Communication Commons^™

Through The Filter Lens: The Negative Impact Of Beauty Filters In Influencer Marketing, Faegheh Taheran, Veronica Thomas, Abdolali Mortazavi, Dana Amiri

Marketing Faculty Publications

The article focuses on the negative impact of beauty filters on followers' perceptions of social media influencers, examining how these filters affect attitudes through perceived authenticity and deception. Topics include the relationship between filter usage and follower attitudes; the mediating roles of authenticity and deception; the effects of different types of filters on influencer credibility; and highlight the importance of genuine presentation in influencer marketing.

Serving C*Nt: An Intersectional Historical Look At The Reclamation Of A Taboo Word, Dominique Godinez

Scripps Senior Theses

While the word cunt has been part of reclamation projects for over fifty years in the United States, particularly in the last year (2023) on social media platforms, the revalued word has gained popularity. With increased usage of a slur historically used against women, we’re left to wonder if reclamation is appropriate and who is participating in these processes. This thesis explores the trailblazers who began cunt’s reclamation –– Queer Ballroom performers and women-artists –– contextualizes its usage through widely understood reclamation principles, and offers considerations for cunt-curious folks. In a society that has othered and marginalized women and Queer …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Dancers, Mackenzie Weakland

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

COVID-19 impacted every person who experienced it. Dancers in particular, were a group of people that were not able to participate in their art form in the way that they were always able to. This project explores how COVID-19 impacted dancers and their ability to learn and grow.

Recommendations For Generation Z Civic Engagement On College Campuses, Grace A. Edwards

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Because there is little existing research specifically about Generation Z civic engagement in higher education in the United States, comparisons must be made with research about different generations’ voting and civic engagement patterns, specifically Millennials, since they share many similarities with Gen Z, and Gen Z civic engagement in different countries. This, paired with survey data and statistics about Gen Z civic engagement, provide a strong foundation for this project. To supplement this literature review, interviews with industry professionals were held to learn more about the environment of Gen Z civic engagement on college campuses. From these different sources of …

Simply Butter (One Pat At A Time), Maddie Mcsweeney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Simply Butter (one pat at a time) is an investigation of food and intimacy through sculpture, installation, performance, printmaking, and recordkeeping. In this series of Happenings, I explore themes of love, loss, and empathy while dealing with emotions related to grief and mental health issues. I look to cultural phenomena and art history figures who are concerned with similar sentiments to make conceptual connections and inform my choices when creating this project. Drawn to silliness and the absurd, I use the rudimentary yet familiar form of a stick of butter to act as a monolithic stand-in for the emotionally, mentally, …

Using Education To Confidently Identify And Report Concerns Of Child Abuse And Neglect: A Qualitative Improvement Initiative Through Staff Development, Sarah E. Neilson

Master's Theses and Capstones

BACKGROUND: Pre-licensure education on child abuse and neglect is crucial for nurses in the healthcare field. It helps to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively identify, report, and intervene in cases of child abuse and neglect. Having this education available and understanding the signs and effects of child abuse and neglect, empowers nurses to take quick and decisive action in early intervention and prevention. Within the microsystem of a local Operating Room (OR), this quality improvement (QI) project will determine the muchneeded addition to the healthcare curriculum.

METHODS: The Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) framework was …

To Revise Or Not To Revise: How Feedback Type, Interpersonal Liking, And Messenger Credibility Influence Revision, Rachel Jane Jensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Revisions inevitably occur during project creation and curation; many of which are influenced by received feedback. Previous research has highlighted the role goals, perceptions of self, and task complexity play in revision, but little research has examined how feedback type and an individual’s feelings toward their feedback giver influence revision. A quasi-experimental design examined how feedback type (additive, subtractive, or none), interpersonal liking for a feedback-giver, and perceived credibility of a feedback-giver affected students’ (n = 155) willingness to revise, self-reports of revision, and calculated actual revision score. Results indicated that participants in a feedback-receiving condition reported higher levels of …

A Case Of Water: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Legal And Social Effects Of The Arizona V. Navajo Nation Supreme Court Case, Mykel Patrick Greene

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The water crisis effecting the Navajo Nation is among the worst in recent memory—a situation that has only been exacerbated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 5-4 decision in favor of Arizona in the case of Arizona v. Navajo Nation 599 U. S. ____ (2023). This case, which was the culmination of a 20-year legal battle, sought assistance and potential aid from the federal government regarding water usage and assessment. However, considering the Arizona v. Navajo Nation decision, the Navajo will have to manage this crisis alone. This paper will use frame analysis to identify the various frames the Navajo …

Emotional Expression Between Ceo And Chairperson As A Micro-Foundation Of Organizational Capabilities: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study, John Paul Stephens

