Papers by Jayeon (Janey) Lee
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2024
In the current era, numerous human-like virtual influencers (VI) on social media promote brands w... more In the current era, numerous human-like virtual influencers (VI) on social media promote brands without immediately revealing their non-human nature, intending for viewers to realize it later. This marketing strategy raises a question regarding their endorsement effectiveness. Grounded in Computers are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm, this online experiment employs a quota sample of Korean adults (N ¼ 128) to explore how the timing of VI identity disclosure (before vs. after exposure to sponsored content) affects viewers' attitudes toward the VI and, subsequently, their intentions to purchase the endorsed brand or spread word-of-mouth. Additionally, based on the match-up hypothesis, this study examines how perceived influencer-brand fit impacts these relationships. Moderated mediation analyses reveal that viewer attitudes mediate the relationship between disclosure timing and behavioral intentions, with VI-brand fit significantly moderating this mediation. The findings underscore the negative effects of delayed VI identity disclosure and emphasize the critical importance of a strong influencer-brand match.
Asian Communication Research, 2021
Guided by research demonstrating the impact of social identity threat on physical health and the ... more Guided by research demonstrating the impact of social identity threat on physical health and the source magnification framework, we investigated how hate tweets from multiple sources, relative to hate tweets from a how hate tweets from multiple sources, relative to hate tweets from a single source, influence target group members’ health-related behavior—specifically, food choice. We conducted an online experiment with a sample of Asian Twitter users in the United States. Participants were randomly assigned to view an identical set of anti-Asian hate tweets either from a single individual or from multiple individuals. Subsequently, in an ostensibly unrelated task masked as a marketing survey, participants customized a pizza by selecting toppings from a list presenting an equal number of healthy and unhealthy toppings. We found that participants exposed to multiple-source hate tweets selected a greater number of unhealthy toppings than those exposed to single-source hate tweets. We also found that group identification was a significant moderator, with those lower in group identification more likely to choose unhealthy toppings when exposed to multiple-source hate tweets. Our findings suggest that exposure to multiple-source hate messages, relative to single-source hate messages, may exert a detrimental influence on target group members’ health to a greater extent, while highlighting a possible buffering role of group identification.
Asian Communication Research, 2021
While there are growing concerns among Americans about widening partisan gaps, some claim that th... more While there are growing concerns among Americans about widening partisan gaps, some claim that the perceptions of polarization are exaggerated. According to the theory of false polarization, people tend to assume that opposing parties are more ideologically extreme than they actually are. Hate speech expressed and disseminated through social media, which provokes anger among the audience, might be a factor that drives such heightened perceptions. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE model) and the affect-cognition literature, this experimental study (N = 480) investigates whether exposure to hate messages on Twitter (i.e., hate tweets) targeting Whites triggers negative emotions (i.e., anger and fear), thereby increasing the perceptions of political polarization among Whites. This study also examines whether the effect of hate tweets decreases when the source is individuated with personal information disclosed on the profile. A conditional process analysis reveals that exposure to hate tweets significantly provokes negative emotions and heightens perceived polarization through
anger, and that source individuation significantly moderates the angerprovoking effect of hate tweets. These findings indicate that online hate speech may have implications for political perception and anger can play a significant role in the process. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies, 2023
The role of the media in informing the public has long been a central topic in journalism studies... more The role of the media in informing the public has long been a central topic in journalism studies. Given that social media platforms have become today’s major source of news, it is important to understand the impact of social media use on citizens’ knowledge of current affairs. While people get news from multiple platforms throughout the day, most research treats social media as a single entity or examines only one or two major platforms ignoring newer social media platforms. Drawing on news snacking framework, this study investigates how using some of today’s most popular social media platforms predicts users’ current affairs knowledge, with particular attention to Snapchat and its news section Discover. A survey conducted in the United States (N=417) demonstrated that each of the platforms is distinct: Twitter is a strongly positive predictor of knowledge, Facebook a marginally significant negative predictor, Reddit a significantly negative predictor and Instagram not a significant predictor. Overall Snapchat use has no significant association with users’ knowledge of current affairs, whereas Discover use has a negative relationship. Further analysis revealed that mere exposure to Snapchat is positively related to soft-news knowledge and attention to Discover is negatively related to hard-news knowledge.
