Zexin "Marsha" Ma

I am a communication scientist, exploring the intersection of health communication, persuasion, and media psychology. My primary research examines the processing and persuasive effects of health narratives.

My recent projects include developing and testing the effectiveness of narrative pictorial warning labels to communicate health risks, determining the impact of emerging media (e.g., VR, AR) on narrative influence, understanding online health-related narrative misinformation, and identifying the role of narratives in countering misinformation. I currently serve as the Principal Investigator on an R03 award from the National Institutes of Health. 

My research has been published in top communication and interdisciplinary journals, including Human Communication Research, Media Psychology, Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Health Education & Behavior, and Computers in Human Behavior. I currently serve on the editorial board of Health Communication.