Faculty Research Areas

Faculty members of the Department of Communication Studies are active researchers who showcase their work in highly regarded international journals in communication studies and related fields such as health, marketing, management, and technology. We serve on the editorial boards of prestigious journals such as Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Mobile Media & Communication, Health Communication, Leadership, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Brand Management, Culture, Health & Sexuality, Personal Relationships, Asian Journal of Communication, Communication & Society, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, The Journal of Information Society, Journal of Women & Aging as well as the editor-in-chief of Young Consumers.

These five areas represent the department's strengths in research.
 

Branding Communication

Several faculty members are leading experts on celebrity endorsement and KOL influences, customer-brand relationships on social media, gamification and brand management, advertising and branding creativity, young consumers and media.

Faculty members: Kara ChanRegina ChenKineta HungVivienne LeungAngela Mak, Jiemin Looi
 

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility and Reputation

Our faculty members regularly publish works on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in emerging markets, CSR via social media, employee engagement and volunteering, influencer marketing in CSR, creating shared value, competitive advantage, and social impact, IT attributes and CSR communication, CO media presence and corporate reputation, and crisis communication and corporate reputation.

Faculty members: Jos BartelsRegina ChenKineta HungAngela MakKeon Young ParkElina Tachkova, Lola Xie, Anfan Chen
 

Health and Risk Communication

Several faculty members are devoted researchers in this area. They publish scholarly works on health message design and campaign, health information seeking, use and effects of mobile health technology, social support, social norm and smoking, workplace health and safety, health campaign using social media, health communication theory construction, and active ageing.

Faculty members: Kara ChanLeanne ChangVivienne LeungVivian SheerElina TachkovaDominic YeoVivian Zhou, Ran Wei, Jiemin Looi, Lola Xie, Anfan Chen
 

Leadership and Organizational Communication

Our colleagues’ work includes personal leadership on social media, organization-stakeholder dialogue and outcomes, leader-member exchange at the workplace, leadership framing, organizational change and leadership, communication constitution of the organization, and organizational leadership theory construction and application, leadership communication in crises.

Faculty members: Jos BartelsRegina ChenVivian SheerDominic Yeo
 

Technology-Mediated Communication

Faculty members who conduct research in this area enquire about the relationships between technology and communication, including mediated workplace relationship communication, social capital via social media, dynamics and consequences of online vacation networks, social media communication, inter-organizational relationships and communication network, media affordances, and on the impact of technology on work routines and online gaming. The implications of this line of research pertain to media use.

Faculty members: Jos BartelsLeanne ChangRegina ChenAngela MakVivian SheerStephanie TsangDominic YeoFlorin SerbanVivian ZhouRan WeiJiemin LooiLola XieAnfan Chen