Journalism Studies, 2020
Journalists are increasingly revealing their personal and professional identities through social ... more Journalists are increasingly revealing their personal and professional identities through social media. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this experimental study (N = 267) examines the influence of a journalist's self-disclosure through social media on audience perceptions of objectivity and intention to consume the journalist's news product. Analyses reveal that journalists' self-disclosure positively affects news-consumption intention while negatively influencing objectivity perceptions. The positive direct effect of self-disclosure on audience behavioral intention is particularly strong when self-disclosure is coupled with a journalist's direct social media engagement with audience members, but this positive effect is counterbalanced by a sizeable negative indirect effect on behavioral intention through perceived objectivity as mediator. The findings of this study present a complex picture that places a news organization's social media practices in direct conflict with its traditional normative ideals, and its ultimate effect on audiences is rather positive than negative. Practical implications of journalists' social media activities are discussed.
Public Relations Review - published online ahead of print
The present study aims to contribute to the agenda setting theory and political campaign literatu... more The present study aims to contribute to the agenda setting theory and political campaign literature by examining candidates' tweets and their effects on voter reactions in the context of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Content analysis of Donald Trump's and Hillary Clinton's 3-month tweets (N = 1575) revealed that half of their tweets were attacks, and those attacks were effective in attracting favorites and retweets for both candidates. Their tweets reflected their issue agendas highlighted on campaign websites, and they mainly emphasized issues owned by their parties in both venues. Some of the issues Trump stressed in his tweets (i.e., media bias and Clinton's alleged dishonesty) drew significantly more favorites and retweets, suggesting public agenda setting possibilities through Twitter. None of the issues Clinton emphasized were significant predictors of favorites and retweets. However, visual elements such as pictures and videos were effective in bringing voter reactions for Clinton. While Clinton sent twice as many tweets as Trump did during the three months, Trump's tweet received in average three times as many favorites and retweets as Clinton's. Overall, the results show that Trump was more successful than Clinton in drawing public attention to preferred issues through Twitter.
While social networking sites (SNSs) have become popular news platforms where people receive and ... more While social networking sites (SNSs) have become popular news platforms where people receive and post news, little is known about why some people are relatively more active in receiving and posting news on SNSs. Based on the uses and gratification perspective, this study investigates (a) the direct and indirect effects of online news seeking on SNS news posting, through SNS news exposure, (b) the role of technology adoption as a moderator between online news seeking and SNS news exposure, and (c) the role of media bias perceptions and partisanship strength as moderators between SNS news exposure and SNS news posting. Analysis of 2010 Pew Research Center Media Consumption Survey data (N ¼ 2,259) reveal that online news seeking significantly predicts SNS news posting, both directly and indirectly. While technology adoption was not a significant moderator, media bias perception and partisanship strength significantly interacted with SNS news exposure in predicting SNS news posting.
Studies have found that female politicians tend to emphasize their masculine personality traits a... more Studies have found that female politicians tend to emphasize their masculine personality traits and feminine issues to counteract damaging gender stereotypes. As Twitter has emerged as a major digital PR tool for politics over the last decade, it provides a text to examine political candidates' PR strategies. Focusing on the cases of the two then-front runners for the 2016 U.S. presidential election – Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the present study examines differences in the ways in which they self-present and communicate with voters through their websites and Twitter. Content analysis of their websites and sampled tweets (N = T295, C228) reveals significant differences in their emphasis on traits and issues, main content of tweet, main source of retweet, multimedia use, and the level of civility. While Clinton emphasizes her masculine traits and feminine issues more than her feminine traits and masculine issues, Trump gives more weight to masculine issues, paying no particular attention to his traits. The differences were found consistently on their websites and on Twitter. Trump utilizes user-generated content as sources of his tweets significantly more often; while three quarters of Clinton's tweets are original content, half of Trump's tweets are retweets of and replies to citizens. The most popular content is opinion about public issues for Clinton, and others' endorsements or supportive quotes for Trump. One out of ten (10.5%) Trump tweets include uncivil wording. While Clinton actively utilizes multimedia such as graphics, videos, and photos, or links to other webpages (58.3%), 79.3% of Trump tweets are text-only.
