, due to the diverse formats of presenting native advertisements. Specifically, in the social media context, different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and etc., all have their own formats of native advertising. Therefore, the current study proposes the concept of perceived native-ness, which emphasizes on individuals’ perceptions of native-ness of advertisements presented in the social media context. Through a two-phase research which involved (a) in-depth interviews and (b) a scale development and validation study, we generated and examined a 15-item scale for three underlying dimensions of perceived native-ness of social media advertisements, namely design congruence, personal congruence and content congruence. The theoretical and practical implications of this scale are discussed.

Teens’ Responses to Facebook Newsfeed Advertising: The Effects of Cognitive Appraisal and Social Influence on Privacy Concerns and Coping Strategies • Seounmi Youn, Emerson College; Wonsun Shin, University of Melbourne • This study examines how cognitive (benefit-risk appraisal) and social factors (parent and peer communication) affect teenagers’ privacy concerns and individual and social coping strategies in dealing with Facebook newsfeed advertising. A survey conducted with teen Facebook users (N=305) demonstrates that benefit appraisal induces greater ad engagement while risk perceptions result in reactive coping strategies. Parents have limited impact on teens’ responses to newsfeed advertising, whereas peer communication makes teens less critical about advertising practices.

Effects of Visual Strategies and Personal Relevance on Young Users’ Responses to Brand Content on Instagram • Lijie Zhou, Southern Utah University; Fei Xue, The University of Southern Miss • A 4 (customer-centric, employee-centric, non-brand, and product-centric) × 2 (first-person-view vs. third-person-view) × 2 (personal relevance: high vs. low) mixed-design experiment was used to investigate the effects of visual theme, visual perspective, and personal relevance on brand constructions (attitude-toward-brand, brand love, brand respect, brand image) on Instagram. Findings indicated using customer-centric-images with the first-person-view to promote a high relevance brand on Instagram received the most favorable attitude, strongest brand respect, and strongest feeling of sensuality.

Professional Freedom & Responsibility
Ethnic Diversity as a Solution to the Advertising Industry’s Creative Problem • Robin Spring, Grand Valley State University; Fang (Faye) Yang, Grand Valley State University • “Ethnic diversity in the advertising industry could be a solution for culturally insensitive advertising. Insights from advertising professionals, obtained via in-depth interviews, reveal prevalence of bias in recruiting, hiring and retention of minorities. Findings suggest that current methods to increase minority representation are not effective. Viewing ethnic diversity as a creative/business solution, versus a public relations problem, could motivate meaningful change in the advertising industry

Special Topics
Informing, Reinforcing, and Referencing: Chinese Young Male Consumers’ Interpretation of Social Media Luxury Advertising • Huan Chen; Ye Wang; Eric Haley • A qualitative study was conducted to explore Chinese young male consumers’ perception on luxury brand social media advertising. In-depth interviews were used to collect data and the phenomenological reduction was used to analyze data. Findings revealed four themes regarding the socially constructed meanings of luxury, luxury brand, and luxury brand social media advertising. According to Chinese young male consumers, “luxury” is perceived as a dual-dimensional lifestyle; for luxury brands, although Chinese young male consumers consider the price to be a blatant index of luxury, they perceive brand meanings are a more important symbol to differentiate luxury brands from other brands; and, luxury brands are deemed as an expression of those consumers’ personalities and styles or extension of their identities. Findings further uncovered the meanings of luxury brand social media advertising among Chinese young male consumers. According to the participants, luxury social media advertising assists their luxury brand products purchase in informing them about products of new seasons, reinforcing luxury brands’ image, and offering them a referential source. Theoretical and practical implications were offered.

The Positive and Negative Effects of Intrusive In-App Advertising • Yunmi Choi, Indiana University Southeast • “As smartphone usage and ownership has increased, advertisers need to understand how to place mobile advertisements appropriately without causing negative effects such as irritation on their target audience. This empirical study focused on in-app advertising and its negative and positive impact on smartphone users. Subjects were invited to a computer lab and asked to play a smartphone application. The design of the study was a 2 (Ad Intrusiveness: 5-second vs. 30-second) x 2 (User Controllability: a close ad button vs. no button) x 2 (Task Orientation: hurry vs. free). The results indicate that users are more sensitive to the duration of ad exposure and controllability to close an ad. Irritation and perceived intrusiveness of the ad and app were found to be negative effects of intrusive in-app advertising while recall and recognition of the advertised brand were positive effects. In addition, perceived value and purchase intention of the brand were positively correlated with attitude toward ad and brand. Based on the study findings, it is suggested to offer the option to close in-app ads and reduce the ad exposure time to avoid irritation and perceived intrusiveness. However, if the goal of the in-app ad is to raise the brand awareness, being intrusive would be a good choice. App developers and managers should understand the influence of the absence of a close ad button will result in negatively perceived intrusiveness of their own application.”

