Research

Publication

9. Ja Kyung Seo, Hye Jin Yoon, Hanyoung Kim, & Jeong-Yeob Han. (2025). Sequencing of humor and risk information in social media public service announcements on vaccines: The moderating role of vaccination calculation. Journal of Social Marketing, 15(2-3), 338-362. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-06-2024-0146

8. Ja Kyung Seo, Hanyoung Kim, Hye Jin Yoon, Youngjee Ko, Jeong-Yeob Han, & Youngji Seo. (2025). Are interactive PSA formats always effective? The interaction between empathy-inducing message content, carousel formats, and connectedness with nature in pro-environmental campaigns. International Journal of Advertising, 1-33. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2025.2470537

7. Ja Kyung Seo & Hye Jin Yoon. (2025). Promoting mindful consumption through a chatbot with an experiential mind. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 42(4), 498-511. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-05-2024-6844

6. Hanyoung Kim, Hye Jin Yoon, Jeong-Yeob Han, Ja Kyung Seo, & Youngjee Ko. (2024). The order effects of humor and risk messaging strategies in public service advertisements: The moderating role of trust in science and mediating role of psychological reactance. International Journal of Advertising, 1-29. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2024.2430853

5. Jeong-Yeob Han, Hanyoung Kim, Hye Jin Yoon, & Ja Kyung Seo. (2024). How do individuals with conspiracy beliefs respond to humorous public service announcements promoting COVID-19 vaccination? The role of scientific consensus and vaccine confidence. International Journal of Communication, 18, 2456-2478.

4. Youngji Seo, Hanyoung Kim, Youngjee Ko, Hye Jin Yoon, Jeong-Yeob Han, Jongmin Lee & Ja Kyung Seo. (2025). The power of “Likes”: the effects of “Liked By” and number of likes cues on perceived descriptive norms and behavioral intention to receive the flu vaccine. Journal of Marketing Communications, 31(3), 284-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2023.2235753

3. Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee & Ja Kyung Seo. (2023). The persuasive effects of narrative PSAs on COVID-19 vaccination intention: The mediating role of empathy and psychological reactance. Journal of Social Marketing, 13(4), 490-509. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-09-2022-0185

2. Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee, Jeong-Yeob Han, Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, & Ja Kyung Seo (2023). Using humor to increase COVID-19 vaccination intention for the unvaccinated: The moderating role of trust in government. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 22(5), 1084-1095. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2181  

1. Cho, J., Kim, S., Jeong, G., Kim, C.H., & Seo, J. K. (2021). Investigation of Influential Factors of Predicting Individuals’ Use and Non-Use of Diet and Fitness Apps on Smartphones: Application of Machine Learning Algorithm (XGBoost). American Journal of Health Behavior, 45(1), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.45.1.9 

Conference Proceedings/Presentations

• Kyung Won Cho, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hanyoung Kim, Ja Kyung Seo, & Hye Jin Yoon. (2025, August). The Role of Message Format and Content: How Carousel Format and Verbal Anchoring Shape Audience Responses to Environmental Public Service Announcements on Social Media. Paper to be presented at the Advertising Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA.

• Hye Jin Yoon, Hanyoung Kim, Ja Kyung Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Youngjee Ko, & Youngji Seo. (2025, June). Fighting Anti-Vaccine Memes with Memes: Individual’s Past Disease Experience Effects. Paper presented to the International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA) Annual Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

• Jiyoung Yeon, Hye Jin Yoon, Hanyoung Kim, Jeong-Yeob Han, Ja Kyung Seo, Youngji Seo, & Youngjee Ko. (2025, March). Fighting Back with Memes: The Effect of Meme-based Public Service Announcements on Counter-arguing Anti-vaccine Memes Across Different Attack Types. Paper presented to the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

• Ja Kyung Seo & Hye Jin Yoon. (2024, August). Conversations with A Pro-Environmental Chatbot with an Experiential Mind: Engaging and Persuading through Eeriness and Amazement. Paper to be presented to Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Abstract: Amid escalating environmental pollution, conservation organizations strive to involve the public in combating the issue. This study investigated how a chatbot with a higher experiential mind engages people in interaction with a pro-environmental chatbot, leading to more successful persuasion. Findings suggest that a chatbot with a higher level of experiential mind (vs. lower) simultaneously triggers eeriness and amazement, leading to higher cognitive absorption and a positive message attitude. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

• Hanyoung Kim, Weilu Zhang, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Ja Kyung Seo, & Jiyoung Yeon. (2024, August). AI Chatbot Use for Mental Health: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Stress Reduction Through Perceived Message Contingency and Social Support. Paper to be presented to Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Conference, Philadelphia, PA. ** 2nd place top paper

• Ja Kyung Seo & Hye Jin Yoon. (2024, July). How does a chatbot with an experiential mind persuade people? The mediating roles of emotions and cognitive absorption. Paper presented to the 2024 Korean Advertising Society Global Colloquium, Seoul, Korea. ** HSAD Global Research Award

• Hye Jin Yoon, Yoon-joo Lee, & Ja Kyung Seo. (2024, July). Increasing Effectiveness of Green Demarketing Campaigns for Sustainable Fashion Brands using the SHIFT Framework. Paper to be presented to Global Fashion Marketing Conference (GFMC), Milan, Italy.

