Research

The Communication, Health, and Relational Media (CHARM) Lab examines the psychological and social mechanisms underlying message effects in digital environments. By integrating behavioral metrics—such as eye tracking—with self-reported data, we analyze how interactive experiences shape perceptions and behaviors within the contexts of health, environmental risk, and emerging technologies.

Our research is organized into three complementary pillars designed to bridge theoretical advancement with practical application. We welcome interdisciplinary collaboration with scholars and community partners dedicated to communication and social impact.

 

Pillar I: Communication Processes & Psychosocial Mechanisms

 

Research Question: How do cognitive, emotional, and motivational factors shape the way individuals pay attention to and process information?

 

  • FDA Campaign Eye-Tracking Project: This project uses eye-tracking technology to analyze how visual attention and emotional effort during the campaign message exposure drive information seeking intentions and tobacco cessation outcomes.

 

  • Climate Health Eye-Tracking Project: This research examines individuals' visual attention patterns to a series of climate health messages using eye-tracking technology.

 

Pillar II: Strategic Health Messaging & Media Literacy

 

Research Question: How do message and intervention design interact with individuals’ characteristics to influence (mis)perceptions and behavior change? 

 

  • Social Media Misinformation Projects: This line of research comprises a series of experimental studies—conducted both with and without eye-tracking technology—to evaluate how inoculation theory, framing, and humor appeals are used to design effective misinformation correction strategies on social media.

 

  • Skin Cancer Messaging Project: This study employs an experimental design to test the efficacy of message content and delivery, using AI-generated podcasts as a manipulation to measure outcomes such as source credibility, risk perception, and skin cancer prevention intentions among Gen Z populations.

 

  • AI Imagery Project: This study examines how AI-generated message features—such as humor appeals and source types—work alongside individual motivations to influence how people perceive and respond to health risk-related outcomes.

 

Pillar III: Interactive Technology & Relational Media

 

Research Question: How do the features of interactive technologies, such as AI and social media, transform the dynamics of social relationships and connections?

 

  • Public Understanding of AI Use Project: This project examines how the public has been using emerging AI tools in their daily social lives and how these uses enhance different aspects of their quality of life.

 

  • Parasocial Relationship Project: This study explores how social media influencers and their characteristics influence user friendship preferences.

 

  • Military Identity and Dating Project: This project employs in-depth interviews to study how specialized populations, such as military personnel, manage their professional and personal identities while engaging in romantic relationships in online dating environments.