Research

Online Dating Project: This project uses a mixed method approach to examine military officers’ use of an online dating app and how its use influences their mental health. 
 
Researchers: Katie, Narges, Debby 
 
 
Skin Cancer Project: This project explores how different context and delivery format may affect college students’ perception and behavioral intentions regarding skin cancer prevention efforts.  
 
Researchers: Debby, Narges, Katie, Aaron, Naessiamba 
 
 
PSI Project: This project examines the parasocial interactions that viewers have with social media influencers using a survey method. The first study focuses on the self-esteem and self-confidence aspect of parasocial relationships and how they would influence people’s mental health outcomes. The second study applies an attachment theory to explain how different characteristics of social media influencers would affect viewers’ PSI and in turn, have an impact on their offline relationships. 
 
Researchers: Debby, Katie, Narges, Juliana, Sogol 
 
 
Social Media Misinformation Project: This line of research comprises of a series of experimental studies conducted in the lab with and without eye tracking technology. The first study uses inoculation theory to design different misinformation correction messages and tests their effectiveness in the context of HPV vaccination on Twitter. Another project uses communication theories such as framing and exemplification to evaluate HPV misinformation correction messages on Facebook. Humor appeals are also used as a message strategy to combat climate change misinformation and develop its effective correction strategies.   
 
Researchers: Nate Brophy 
 
 
FDA Health Campaign Eye Tracking Project: This project investigates the relationships among visual attention, cognitive and affective message responses, and different cessation-related outcomes including readiness to quit, intention to quit, and intention to seek further information. An experiment was designed with four different ads from the ongoing Every Try Counts (ETC) campaign as message stimuli. The ETC campaign is a public health campaign designed and implemented by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The study recruited current adult smokers as target participants, and their eye gaze patterns were captured by an eye tracker to understand visual attention patterns and also to predict message responses and cessation-related behavioral intentions.
 
Researchers: Nate Brophy, Christian Seiter, Adebanke Adebayo
 
 
Climate Health Project: This project examines individuals’ visual attention patterns to a series of messages regarding negative consequences of climate change on public health with eye tracking technology. Message stimuli include informational posters about health impacts of extreme weather events, droughts, mosquitos and ticks, and mental health challenges.  
 
Researchers: Katherine Hawkins, Kim Mai