Training to Lead in an Era of Change: Insights from Ad Agency Leaders • Sabrina Habib, University of South Carolina; PADMINI PATWARDHAN, Winthrop University • This study examines leadership training in advertising. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, in-depth interviews with U.S. based agency professionals found lack of a systematic approach to leadership development; a consensus among professionals that training (whether formal or informal) is needed; diverse approaches to training; and recognition of barriers to establishing such programs in agencies despite need and benefits. The study also finds a role for advertising education to train the next generation of advertising leaders.

Role of Immersive Characteristic, Emotional Engagement, and Consumer Responses in Virtual CSR Experiences: Drunk Driving Prevention 360 Degree Video by an Alcohol Company • Yoon-Joo Lee; Wen Zhao, Washington State University; Huan Chen • This study examined a unique context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the format of virtual reality (VR) video sponsored by an alcohol company through quasi-experimental design. The study aims to examine whether individual difference (immersive tendency) plays a role in perceiving the CSR initiatives in VR videos. This study revealed that consumers with a higher level of immersive tendency are more likely to have a positive attitude toward CSR ads via emotional involvement than those with a lower level of immersive tendency. However, consumers’ immersive tendency or emotional involvement with the VR video did not influence purchase intention. This study attempts to investigate how unique characteristic of VR video (e.g., telepresence, emotional engagement) can play a role in evaluating cognitive, attitudinal, and purchase intention in the unique context of VR video by adopting dialogic (emotional) engagement and HOE model. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.

Does VR attract visitors? The mediating effect of presence on consumer response in tourism advertising using Virtual Reality • Wai Han Lo, Hong Kong Baptist University; Benjamin Ka Lun Cheng, Hong Kong Baptist University • 203 college students participated in an experiment exposing to a hotel advertorial that either use online blog, VR 360° video on mobile phone or VR 360° video using Cardboard goggles. The result supports the proposed path model, suggesting the mediating role of presence between using VR and consumer response. Theoretical and practical implications of the use of VR technology in branding and promotion are discussed.

I (Don’t) Want to Consume Counterfeit Medicines: Preliminary Results on the Antecedents of Consumer Attitudes Toward Counterfeit Medicines • S. Senyo Ofori-Parku, University of Oregon; Sung Eun Park, The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa • “Counterfeit medicine trafficking (an estimated $200 billion) enterprise has become one of the worlds’ fastest growing criminal enterprises. To the pharmaceutical industry, the uptick in counterfeit medicines raises brand equity and brand safety concerns, leading to huge financial losses. To consumers, it is a health and safety issue. But research has primarily focused on supply chain processes, technological, and legal mechanisms, ignoring consumer aspects. This exploratory study sheds light on some of the social, psychological, and normative factors that underlie consumers’ attitudes, risk perceptions, and purchase intentions. Consumers who (a) self-report that they know about the problem, (b) are older, (c) view counterfeit medicine consumption as ethical, and (d) think their significant others would approve of them using such products are more inclined to perceive lower risks and have favorable purchase intentions. Risk averseness is also inversely related to the predicted outcomes. Implications for brand advocacy and consumer safety education is discussed.

Watching AD for Fun: Native Short-video Advertising on Chinese Social Media • Ruowen Wang; Huan Chen • Since 2016, the popularity of Social Media Marketing and Weibo short videos have encouraged brands and companies to cooperate with Weibo influencers to create attractive native short-video advertising for consumers. The current study used phenomenological research method to explore Chinese consumers’ attitude toward and perception on native short-video advertising. The first author recruited 20 Weibo short-video viewers to conduct in-depth interviews to understand their experiences of watching Weibo short-video advertising. The current study has theoretical implication on influencer marketing, native advertising, and social relationship marketing. Furthermore, the study also provides guidance and reference for social media influencers and brands on how to create effective native short-video advertising.

Student Research
The Effect of Endorser Body Type on Attitudes and Emotional Responses Toward Weight Loss Advertisements • Lindsay Bouchacourt, University of Florida • The present study explores the effect of endorser body type on female consumers’ attitudes and emotional responses toward weight loss advertisements. Millennial female consumers were exposed to a weight loss advertisement that featured one of three endorser conditions: a mediated body type endorser, a realistic body type endorser, and no endorser. Attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, purchase intentions, and emotional responses were measured.

#Insta-Credible: The Impact of Influencer-Brand Fit on Source Credibility and Persuasive Effectiveness • Priska Breves, University of Wuerzburg; Nicole Liebers, University of Würzburg; Marina Abt, University of Wuerzburg; Annika Kunze, University of Wuerzburg • Two online-studies analyzed the impact of the fit between Instagram-influencers and the endorsed brand. While the first study (N = 687) used an experimental design and focused on internal validity, the second study (N = 197) employed a survey, presenting results high in external validity. Both studies validated a positive impact of influencer-brand fit on source credibility (trustworthiness and expertise), brand evaluations and behavioral intentions, especially for social media users with low-level parasocial relationships.