While the ways heads of states are visually portrayed in their official
photos may differ dependi... more While the ways heads of states are visually portrayed in their official
photos may differ depending on their cultures, particularly whether they have an
individualistic culture or a collectivistic culture, little scholarly attention has been
paid to examining such differences. The present study investigates how US and
South Korean presidents, Barack Obama and Myung-bak Lee, strategically presented
themselves during their first year of presidency. Analysis of White House and Blue
House photos (N = 467) reveals significant differences between the individualistic
country (US) and the collectivistic country (South Korea). While the US uses a variety
of techniques to frame Obama as a compassionate family man supported by ordinary
citizens, South Korea relies heavily on the statesmanship frame to portray Lee
as a world-class leader. Overall, the two administrations had different approaches
to photos: one as storytelling, and the other as a ritual.
Guided by regulatory focus theory and framing, the present study analyzes how U.S. and British ma... more Guided by regulatory focus theory and framing, the present study analyzes how U.S. and British mainstream news organizations (N = 12) frame the current social media environment in their social media guidelines. The results indicate that news organizations dominantly frame the new environment as a risk to guard against, warning of the possible harm to their reputations and journalism norms such as accuracy and objectivity (prevention-focused), rather than as an opportunity to actively take advantage of (promotion-focused).
The present study proposes a multiple-mediation model in which the use of social-networking sites... more The present study proposes a multiple-mediation model in which the use of social-networking sites (SNS) or social media, is significantly related to political view change and issue involvement through users' information-seeking motivations, cross-cutting exposure, and cross-cutting discussion. Analysis of national data (N = 684) indicates that the frequent use of SNS has significant positive effects on both view change and issue involvement through users' political information-seeking motivations and willing discussion across lines of difference by actively expressing their views on others' posts they disagree with. According to the proposed model, frequent SNS use has no significant influence on view change or issue involvement when the user does not use the media for information-seeking or cross-cutting discussion. These findings demonstrate that informational use and participation in dangerous (i.e., heterogeneous) political discussion are necessary conditions of such meaningful consequences for democracy as political view change and issue involvement.
As social media become popular news platforms, journalists and news organizations have been keen ... more As social media become popular news platforms, journalists and news organizations have been keen to capitalize on their potential to build and maintain audiences. However, little is known about the extent to which these efforts may have adverse implications. Based on normative theories, the present study investigates the influence of journalists' social media activities (specifically, self-disclosure and interaction with other users) on audience perceptions of journalists. An experiment (N = 267) revealed that: Although both journalists' self-disclosure and interaction positively influenced audience perceptions of the journalists in the personal dimension, interaction negatively influenced audience perceptions in the professional dimension; and the perceptions transferred to perceptions of news products, thereby mediating the relationship between journalists' social media activities and audience news perceptions.
Social information processing theory claims that computer-mediated communication users form impre... more Social information processing theory claims that computer-mediated communication users form impressions of others by utilizing available information in the web environment. As social networking sites offer a wider variety of cues, however, the environment has become increasingly complex. This study explores which cues influence computer-mediated communication users in a cue-rich environment. More specifically, based on the social identification and deindividuation model, we examined not only how others' opinions but also how the perceived age of the commenters and candidates influenced young people's impressions of political candidates. Participants (N ¼ 520) were randomly placed into a 2 (positive=negative comments) Â 2 (younger=older commenters) Â 2 (younger=older candidate) design and exposed to a fictitious candidate's Facebook profile with unknown Jayeon Lee (Ph.D.
While social information processing theory (SIP) asserts that Internet users form impressions of ... more While social information processing theory (SIP) asserts that Internet users form impressions of others by using available cues in the web environment, questions remain regarding individual differences in dependence on such cues. Focusing on others' opinion cues, this study investigates the role of internal political self-efficacy (IPSE) and need for cognition (NFC) as potential moderators of the cue effect. Participants (N = 251) were randomly exposed to a fictitious political candidate's Facebook profile displaying either positive or negative comments and then asked to rate perceived trustworthiness and expertise of the candidate. The results indicated that although others' opinions were powerful cues, their influence was moderated by IPSE; individuals with higher IPSE were less influenced by others' opinions. The two-way interaction was significantly moderated by NFC such that those with low IPSE and low NFC were most susceptible to others' influences, thereby indicating a significant three-way interaction among IPSE, NFC, and others' opinion cues.
Drawing on gender-role theories and considering the potential new media environments brought to t... more Drawing on gender-role theories and considering the potential new media environments brought to the dynamics of strategic political communication, this study explores the nature of US Midwestern congresswomen's strategic online self-presentations in comparison to those of congressmen. The discourse analysis presented in this study shows that in their official online biographies, that is, as given on websites provided by the US government, congresswomen devoted more space to describing their own personal traits than did congressmen. In particular, women tended to stress the masculine aspects of their personalities by using so-called masculine words such as tough and fighter much more than their male counterparts did. Such masculine terminology was scarcely evident in the biographies of male House members in the same states and committees as the female members. These findings imply that female politicians are more active in strategically presenting themselves as tough leaders in what appears to be a self-conscious effort to counteract detrimental gender stereotypes.