Faculty Scholarship

The work relationships between CEOs and Chairpersons are key to the functioning of the firm. This study uses survey and interview data to explore how these work relationships serve as a micro-foundation for an organization's communication climate. Survey data suggested that CEO-Chairperson relationships can be characterized by emotional carrying capacity (ECC; constructively expressing more positive and negative emotions). The survey-based model further demonstrated that CEOs and Chairpersons perceive their ECC to positively predict organizational communication climate and, in turn, knowledge creation capabilities. The latter, in turn, are positively associated with firm performance. CEO-Chairperson dyadic interview data supplemented the associations identified …

The Association Between Patient Race/Ethnicity/Culture, Physician-Patient Communication, And Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review, Maazen Khan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Research shows that health disparities exist among patients of varying races, ethnicities, and cultures in the United States. Numerous studies have suggested that these disparities may be partly associated with physician-patient communication. The larger project that this thesis is a part of is a mixed-methods analysis of physician-patient communication across patient race, ethnicity, and culture. This thesis specifically excluded qualitative studies and focused on how such communication can affect health outcomes. Sixty-nine studies were identified and appraised for quality. Of these, only four associated physician-patient communication with the health outcomes of patients. These studies had inconsistent results, highlighting the gap …

Influencers Endorsement Advertising Methods On Different Social Media Platforms, Sophia R. Annaloro

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Social media marketing has opened a unique spot for Social Media Influencers. With their fame comes a lot of power over their follower's actions. Many things are at play when an influencer works with a brand to create promotional content for a product. Flow theory suggests that an abrupt advertisement does not match the pace or aesthetic of the content they are currently consuming. When one's viewing is abruptly interrupted by an advertisement, the consumers are now aggravated by the product. Distinctive characteristics of different platforms are likely to develop flow differently. This study analyzed how passive versus active product …

Crossing The “Valley Of Death”: How Climate Technology Entrepreneurs Navigate Relationships With Venture Capital Investors, Allison Lucas

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the world faces the ongoing and intensifying impacts of climate change, a group of innovative changemakers known as climate tech entrepreneurs (CTEs) are working on climate adaptation, mitigation, and/or resilience efforts by brining innovative technologies to the global market (UNFCC, 2018; Endeavor 2022). To realize the full potential of these technologies—tools, techniques, specialized knowledge or skillsets—they must be developed, deployed, and implemented at scale (IPCC, 2000). To do this, CTEs require external funding support, especially during a crucial period of the start-up lifecycle known as the “valley of death”. In this period between development and commercialization, production costs and …

What Does It Mean To Stand Out? How Visual Design And Presentation Affects Attention And Memory In A Warning Message., Nichlas Waugh, Jeannette Sutton, Laura M. Fischer, Ginder Orton

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

In emergency communication, it is essential to call attention to key information that can be interpreted quickly and remembered easily. Individuals possess a limited number of cognitive resources to allocate to message processing in an emergency. Because of this, they are more likely to allocate attention to messages they are motivated to care about, or to message attributes that stand out. In this study, we focus on how warning messages are attended to when they are viewed in a busy media environment and ask the question: “What does it mean to stand out?” To address the research questions, we used …

The Body Positivity Movement: Improving Female College Students Mental Health And Body Appreciation, Emilie Conners, Lucy Matthews, Diane R. Edmondson

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Body image concerns among college-aged women continue to be an immense issue across many college campuses. As technology advances, it has become more common for young girls and women to edit their social media photos and focus more on their flaws. Body image has a significant impact on mental and physical health; therefore, it is vital that these concerns are addressed and fought. One movement recently used as a possible way to combat this concern is the body positivity movement. However, more research is needed to understand the impact of this movement on young women. Survey data was collected via …

Trust Relationships: Tales From The Web, Magdoleen Ierlan

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Trust is an important component of any purchasing situation. In an online setting, trust becomes even more important as buyer and seller are not able to directly interact with one another. Compounding the situation is the fact that the consumer cannot directly experience the product under consideration. Organizations have attempted to address this shortcoming by allowing third parties to offer reviews of the product in question. This paper addresses how consumers process these product reviews.

