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 Communication Theory, Journal of Communication, Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research, Mobile Media & Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Leadership, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Brand Management, Personal Relationships, Chinese Journal of Communication, Asian Journal of Communication, Communication & Society, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Journal of Information Society, Journal of Women & Aging as well as the editor-in-chief of Young Consumers and associate editor of Frontiers in Communication.
These five areas represent the department 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 Chan, Terri Chan, Regina Chen, Kineta Hung, Vivienne Leung, Angela Mak
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 Bartels, Terri Chan, Regina Chen, Kineta Hung, Angela Mak, Keon Young Park, Elina Tachkova
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 Chan, Leanne Chang, Vivienne Leung, Vivian Sheer, Elina Tachkova, Dominic Yeo, Vivian Zhou
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 Bartels, Regina Chen, Vivian Sheer, Dominic 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 Bartels, Leanne Chang, Regina Chen, Angela Mak, Vivian Sheer, Stephanie Tsang, Dominic Yeo, Florin Serban, Vivian Zhou