Testing the Limits: Self-Endorsement in Ambient Intelligent Environments • Kristy Hamilton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; SeoYoon Lee; Un Chae Chung; Weizi Liu • Self-endorsement—depicting the “self” as an endorser of a brand—illustrates a new, powerful advertising strategy made possible by affordances of new media platforms. Still, research on self-endorsement in advertising is dominated by discussions of features enabled within immersive virtual environments. Recognizing the multidimensionality of an affordance perspective, this experiment empirically tests the influence of self-endorsers and other-endorsers on brand attitude and purchase intentions using ambient intelligent technology (i.e., digital assistants).

The Changing Landscape of Mobile Advertising: Current Practices, Key Insights and Future Research Directions • Xinyu Lu • Mobile advertising is gaining full momentum now. Consumers’ increasing reliance on mobile devices for consumption of media, coupled with improvements in targeting for mobile advertising, contributes to the growing market share of mobile advertising. Despite the increasing attention from advertisers and scholars, there is not a clear accumulation of empirical findings. This article delves into the changing landscape of mobile advertising brought by the advancement of mobile technologies to examine its implications on mobile advertising research, and provides an overview of the empirical findings. The article also develops a summary of key research opportunities and future directions. In sum, this review is intended to serve as a basis for scholars interested in understanding the mobile advertising literature, as well as a catalyst for future research explorations.

We Eat What We Can “Process”: How Regulatory Fit Affects Consumers’ Evaluation of Front-of-package Food Label and Health Claim • Giang Pham, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • This study investigates how regulatory fit affects consumers’ processing and evaluation of information on front of food packages. Promotion and prevention-focused participants (N = 253) evaluated food package designs that varied in nutrition labeling system (Facts Up Front, Traffic Light) and health claim frame (enhanced function, reduced disease risk). Results showed that there were significant three-way interactions between regulatory focus, nutrition labeling system and health claim frame on consumers’ perception of product healthiness, purchasing intent and recommending intent, but not attitude toward the package. Implications for improving food advertising effectiveness are discussed.

The Effect of Ad appeals on Materialistic Consumers’ Ethical Purchase • Yuhosua Ryoo; WooJin Kim; Eunjoo Jin, University of Texas at Austin • Materialism is known to be negatively related to consumers’ ethical behavior. Advancing this conventional wisdom, the current research investigated ways to motivate highly materialistic consumers’ ethical consumption by examining the moderating role of advertising appeals. The results indicated that consumers with high materialism showed more positive attitude toward advertisements and greater intention to purchase ethical products when the advertisements convey self-benefit appeals, rather than other-benefit appeals. On the other hand, low-materialistic consumers’ responses did not vary with different types of advertising appeals. The research also demonstrated that protective and enhancement motivations mediate the positive effect of self-benefit appeals on highly materialistic consumers’ ethical consumption.

Do disabilities belong?: Exploring non-disabled consumer attitudes toward persons with physical disabilities in advertising • Summer Shelton, University of Florida • In advertising, which relies heavily on visual stimuli, what place do persons with disabilities (PWDs) hold? Through focus groups with non-disabled consumers, this research asked if advertisements featuring PWDS are encountered, assessed attitudes toward PWDs in advertising, and perceived reasons brands use PWDs. Findings revealed disability/health related advertisements encountered frequently and a desire for “normalization” of disabilities. Print or social platforms are presumed best, and larger brands are proposed leaders in improved disability representation.

Using Anger and Efficacy as A Strategy to Prevent Alcohol-Related Sexual Assault: Dissuading Female College Students from Excessive Drinking within Social Settings • Jie(Doreen) Shen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • Despite the fact that female college students’ excessive drinking is a prevalent risky factor that contributes to sexual assault, existing sexual assault prevention programs have rarely addressed the issue of women’s alcohol use. This study examines the effects of anger message appeals and efficacy message appeals on persuasion outcomes. An online experiment was conducted with 122 female college students in United States. They study used a 2 (anger appeal, non-anger appeal) x 2 (high-efficacy appeal, low-efficacy appeal) between-subjects design with attitudes toward excessive drinking and intentions of maintaining sober within social settings as the outcome variables. Results indicate the effectiveness of anger appeals as compared to non-anger appeals and the moderating effect of efficacy appeals on the relationship between anger appeals on attitudes. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

The 360-Degree Drunk Driving Prevention Advertising: The Impacts of Gender Role Beliefs and Self-Referencing on Purchase Intentions and Drunk Driving Avoidance • Wen Zhao, Washington State University • The primary purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced the effectiveness of the 360-degree CSR drunk driving prevention advertisement with nontraditional gender-role portrayals on consumers’ behavioral intentions. By conducting an experiment, this study found that the gender role beliefs exerted positive influences on purchase intentions through two sequential mediators, self-referencing and attitudes toward the ad. Additional analysis suggested that gender role beliefs negatively affect individuals’ avoidance of drunk driving through self-referencing.

2018 ABSTRACTS

AEJMC 2018 Conference Paper Abstracts
Washington, DC • August 6 to 9

The following AEJMC groups will conduct research competitions for the 2018 conference. The accepted paper abstracts are listed within each section.

Divisions:

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

Interest Groups:

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

Commissions:

• Status of Women

<< AEJMC Abstracts Index