By rooting this paper in trust and uncertainty reduction theory, a testable model was developed. The model was tested, and in general, more helpful reviews, …

The Impact Of Demographics And Cause Related Marketing Participation In The Black Lives Matter Movement On Company Image, Jerome Christia, Joseph Njuki

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Cause Related Marketing is an impactful marketing strategy for companies concerned about improving or maintaining their company image. This study examines the effect of cause related marketing participation Black Lives Matter movement and demographics of supporters on company image. Questionnaires from 106 respondents were collected, analyzed, and results presented. The paper reviews cause related marketing, the Black Lives Matter movement, and company image. In addition, demographic characteristics are investigated for respondent perspectives on company image. Our research indicates that there is a positive and significant relationship between cause related marketing participation in the Black Lives Matter movement on company image. …

Healthcare Marketing Communication: Media Usage And Psychographic Profiles For Baby Boomer, Gen X, And Millennial Consumers, Terry Damron, Joe Cangelosi, David Kim, Ed Ranelli

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract

Purpose Preventive health care information (PHCI), which functions as a cost-effective or cost-saving means of reducing mortality and improving life quality, also fuels consumer demand for otherwise underutilized preventive medical services, thereby improving profitability for service providers. This study provides healthcare marketing professionals with media usage insights and psychographic profiles useful for developing effective PHCI communication strategies.

Design This research is based on questionnaire responses (n = 813). Analysis of the variance (ANOVA) was used to assess and compare the importance consumers assigned to online PHCI sources. Factor analysis was used to determine whether attitude patterns tended to …

When Ballots Are Blank: Write-In’S Serving Local Government And The Implications For A Healthy And Vibrant Democracy, Thomas J. Ruter

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Our democracy depends on having a supply of candidates running for elected office, but in some instances, no one wants to run. This phenomenological study asks what the effects on a healthy and vibrant democracy are if ballots are blank and the seat is filled through write-in or appointment. Rooted in democratic theory, this study explores small, rural city elections where write-ins won election. Understudied, local governments are responsible for decisions affecting the lives of millions of people each day. Workforce scarcity, the alienation of young Americans from politics, government bashing, nasty campaigns, threats of physical harm, and other barriers …

The State Of Women In The Media: Representation, Coverage And Framing Of Women In East African Media, Aga Khan University, Graduate School Of Media And Communications

Graduate School of Media and Communications

This research examined the representation of women in East African news media organisations and the coverage and framing of women in top East African newspapers, TV and digital platforms. The study is premised on existent literature on the intricate interplay between media framing, coverage dynamics, and the representation of women in newsrooms’ workforce, given the consequential role all these play in shaping public perceptions of gender issues and shifting norms. Through a comprehensive methodology that incorporated content analysis, document analysis and interviews on the responsibilities and assigned roles of women in media organisations, the research presents findings from a content …

Investigating Teacher And Student Perceptions Of The Impact Of Chatgpt In The Classroom, Esther Abla Dorgbefu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study was an initial attempt to investigate faculty and student perceptions of the impact of ChatGPT in the classroom. The primary purpose of this study was to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the opportunities and challenges of ChatGPT in education. The following research questions were investigated to achieve this goal: (a) What fears do faculty have about using ChatGPT in education? (b) What fears do students have about the use of ChatGPT in education? (c) What are the possible benefits and consequences of using ChatGPT from students’ perspectives? (d) What are the possible benefits and consequences of using ChatGPT …

Examining Public Responses To Transgressions Of Ceos On Youtube: Social And Semantic Network Analysis, Jin A. Choi, Sejung Park

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

In what was labeled the "nut rage" incident, the vice president of Korean Air, Hyun-Ah Cho (Heather Cho), demonstrated behavior that exemplifies corporate transgression and deviation from societal moral standards toward a flight attendant aboard a flight. Such behavior instigated the public to express negative sentiment on various social media platforms. This study investigates word-of-mouth network on YouTube in response to the crisis, patterns of co-commenting activities across selected YouTube videos, as well as public responses to the incident by employing social and semantic network analysis. A total of 512 YouTube videos featuring the crisis from December 8, 2014 through …

Public Perceptions Of Peripheral Nerve Surgery On Social Media: A Narrative Review, Nicholas Obias, James Hughes

School of Podiatric Medicine - Student Research

Objective: The intent of this study is to conduct a Narrative review of the Public Perceptions of Peripheral Nerve Surgery on Social Media.

Introduction: Peripheral nerve surgery is an effective therapeutic modality for difficult diagnoses such as peripheral neuropathy, neuromas, and complex regional pain syndrome. This study aims to explore public perceptions of peripheral nerve surgery on Instagram, a popular social media site. Information on posts such as authorship, relevance, accuracy, and purpose were collected. Conclusions from this study may direct efforts to enhance medical advice and improve patient education for extremity nerve surgeons.