Content analyses have focused on the messages offered in political TV satire, and the communicati... more Content analyses have focused on the messages offered in political TV satire, and the communication discipline is amassing solid empirical evidence concerning a range of effects derived from this style of programming. However, there is remarkably little understanding of who is tuning in to view political TV satire beyond the audience being dominated by a younger demographic. It is imperative to have a better understanding of the audience for these programs in order to place any effects in their proper context. A statewide survey (N 0305) was conducted to identify predictors of political TV satire viewing. Analyses identify four variables which are particularly important in predicting political TV satire exposure: age, exposure to satirical sitcoms, exposure to liberal cable news programming, and the newly explicated and operationalized Affinity for Political Humor scale.
An 11-item Affinity for Political Humor (AFPH) scale is theorized as a higher-order latent factor... more An 11-item Affinity for Political Humor (AFPH) scale is theorized as a higher-order latent factor with four lower-order latent factors (incongruity, superiority, anxiety reduction, and social connection). The theorized measurement model and several alternative models are tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In addition, reliability and validity assessments are provided. Analyses are conducted using four data sets collected between December 2009 and March 2011 (total N = 1860. Results reveal the theorized model to fit the data well, but also indicate that an alternative model (four lower-order latent variables only) retains the strongest and most consistent fit across all four data sets. Reliability assessments reveal strong internal consistency for the 11-item AFPH scale, as well as for each of the four sub-dimensions. In addition, correlational analyses reveal the AFPH measures to retain strong validity (i.e., statistically significant and positive correlations with political TV satire consumption).
This chapter critically reflects on the state of the art in research on the political relevance o... more This chapter critically reflects on the state of the art in research on the political relevance of entertainment media. It is argued that most research on this important topic has been based on the ideas of understanding or consistency. While these lines of research also need to be expanded, the authors call for bringing the hedonic principle into the fold as a primary explanatory principle for the study of political entertainment media. Moreover, the chapter stresses the need to expand the range of entertainment media content/genres/forms that are investigated for their political influence. As an example, the authors reflect on the political influence of graphic novels in this essay. In addition, the authors highlight the importance of an international perspective and of comparative work in this area of study. Only when research expands in such a manner to include these lines of research substantive judgments concerning the political relevance of entertainment media will be forthcoming.
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Papers by Jayeon (Janey) Lee
anger, and that source individuation significantly moderates the angerprovoking effect of hate tweets. These findings indicate that online hate speech may have implications for political perception and anger can play a significant role in the process. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
photos may differ depending on their cultures, particularly whether they have an
individualistic culture or a collectivistic culture, little scholarly attention has been
paid to examining such differences. The present study investigates how US and
South Korean presidents, Barack Obama and Myung-bak Lee, strategically presented
themselves during their first year of presidency. Analysis of White House and Blue
House photos (N = 467) reveals significant differences between the individualistic
country (US) and the collectivistic country (South Korea). While the US uses a variety
of techniques to frame Obama as a compassionate family man supported by ordinary
citizens, South Korea relies heavily on the statesmanship frame to portray Lee
as a world-class leader. Overall, the two administrations had different approaches
to photos: one as storytelling, and the other as a ritual.
anger, and that source individuation significantly moderates the angerprovoking effect of hate tweets. These findings indicate that online hate speech may have implications for political perception and anger can play a significant role in the process. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
photos may differ depending on their cultures, particularly whether they have an
individualistic culture or a collectivistic culture, little scholarly attention has been
paid to examining such differences. The present study investigates how US and
South Korean presidents, Barack Obama and Myung-bak Lee, strategically presented
themselves during their first year of presidency. Analysis of White House and Blue
House photos (N = 467) reveals significant differences between the individualistic
country (US) and the collectivistic country (South Korea). While the US uses a variety
of techniques to frame Obama as a compassionate family man supported by ordinary
citizens, South Korea relies heavily on the statesmanship frame to portray Lee
as a world-class leader. Overall, the two administrations had different approaches
to photos: one as storytelling, and the other as a ritual.