• Ja Kyung Seo, Wenqing Zhao, & Itai Himelboim. (2024, June). Who Can Help? A Social Network Approach to Understanding Alcoholism Social Support at the r/stopdrinking Subreddit. Paper to be presented to International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) Sunbelt Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland

Abstract: Alcoholism impacts not only the person with alcohol use disorder but also the general public. Social support may help people with the disorder be less reliant on alcohol. The study brings together social support and social network conceptual framework to examine the relation between structural network characteristics of the r/stopdrinking subreddit and people’s reported sobriety. Posts of all 2,662 users who pinned sober time badges in the r/stopdrinking subreddit during the research period, along with their 15,928 replies, were collected and used to form a network where users are nodes and replies are links. Social network analysis was used to calculate four centrality metrics: in-degree, out-degree, PageRank, and clustering coefficient. Multiple regression analyses tested the relationship between these SNA indicators and reported sober time. PageRank centrality, which measures the extent to which one receives support from other central users, was positively associated with reported sober time. Furthermore, traditional measures—the amount of support given and received—not only were not associated with increased sobriety time but exhibited a negative relationship. The clustering coefficient, which indicates the density of one’s immediate network, also exhibited a negative relationship with sobriety time. The study expands the social support literature by highlighting the importance of understanding one’s unique position in a social network and offers insights into leveraging Reddit support communities. 

• Hanyoung Kim, Weilu Zhang, Ja Kyung Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, & Jiyoung Yeon. (2024, June). Talking with AI about Mental Health: The Role of Perceived Message Contingency and Outcome Relevant Involvement. Paper to be presented to Human-Machine Communication Division of the International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference, Gold Coast, Australia. ** Top paper award

• Ja Kyung Seo, Hanyoung Kim, Youngjee Ko, Jeong-Yeob Han, & Jongmin Lee. (2024, March). Are Interactive PSA Formats Always Effective? The Role of Connectedness with Nature in the Interplay between Message Content and PSA Formats for Pro-Environmental Campaigns. Paper presented to American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Conference, Portland, OR

Abstract: Today’s advanced media landscape offers opportunities to utilize more interactive formats to deliver pro-environmental public service announcements (PSAs) to the public. However, a format with more interactivity—such as a carousel format—may not always yield positive persuasion outcomes since it can deliver messages in an engaging manner but has a risk of distracting people from fully processing essential information in message content (Oh and Sundar 2015). The present research investigates the effective combination of message content and its delivery format in conjunction with an individual’s connectedness with nature. An online experiment with a 2 (complete vs. moderate verbal anchoring) x 2 (a single-page vs. a carousel format) between-subjects design with message-induced empathy as a mediator and one’s connectedness with nature as a moderator was conducted. This study found that an individual’s personal relevance to nature needs to be considered to find the best match between message content and PSA format in promoting pro-environmental behavior intention. The results of this study shed light on the important role an individual’s background factor plays in utilizing interactive PSAs and provide theoretical and practical implications for modality interactivity research.

• Hanyoung Kim, Hye Jin Yoon, Jeong-Yeob Han, Ja Kyung Seo, & Youngjee Ko. (2023, August) The Order Effects of Humor and Risk Messaging Strategies in Public Service Announcements Promoting COVID-19 Vaccinations: The Moderating Role of Trust in Science. Paper presented to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

• Ja Kyung Seo, Hanyoung Kim, Youngjee Ko, Hye Jin Yoon, Jeong-Yeob Han, & Youngji Seo. (2023, March). Are Interactive PSA Formats Always Good? Testing the Identifiable Victim Effect with Instagram Carousel Posts for Pro-Environmental Campaigns. Paper presented to American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Abstract: Social media PSAs promoting pro-environmental attitude and behavior intention seek to benefit from the availability of the interactive social media post format, such as a carousel format. The present study examines the boundary conditions for the effect of the identifiable victim effect in pro-environmental PSAs by jointly considering its delivery format on social media. By implementing an online experiment with a 2 (a single identified victim vs. non-identifiable statistical victims) x 2 (a single-page vs. a carousel format) between-subjects factorial design with message-induced empathy as a measured mediator, this study found that the message featuring non-identifiable animal victims with statistical information was more effective in promoting pro-environmental behavior intention through eliciting empathy when a single-page format (vs. a carousel format) was used. Yet, contrary to predictions, the message with a single identified victim was not more effective when a carousel format was used. The results of this study shed light on the importance of matching social media PSA formats with message framing and offer theoretical and practical implications for interactive advertising on social media.

• Ja Kyung Seo & Yan Jin. (2022, August) Mask-wearing as an Unspoken Statement of One’s Identity during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Paper presented to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Annual Conference, Detroit, MI.

Abstract: Interpreting a facemask as an unspoken statement of one’s identity during the COVID-19 pandemic based on product symbolism theory, the present study examines the relationships among one’s trust in a) government, b) the scientific community, and c) the media, perceived similarity with other mask-wearers, and mask-wearing. Based on an online survey, this study found that participants' trust in these health information sources was positively associated with perceived similarity with other mask-wearers, which then led to a higher level of mask-wearing behavior.

• Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee & Ja Kyung Seo. (2022, May). The Persuasive Effects of Narrative PSAs on COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: The Mediating Role of Empathy and Psychological Reactance. Paper presented to Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association Annual Conference, Paris, France.