Online Message Processing for Effective Public Communication and Engagement in Issues Related to Controversial Science and Technology
Digital Community Digital Social Media Icon, six people sitting around a table, using various devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops
Lead Researcher: Jiyoun Kim
Summary: This project features experimental studies of online message processing for effective public communication and engagement in issues related to controversial (and sometimes unfamiliar) science and technology. As humans are by nature social animals, for example, this projects examines how social cues expressed in online content stimulate individuals’ cognitive processing and online news engagement intention. One of the goals of this project is empowering the public to make informed decisions. Since people’s rational responses could be impaired or interfered with by emotional arousal and/or mental agitation and most science- or health-related topics involve information under conditions of stress, this project seeks to understand what makes communication the most effective in situations of high concern or controversy.