Methods: Searches were conducted in September …

I Can't Look Away: Parasocial Relationships With Dance Mom Characters Across Tv And Social Media, Kennedy Kay Pirlet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2019, Dance Moms ended its airing on Lifetime at the completion of the eighth season. However, the show and its cast members remained popular on social media platforms like TikTok, but we still didn’t know the relationship between watching the show and following cast members on multiple social media platforms or who audiences were closest to. To answer this question, the celebrity-persona parasocial interaction scale and experience of parasocial interaction scale were utilized. These scales were used in this study and found reliable. Snowball recruitment focusing on social media platforms and emails yielded 180 eligible sample participants. Through a …

Gun Control Agendas In Networked Digital Environment: An Intermedia Comparison Between News Outlets, Activism Media, And Ephemeral Websites, Qian Li, Chun Shao, Shawn Walker, K. Hazel Kwon

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores the intermedia agenda-setting of the U.S. gun control movement in 2018, with a specific focus on the role of activism/advocacy media and ephemeral websites in shaping the movement discourse in news outlets. Structural topic modeling and cross-lagged correlation analyses of the Facebook URLs Share dataset show that activism/advocacy media played an important role in proposing unique agendas and aligning them with other news outlets. Meanwhile, ephemeral websites were prone to containing conspiratorial information, which could have been purposive to influence the movement. The study provides empirical insights into how various media actors interact to shape social movement …

Mapping Media Literacy Impact In The U.S.: A Review Of Literature And Call For Equity, Shannon Burth, Emily Riewestahl, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Bobbie Foster, Patrick R. Johnson, Paul Mihailidis, Melissa Tully

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

While media literacy has grown to encompass many topics to provide learners with the skills required to be active citizens and savvy media consumers, there is no clear conceptual framework to define ‘impact.’ This review of literature aims to understand how recent U.S.-based media literacy scholarship defines impact. We analyzed 300 articles published from 2010 to 2020 on the impact of media literacy initiatives in the U.S. We propose the 6 E’s as a framework that captures six categories that media literacy researchers use to describe the impact of media literacy interventions: Evaluation Outcomes, Enquiry, Expression, Experiential Learning, Engaged Citizenship, …

Identifying Barriers: Analysis Of Federal Law Enforcement Social Media And Recruitment Efforts, Reena Desai, Edgar Greer, Meghan Waldron

Doctor of Education Capstones

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Richmond Field Office seeks to diversify their applicant pool. In an effort to provide information on how to meet this need, our doctoral team analyzed the social media sites of six federal law enforcement agencies to include: the Federal Bureau of Investigation- Headquarters, Federal Bureau of Investigation-Richmond Field Office, Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the United States Marshal Service. By examining a 60-day window of images and their associated text on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram accounts, we wanted to gain a stronger understanding of …

“Just Holding That Space”: Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy To Create Counterspaces For Black College Students In Aanapisi/Hsi Classrooms, Nicholas B. Lacy, Yea-Wen Chen, Damariyé L. Smith

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Black college students continue to face the specter of anti-Blackness which creates additional barriers to success and flourishing in higher education. This study investigates how instructors in higher education can provide racial equity to Black students in AANAPISI/HSI classrooms through counterspaces. We use culturally relevant pedagogy to investigate the experiences of 21 Black college students at an AANAPISI/HSI to understand better how higher education instructors can utilize counterspaces, places where Black college students can challenge dominant discourses and create a collegial learning environment. We identified three counterspace themes: (1) Mitigate Eurocentric Pedagogy, (2) Employ Black and Critical Scholarship, and (3) …

Using A Career Research Project In The Introductory Communication Course To Develop Agency, Self-Efficacy, Self-Determination, And Adaptability In Career Exploration, Stephen A. Klien, John Elmer, Patrick J. Rottinghaus

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Helping students make connections between the disciplinary study of communication and the development of student agency in career exploration can be an important part of the mission of the introductory course in communication. This study incorporates social cognitive career theory to examine the effects of a semester-long communication career awareness research project as an intervention in an introductory communication course at a large public university in the Midwest. Survey data from 83 undergraduate students were analyzed to measure perceptions of self-efficacy, perceived competence, autonomy support, and adaptability for career exploration. The results of paired samples t-tests found significant gains on …

Intergenerational Connections: Us College Students’ Attitudes And Expectations Toward Older Adults And Aging In An Online Critical Community Engagement Project, Sandra L. Faulkner, Madison Pollino, Jaclyn Shetterly, Wendy K. Watson

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

We present a critically focused, semester-long community engagement project entitled Intergenerational Connections as a form of critical interpersonal and family communication pedagogy (CIFCP). The project utilized Zoom to connect small groups of undergraduate students in the US enrolled in a course on relational communication with older adults in a long-term care facility to dialogue about close relationships. We were interested in how dialogue across generations maintained or altered students’ attitudes and expectations about communicating with older adults and analyzed student reflections before, during, and after the dialogues using a turning point analysis. The study was framed using Social Identity Theory …

Editor’S Note To Volume 8 Of The Journal Of Communication Pedagogy: Never Stop Learning, Renee Kaufmann

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This is the editor’s Note to Volume 8 of the Journal of Communication Pedagogy.